Craft Beer Revival

Greenville Avenue craft beer spot rises like Lazarus to pour again

Dallas Beer Kitchen makes a comeback on Greenville Avenue.

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Greenville Avenue is emerging as the street of second chances. First was the rebirth of Green Grocer and, now, a reopening that represents great news for craft beer fans: Dallas Beer Kitchen gets another life and will reopen on January 29, thanks to a white knight who has interceded to keep it afloat during the hard times of road construction.

Dallas Beer Kitchen owner Bryan Kaeser confirmed that a Greenville Avenue restaurateur had stepped in to help revive Kaeser's struggling business and will help with a refresh of the menu.

Kaeser closed the bar on January 24 after three years, blaming the ongoing road construction on Greenville Avenue for a serious decline in business.

"We had seen the hard times coming," Kaeser says. "After five months, we decided to close and began scouting for people to buy us out or take over our lease. All the people we talked to said it would take up to six months to get it back up. But we found someone who liked what we were doing and felt like they could help."

That someone is the group of folks who own Nora, the neighboring restaurant noted for its acclaimed Afghani food.

"They said they loved the concept, that it had a strong name and a presence in that craft beer market," Kaeser says. "They also wanted to make sure that the street wasn't plagued by vacancies."

There'll be a new staff installed in the kitchen and a revamp of the menu that keeps popular dishes, like the hummus dip, and adds new items too. And Kaeser, who will still be a partner, will get to continue doing what he loves to do the most.

"I'll be a part of the beer program, which is one of the main reasons I got into this in the first place," he says.

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Pizza News

Donatos Pizza totes its unique crust to new location in Flower Mound

dallas.culturemap.com

Donatos

A pizza chain with a quirky obsession on its crusts is coming to Flower Mound: Donatos Pizza, the franchise famous for spreading its toppings to the very edge of the pizza, will open a location at 1400 Long Prairie Rd. #160.

According to a release, it'll open on December 17.

Donatos Pizza was founded by Jim Grote in Ohio in 1963 from a single stand, and remains family-owned. Their signature is to place the toppings on their pizzas "edge to edge" — for clueless diners who do not like plain crust edges. (Come on, the crust is the best part.)

Their menu features more than a dozen varieties of pizza such as veggie, four cheese, and pepperoni with hot honey. Their signature crust is a thin-crust but they also offer thicker alternatives as well as a cauliflower crust. Pizzas come in a 7-inch individual and go all the way up to a 14-inch large. Prices range from $15 to $25.

Fans appreciate their better-than-average ingredients and describe it as more flavorful compared to other corporate pizza chains, with a crisp thin crust and generous toppings.

In addition to pizza, Donatos' menu includes oven-baked wings, sub sandwiches, including meatball and Italian cold cuts, plus appetizers and salads.

The Flower Mound location will be a family affair, owned by Lynne and Ralph Pence, whose son Travis will oversee day-to-day operations. The Pence family has deep connections to Donatos including the fact that Lynne's sister used to work for the company, while her brother-in-law still does.

"We're from Columbus, Ohio — it is where our kids grew up and where our family is—it also happens to be the hometown and birthplace of Donatos Pizza," Lynne says. "Our daughter in Oklahoma found out Donatos was coming to Edmond, where she lives, and called us. She was so excited that Donatos was finally coming down south and we wanted to be a part of it."

This is the second Donatos in the Dallas area: a location opened in Frisco in November — the first in Texas.

There are currently 470-plus locations in 28 states. That includes 175 stores plus nearly 300 non-traditional locations nationwide, including select Red Robin restaurants, sports, and entertainment venues.

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