Breakfast News

California diner scrambles up breakfast all day for Dallas-Fort Worth

It's that most valuable commodity: breakfast all day.

Black Bear Diner

A California-based restaurant chain is coming to Dallas-Fort Worth, with that most valuable commodity, breakfast all day: Black Bear Diner, which serves classic, home-style comfort food, is executing a Texas expansion for 2022 that includes a location in Mesquite, at 3730 Towne Crossing Blvd.

According to a spokesperson, the restaurant will open in mid-2022.

Black Bear Diner was founded in 1995 by Bruce Dean and Bob Manley in Mt. Shasta, California. They bring home-style comfort food classics and personal service to the dining experience. The quickly growing family dining concept, open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, offers a vast, enticing menu anchored in hearty portions and excellent value, with service rooted in genuine hospitality.

Their motto says it all: breakfast served all day, lunch that's quick and satisfying, and dinner with comfort food classics. They also have a cute little bear theme such as black bear insignias on the coffee cups.

The menu is a deliciously sprawling document. Breakfast includes pancakes, French toast, omelets, scrambles, biscuits & gravy, and benedicts. Among the notable items:

bear claws, to go with the bear theme
French toast made with cinnamon rolls
chorizo breakfast burrito
breakfast sliders with choice of hot Italian or mild Italian sausage

There's steak & eggs and also CFS & eggs, featuring a 10-ounce steak breaded & fried golden brown, with country gravy, three eggs, & two biscuits.

Lunch has classic sandwiches such as a tri-tip dip, stacked on a ciabatta hero, served with au jus; and a Reuben, with Swiss on grilled rye. There's chili made with ground beef, mild Italian sausage, and beans, yes that's right, with beans; and four bountiful entree salads.

A slew of burgers includes bacon cheddar, chili cheddar, avocado & jack cheese, and a Parmesan sourdough burger with Dijon mustard, Swiss cheese, tomato, and grilled onion on thick-cut sourdough bread grilled golden with a garlic Parmesan cheese crust.

Dinner is very home-cooking with meatloaf, pot roast, roasted turkey, chicken-fried steak, fried chicken, fish & chips, chicken pot pie, and open-faced hot turkey sandwich on white bread with turkey gravy, red-skinned potatoes, and cranberry sauce.

Desserts include cream pies, cobbler, 5-layer chocolate cake, cheesecake, bread pudding, brownie sundae, and banana split.

It all sounds very Highland Park Cafeteria-ish.

Black Bear Diner currently has nine locations in Texas, most located in the suburbs of Houston; the most recent opened in October 2021 in Brownsville.

In addition to the Mesquite location, they're also opening restaurants at the following addresses by October 2022:

San Antonio: 2707 Southeast Military Dr
Pasadena: 3497 East Sam Houston Parkway South
McAllen: 602 W Expressway 83
Fort Worth: 9501 N Fwy.
Harker Heights: 401 W Central Texas Expressway

The new diners are a combination of conversions and ground-ups and will incorporate recent design changes to better accommodate off-premise dining. Once all six locations are open, Texas will have the most Black Bear Diner locations outside of California. Yay us.

In a statement, CEO Anita Adams says that expanding their footprint in the Lone Star State is a key part of their long-term plan to continue to push eastward.

"We are pleased to introduce Black Bear Diner to new communities this year, and we look forward to serving up our delicious food and family-style dining experience to more guests," Adams says. "Our founders built Black Bear Diner as a unique space where people can gather and enjoy a delicious meal together in a relaxing and fun environment. That sense of community and connection remains a core part of who we are today and extends to our fantastic franchise owners and development partners."

openings breakfast brunch

Pizza News

Italian restaurant coming to Addison will sling New York-style pizza

Goodfellas

Pizza by Goodfellas

New York pizza is coming to a walkable neighborhood in Addison: Called Goodfellas NY Italian Kitchen, it's opening in the Addison Circle complex at 5026 Addison Cir., in a space with long pizza history, most recently occupied by New York Pizza and Pints.

According to owner Sunu Samuel, it'll open in mid-March.

Samuel is a veteran restaurateur who is bringing his experience slinging pies in New York. He previously owned the similarly named Goodfella's Woodfired Pizza Pasta Vino in The Colony. There's also a Goodfellas Pizza & Subs in Wylie, and a number of Goodfellas across the U.S. who share similar comprehensive menus of pizza and American-Italian dishes.

"I've owned a number of restaurants around Dallas-Fort Worth for the past 20 years," he says. "We were contacted by the landlords at Addison Circle who were hoping to get another pizza restaurant in the space. We figured this new wood fire pizza pasta concept would be a good fit."

They'll have more than 20 varieties of pizza including meat lovers, BBQ chicken, Buffalo chicken, an Indian-spiced tandoori chicken, spinach & artichoke, and more.

There's a burrata pie with creamy burrata cheese, cherry tomatoes, and arugula; and the Sally pie featuring lemon garlic chicken with mushrooms and rosemary potato chips.

They proof the dough for 48 hours, and use a hybrid oven combining cooking by wood and gas. Their dough boasts an ingredient you don't see in every pizza.

"Ours is different in that we add seminola, a coarse flour that's often used in bread and pasta," Samuel says. "It's what makes our crust crispier, which Dallas diners like."

There are also sub sandwiches, entrees such as eggplant parmigiana and chicken marsala, and about a dozen pasts such as lasagna, rigatoni alla vodka, and ravioli with spinach & sausage.

Prices will range from $16-$22 for pizzas, and $10-$18 for pastas. They're anticipating a brisk to-go business but will also have a sit-down dining room with wine and beer for those who want to eat in.

"These are entrees and pastas that are familiar to people from the Northeast — people who who've been to Mulberry Street and miss all the New York-style Italian dishes," he says.

pizza openings