Important Breakfast News

Cafe bakes up breakfast tacos and cakes for Dallas' Cedar Springs

Cedar Springs, this omelet is coming to you.

Photo courtesy of Crickle's & Co.

A Denton bakery and cafe will bring wholesome, homespun breakfast to one of Dallas' most neighborly of neighborhoods. Crickle's and Co. will open on Cedar Springs with breakfast tacos, biscuits, and custom cakes. It'll go in at 4000 Cedar Springs Rd., in the old Thairiffic, the Thai restaurant that closed in November.

Crickle's comes from Cristal Barnard, a pastry chef and graduate of the Art Institute of Dallas who worked at the French Room and the Adolphus, as well as Craft Dallas, the Tom Colicchio restaurant in the W Dallas Hotel (which is now Cook Hall).

Crickle's has a classic feel with a ladies-who-lunch vibe. The signature is chicken salad with marcona almonds and wine-poached cranberries, served on greens as a salad or on a croissant as a sandwich. Barnard is a skilled baker, turning out cupcakes, truffles, cake balls, custom cakes, and pastries. Her pies have real rolled crusts, the real benchmark of a baker.

For breakfast, there are eggs, breakfast tacos, croissant sandwiches, omelets, breakfast pastries, and muffins in novel flavors such as apricot almond. There are regular raisin cinnamon rolls, and the crowd favorite, chocolate-cherry raisin cinnamon rolls.

At lunch, they do salads, wraps, and regular sandwiches such as grilled cheese on house-made Pullman bread with Muenster cheese, bacon, and avocado, served with tomato basil soup. There's a turkey club, a roasted pepper panini, and a special BLT made on sourdough bread with spicy house-made pimiento cheese.

"We get a lot of positive response to our cinnamon rolls," Barnard says. "We do nice biscuits and I make my own jam."

Her custom cakes are popular, as well as her chocolate-chunk cheesecake with chocolate chunks and an Oreo crust.

Family has played a role in the business. When Barnard first launched her catering company in 2008, it was out of her mother's kitchen. And she decided to expand to Dallas at the urging of her brother. Their timetable for opening is early March.

"We'd been looking for a spot when we found out about this location," she says. "My brother helped us open in Denton, and he's always said that there's no place in the area for great breakfast or pastries."

brunch breakfast openings desserts

Supermarket News

Italian gourmet grocery gets ready for business in downtown Dallas

Ari's

Ari's Pantry

A buzzy grocery store is opening in downtown Dallas: Ari’s Pantry, the local destination for authentic Italian groceries and warm hospitality, will open a location at 1800 Main St.#124, in the former Berkley's Market, with a grand opening on May 14.

This is the third location for the small mom-and-pop market, which debuted in Winnetka Heights in December 2023 to fulfill Ari's passion for all things Italy. They opened a second location in Trinity Groves in 2024.

Following the success of those first two shops, owners Amy and Ari Lowenstein are continuing their expansion by bringing Ari's Pantry’s to the heart of downtown — a joint venture between Lowenstein and Alan Kearney, owner of downtown businesses such as The Crafty Irishman and Patrick Kennedy's Irish Pub, as well as Cannon's Corner Irish Pub in Oak Cliff, as well as Dino Santonicola, owner of Partenope Ristorante, and Nick Roditis, owner of Yolk at One Arts Plaza — all of whom share a commitment to strengthening retail in downtown.

As as the other two locations, the Ari's on Main Street will feature authentic Italian ingredients and high-quality staple groceries. They'll also do:

breakfast frittatas starting at 7 am
porchetta sandwiches on house made-ciabatta for lunch
barista-crafted coffee
grab-and-go meals
gelato
recipe cards to help guests cook traditional Italian food at home.

More than a market, Ari’s Pantry is an Italian-leaning food space offering everything Chef Ari keeps in his own pantry. Visitors will discover handmade sauces, fresh baked goods, luxurious pastas, sumptuous cheeses, design-forward housewares, useful kitchen gadgets, exciting cookbooks, imported delicacies, and specialty flours, sugars, and salts — all thoughtfully chosen to elevate everyday cooking.

“Don’t know what to make for dinner? Come in and ask one of our culinary ambassadors” says Ari. “We’ll help you put all the ingredients together… and include the recipe!”

They also do ready to go meals, sides, desserts, and imported delicacies as well as gift boxes filled with high-quality ingredients and culinary treasures perfect for your favorite foodie.

Catering services range from dropped off lunch service of house made focaccia sliders to bespoke 10 course dinners with wine pairings for each course. Although Ari’s specializes in Italian cuisine, they are flexible in their fare and encourage clients to share specific and niche catering requests.

They bring back a valuable grocery component to the Central Business District, absent since the 2024 closure of Berkley's. Prior to Berkley's, it was a location of Austin-based Royal Blue Market, so there is definitely grocery history in the space.

"Amy and I are grateful for the opportunity for Ari’s Pantry to be part of this historic district," Ari says in a statement. "The vibrancy and diversity of clientele that downtown Dallas brings to Ari’s Pantry has our whole team buzzing. For the past two months we’ve been working to quickly open this dynamic location with a knowledgeable staff, hundreds of new products and a remarkable menu. We welcome everyone to come and check us out!."

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