Coffee News

Austin coffeehouse transports old-timey flair to quaint downtown Frisco

This cup of coffee, coming to Frisco, was powered by bicycles.

Photo courtesy of Summer Moon

Dallas has a history of liking coffee from Austin, and it's about to get another fix: Austin roaster Summer Moon will open its first Dallas-area coffee shop in the busy-busy suburb of Frisco.

This is not the shiny new Frisco of Dallas Cowboys headquarters fame — it is instead historic downtown Frisco, with its charming brick storefronts. Summer Moon will open at 6943 Main St., in the old Horse Hardware, a 10-year-old store that sold equine gear; it closed in October.

Summer Moon has a unique profile among coffee vendors. The chain opened its first location in Austin in 2002 as a coffee bar, then expanded into roasting. But not just any roasting. This is roasting as done by bearded fellows.

Following the craft of 19th century coffee roasters, it roasts its beans manually in a brick hearth that burns hand-split Texas oak. The roasting drum is hooked up to a bicycle, requiring that someone ride the bicycle in order to turn the drum (you can see it on a video here).

The beans are organic and fair-trade, and the menu includes hot and cold espresso and coffee drinks, mochas, smoothies, frozen lemonade, and teas. There will also be muffins, bagels, breakfast tacos, cookies, and pastries.

Its signature is the "moon milk," which is used for drinks. It's a secret recipe, ssshhh, unable to say what's in it because it's a secret. But sugar seems to be a prime ingredient, along with possibly whipped cream or condensed milk, and maybe spices like vanilla and cinnamon.

A family-owned, family-run, family-oriented business, Summer Moon has amenities for kids that are unique for coffeehouses, such as shorter tables and chairs, books, and games.

Austin's Houndstooth Coffee opened a location in Dallas on Henderson Avenue in 2014, and now has a second branch at the Sylvan Thirty complex.

Summer Moon currently has six branches, one of which — the South 1st Street shop — was a stop on the twee Gilmore Girls pop-up tour that took place in October 2016. There are two new stores in the works for 2017: the one in Frisco and another opening in Austin at Avery Ranch.

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Dumpling News

Asian soup dumpling chain Ugly Dumpling to open location in Allen

Ugly Dumpling

Colorful dumplings from Ugly Dumpling

A new dumpling concept is coming to Dallas-Fort Worth: Called Ugly Dumpling, it's a chain specializing in Chinese soup dumplings, and it's opening its first DFW location in Allen, at 213 N. Central Expy., near the intersection of McDermott Road, where it will debut in early fall.

Ugly Dumpling is from Vertex Hospitality Group, a national restaurant franchise organization whose portfolio includes two other Asian chains, KPOT Hot Pot & Korean BBQ (which has a location in Arlington and another coming to Fort Worth), and Kinya Ramen.

Buoyed by the success of those two brands, Vertex launched Ugly Dumpling in 2023, opening the first location in Edison, New Jersey. They now list 26 locations on their website, in Virginia, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, and Texas, although 14 are "coming soon," including one in Austin that's been in the works since 2024.

Soup dumplings — official name, xiao long bao — are a dish of Shanghai origin that are popular due to their unique combination of a delicate dough wrapper enclosing a tender filling and savory broth, which releases when you take a bite — making for an indelible comfort food experience.

Ugly Dumpling's menu includes six varieties of dumplings, accompanied by a savory soup broth, as follows:

chicken
pork
pork & crab
pork & truffle
pork, shrimp, & spinach
Szechuan pork

Porky! They can be ordered in a dumpling sampler, one of each variety, for about $14. No vegetarian options, although they do have a couple of vegan dishes such as vegan wonton soup.

There are also Chinese classics like spring rolls, cream cheese wontons, hot & sour soup, salt & pepper popcorn chicken, garlic green beans, orange chicken, beef & broccoli, Mongolian beef, Kung pao chicken, and fried rice; plus tempting Asian favorites like edamame and bao buns, and even chicken wings.

They also serve boba tea and other beverages.

Bringing the concept to DFW is Grace Zhao, who previously owned Zhao Star Chinese Bistro in Frisco, which she sold. She's all in on Ugly Dumpling — "we're hoping to open more than one location, but Allen comes first," she says.

A statement from marketing head Margaret Farrell says that "when we created Ugly Dumpling, we wanted to tap into the historical Shanghai street food movement but do so in a way that caters to the modern palette. [Surely she means 'palate'?] Our menu respects Shanghai's centuries-old cooking techniques while cultivating an exciting experience for today's restaurant goer."

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