Openings Galore

More than 25 new restaurants and venues are coming to Irving Music Factory

Tori Amos will perform at one of Irving Music Factory's venues in November.

Tori Amos/Facebook

The show is about to go on at the Irving Music Factory, beginning on Labor Day weekend. The 250,000-square-foot entertainment center in the Las Colinas business district will debut with a weekend-long set of shows, then roll out more than 25 restaurants and entertainment venues, culminating in a grand opening celebration December 8-10.

The first venue to open will be The Pavilion, a convertible indoor-outdoor venue with three configurations: an intimate theater option with 2,500 seats; an indoor, upscale arena with seating for 4,000; and an open-air pavilion that seats 8,000.

Inaugural performances will kick off August 31 and September 1 with a sold-out show featuring comedian Dave Chappelle. September 2 is Brad Paisley's Weekend Warrior World Tour 2017, followed by Jeff and Larry's Backyard BBQ on September 3 with Jeff Foxworthy and Larry the Cable Guy, The Marshall Tucker Band, and Eddie Money. The weekend closes out with Lifehouse & Switchfoot: Looking for Summer Tour on September 4.

More concert announcements continue to roll in, including the just-announced date with Tori Amos, who will perform at The Pavilion on November 16 to support a new album out in September called Native Invader. Amos is collaborating with Ticketmaster for a pre-sale initiative using the Verified Fan technology that gives fans optimal access to tickets; find it at toriamos.tmverifiedfan.com.

Some of the 25-plus restaurant and entertainment options scheduled to open include the following, with more to be announced:

Alamo Drafthouse eight-screen movie theater
Bar Louie
Bar Manzanilla
Boi Na Braza Brazilian Steakhouse
Burgerim
C-Bar
Freshii
Gloria’s Latin Cuisine
Grimaldi’s Coal Brick Oven Pizza
Highway 61 South
Kabuki Japanese Restaurant
Martini Ranch
MaxFrut, Texas' First Frozen Whole-Fruit Bar
Nosh & Bottle
Sambuca
TCBY
Texas Jam House & Marketplace
Thirsty Lion Gastropub & Grill
Top Round Roast Beef
Uncle Gino's Cucina Italiana
Yard House

Every venue will feature custom designed interiors and generous outdoor patios for guests to enjoy their meal under the vast Texas sky. Many will offer private rooms with A/V equipment for business meetings and private parties, and live music throughout the week.

The development revolves around a central town plaza, like a town square, where guests can wander the space freely with food and cold drinks. The plaza is designed with abundant greenery and open spaces that will serve as a community gathering place for city events, live music, fashion shows, and farmers markets.

This week's hot headlines

Colorful Mexican chain bringing tacos to McKinney leads week's top stories

Barrio

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Editor's note: Sit back and relax on this long Thanksgiving weekend, and get caught up on the week's headlines. Our most-read stories in recent days include news of a new taco shop coming to McKinney, roundups of holiday pop-up bars and holiday ice rinks, a new Uptown steakhouse, and a new wholesale club. Need plans this weekend? Check out our Weekend Event Planner. Want to see the best local Christmas lights? Here's the ultimate guide.

1. Colorful Mexican chain Barrio will bring tacos and tequila to McKinney. There's a new taco coming to Texas: Called Barrio, it's a chain that was founded in Ohio, of all places, and it's opening its first Texas location in McKinney, at 9401 W. University Dr. #150. According to franchisee Wissam Saliba, the restaurant will open in February 2026.

2. All the holiday pop-up bars keeping Dallas' spirits bright in 2025. The holiday pop-up season has arrived, and Dallas-Fort Worth is absolutely frosted in festive takeovers. Whether you love your holidays kitschy, classy, tropical, or with a Texas twist, this list has your perfect jolly pop-up.

Leela's Wine Bar holiday Leela's Holiday House is really three different festive destinations. Leela's/Facebook

3. New Andreas steakhouse lands in former Morton's space in Uptown Dallas. A new steakhouse has opened at an Uptown Dallas address that has a steakhouse past: Andreas Prime Steaks & Seafood, a concept from chef Andreas Kotsifos, has opened at 2222 McKinney Ave., in the former Morton's The Steakhouse space, with steaks and European-influenced cuisine.

4. 9 Dallas-area ice rinks to spin & glide through the 2025 holiday season. Forget Milan-Cortina. The real winter figure skating action is taking place across Dallas-Fort Worth this holiday season. Here are nine cool DFW ice rinks to jump into family fun for the 2025 holidays.

5. Northeast discount chain BJ's Wholesale Club to open store in Mesquite. A new destination for discount shoppers has debuted in Mesquite: BJ’s Wholesale Club, a membership-based warehouse club making its way into Texas, will open a location in Mesquite at 4355 Childress Dr., on the southeast corner of US-30 and 635, in a 104,763-square-foot space that was previously a rolling green field.

steakhouse holidays bars ice rink hot headlines