Greenville Ave News

Uptown Dallas bar Christies comes back to life on Greenville Avenue

One last look at the old Christies before the new one opens this week.

Courtesy photo

A beloved Uptown Dallas sports bar that closed in 2020 will rise again, this time in a new neighborhood: Christies Sports Bar, whch had been in business for nearly 30 years, is reopening in a neighborly stretch of Greenville Avenue, at 2817 Greenville Ave., previously occupied by a burger concept called Slater's 50/50, but prior to that, the longtime home of Greenville Bar & Grill.

According to a release, their reopening date is January 22.

Owner Ashton Christie says he might not have reopened on his own but the bar's manager Jordan Carson really wanted to keep it alive.

"After we got shut down, I wasn't really looking to reopen, but he had such a passion for the bar and convinced me to do this again," Christie says.

For decades, Christies served as Uptown's quintessential sports bar, a staple of the neighborhood with draft beer that was cold and cheap.

They welcomed any sports team affiliation, and had enough TVs to accommodate Cowboys, Mavs, and Rangers fans, plus pool tables, pinball, and friendly service.

When they closed in July, it was officially due to COVID-19, less officially, he says, due to a landlord not willing to grant them incentives to stay in the space.

Christie is upbeat about the new location's assets and accommodating landlord, as well as his new sympatico neighbors.

"It's a great spot, with two stories and a rooftop, plus a massive kitchen," he says. "We're also right next to Terrilli's and Dodie's, two other old-timers."

They're a much better fit than Slater's, a burger concept from California that opened in 2017 in the height of the detestable bacon craze, with bacon on nearly every menu item including its burgers, which contained 50 percent bacon. A subsequent rebranding in 2019 as a healthier-leaning gastropub didn't help.

With the larger kitchen, Christies is stepping up its game with a larger menu encompassing 40 items, from staples like wings and mozzarella bricks, to new dishes such as pork belly, chimichurri steak & frites, charcuterie boards, and churros with chocolate sauce.

The new location has:

three full bars
double the seating of the original Christies
specialty cocktails on tap
wine on tap
more TVs
games upstairs
an Instagrammable rooftop with a view over Greenville Avenue

Opening weekend is January 22-24, with the first "Sunday Funday" on January 24, featuring the NFL playoffs. The following weekend, they'll debut brunch with sangria towers, cheap mimosas, and more.

On January 22, they'll open at 4 pm, but subsequent hours will be 11 am-2 am daily.

openings greenville-avenue

Sushi News

Frisco sushi restaurant Hinoki does a slimmed-down twist on omakase

Thanin Viriyaki

Hinoki

A new sushi restaurant has debuted in Frisco with a mini version of omakase: Called Hinoki, it's open for lunch and dinner at 8050 Preston Rd. #106, in a space previously occupied by another short-lived Asian restaurant called Imura, and is serving seafood both raw and cooked.

Hinoki is from chef Leo Kekoa, who previously worked for the acclaimed Nobu chain and who also owns the well-regarded Kinzo Sushi in north Frisco, which he opened in 2022 to bring the omakase experience to Frisco and save them a drive to Dallas.

Omakase is the dining experience in which the chef prepares a multi-course tasting menu of small bites made to order, often at a premium price. While omakase has no set number of dishes, it usually ranges from 10 to 20 courses depending on how excessive the chef/restaurant is.

Hinoki offers a concise version on the omakase experience with a more manageable six courses for $75, as well as an a la carte menu featuring sushi, hot items, and composed bentos boxes for lunch.

Hinoki sushi HinokiThanin Viriyaki

"Kinzo is my fine-dining omakase restaurant," Kekoa says. "Hinoki is designed as its more casual counterpart — still rooted in discipline and detail, but more accessible."

Kekoa created the menu but he says it’s a team effort, with two veteran chefs: Chikau "Harry" Kikuchi, who brings 25-plus years of experience to the sushi counter (he and Kekoa worked together at Nobu); and chef Sachiko Hashimoto presiding over the hot line and overseeing the preparation of Hinoki's home-style and regional Japanese dishes.

No sushi restaurant can ignore basics like the spicy tuna roll, California roll, dragon roll, and shrimp tempura roll, but Hinoki also has a few of distinctive rolls such as the Kumo roll with crab, avocado, and chipotle aioli, wrapped in soy paper, which has a pleasing texture that's a little more toothsome than the standard crisp seaweed wrapper.

There are creative bowls as the Sake Dashi, featuring sushi-grade raw salmon, Asian pear, crushed marcona almonds, yuzu shirodashi, and truffle oil; and hot dishes such as miso black cod, teriyaki salmon, and Kushiyaki: grilled chicken thigh, kurobuta sausage, and shishito pepper on skewers. Most items average about $20.

Kekoa calls his lunch offering "honest and efficient."

"We’re bringing back the Japanese bento [referring to the cute boxed lunch with compartments for courses], such as our chirashi bento with fish, sushi rolls, and seaweed salad," he says.

Hinoki also has a full bar with sake, wine, beer, and cocktails.

Kekoa lives in Frisco and is bullish on his hometown.

"With Universal Studios on the way and PGA nearby, I believe this city deserves a neighborhood sushi spot done right," he says. "I want Hinoki to bring fine-dining service at a price more people can enjoy."

openings