Avocado News

Fun restaurant dedicated to all things avocado opens at Dallas' Trinity Groves

West Dallas restaurant incubator Trinity Groves has scored a good one with its newest restaurant. Called AvoEatery, it's being called the world's first full-service restaurant focused entirely on fresh avocados, and according to a release, it will open on Thursday January 30.

They'll open softly: from 6-10 pm until February 14, then 11 am-10 pm beginning February 15.

Located at 3011 Gulden Ln., #116 — the former Casa Rubia space — AvoEatery will feature a menu in which all the dishes include fresh avocado in some way, and a full bar that will also include have avocado in its cocktails.

"We created AvoEatery because we believe fresh avocados are more than just a fruit; they are an experience that is always worth it, elevating every dish to new heights," the release says.

Avocados are everywhere, from the décor to the menu, including the obvious avocado toast; salads featuring unique avocado applications like grilled avocados; and even avocado desserts.

The restaurant is a partnership between Trinity Groves founder Phil Romano and Avocados From Mexico, a subsidiary of the Mexican Hass Avocado Importers Association (MHAIA), formed for the purpose of advertising, promotion, and public relations.

Speaking of, did you know that Avocados From Mexico supplies 84 percent of the US market? It's true.

The restaurant also will serve as a living lab, enabling AFM to test new avocado dishes and cocktails. The launch follows other AFM concepts including avocado-centric concession stands at American Airlines Center and Hard Rock Stadium in Miami.

The menu includes greatness such as a guacamole flight with five choices including mild, medium, hot, hummus, and egg. Avocado and corn hush puppies, avocado fries, avocado and beet tartare, ceviche, and spring rolls with shrimp, bacon, basil, and avocado.

There are six avocado toasts:

traditional with mashed avocado, lemon, and sea salt
maple smoked salmon with capers and eggs
ham & cheese with avocado pimento cheese and Serrano ham
labneh toast with za'atar, pistachios, mint, and house-made labneh
Caprese
Waldorf toast with apple butter, bleu cheese, and candied walnuts.

Salads and bowls include an avocado and steak salad; Asian avocado shrimp salad; farro salad with maple farro, arugula, pomegranates, and candied walnuts; and a grilled avocado bowl with quinoa, zucchini, spinach, pistachios, and feta.

Entrees include salmon with an avocado-mango salsa; avocado chicken curry with basmati rice; steak frites with a New York strip and an avocado herb butter; and spaghetti squash & zoodles, a brilliant faux-pasta veggie combo with grilled avocado and butternut squash.

Desserts include white chocolate avocado popsicles, a chocolate-avocado brownie with avocado-vanilla ice cream; and chocolate-avocado mousse with Kate Weiser chocolate.

The cocktails are all an avocado feast, with avocado-flavored bitters, shrubs, purees, and even frozen avocado ice cubes. An old-fashioned has avocado chocolate bitters. (There are also traditional cocktails, sans avocado, for the wimps.)

Cocktails include a whole subset of Spritzers such as the Think Pink with gin, lemon juice, and Cava Brut Rose. Beers are a mix of local and classic labels, and wines are an intriguing mix from around the world.

Decor is avocado-y too — lots of green. The restaurant was designed to look like a living avocado grove, with lamps that emulate the fruit coming down from the trees, and the intertwining of wood shapes in the outdoor spaces to resemble an avocado grove with trees around.

The restaurant will offer lunch and dinner seven days a week, and brunch coming soon.

Caprese avocado toast.

Photo courtesy of AvoEatery

Caprese avocado toast.

openings

new roots

L.A. celebrity favorite The Ivy plants Dallas branch near Katy Trail

Photo courtesy of The Ivy/Facebook

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A Los Angeles restaurant famous for celebrity sightings on its bright floral patios is opening a branch in Dallas: The Ivy will debut in fall 2027 at 4205 Buena Vista St. inside The Terminal at Katy Trail.

“This will be the first Ivy outside of Southern California,” says India Wolfe, the restaurant founders' daughter, in a release. "I felt a strong calling to bring The Ivy somewhere new and to plant roots there with our family.”

India’s parents opened The Ivy on Robertson Boulevard in 1980, followed by Ivy at the Shore in Santa Monica five years later.

While her father, chef Richard Irving, and mother, Lynn von Kersting, remain in LA, Wolfe and her husband, Ernest Wolfe IV, will move to Dallas in February with their two children and dogs, to operate The Ivy. The restaurant will be located inside a luxury apartment tower overlooking the Katy Trail.

India started working as a teen at the family's third branch in Santa Monica and learned everything "from greeting guests and waiting tables to staging events, filming viral social media, and modernizing the business for a new generation," says the release.

Both she and her husband spent time in other professions but were drawn to the dining field. Ernest helped his in-laws so often at The Ivy that they finally employed him full-time.

“I love working with him," India says, "and we complement each other’s skills really well, not unlike my mom and dad.”

The Ivy The family behind The Ivy.Courtesy photo

The Wolfes say they want the Dallas restaurant to retain The Ivy’s familiar cooking, warmth and character, while making it feel like home in a new city.

“I love the idea of people taking a walk on the Katy Trail and then meeting friends for brunch at The Ivy,” India says.

Her parents are assisting with the design and menu; India wants a contemporary vibe but doesn’t plan to change what works so well.

“I don’t want to make it too different because I think the reason that people from Dallas come to The Ivy is because they love The Ivy,” she says. “That said, this new restaurant will certainly stand on its own two feet.”

Unlike the original, the Dallas Ivy will have a bar, an idea India dreamed up. While restaurant bars are nothing unusual, India actually envisioned what her family jokingly calls “the D Bar" (so named for Dallas), where guests can clink glasses and share good energy around a curved, D-shaped counter.

Her interest in art and flowers will result in a space well-appointed with roses, a family tradition, and local blooms like zinnias and snapdragons.

The Ivy serves upscale American comfort food and Californian cuisine with influences from Italian, French, Cajun, and Mexican cooking. Dishes are made with seasonal ingredients, so the menus evolve throughout the year.

While the Dallas menu is being developed, the restaurant's Southern California winter menus, for example, include starters such as crab cakes, Caesar salad, and grilled-vegetable salad. Pasta options include lobster ravioli with Ivy pink sauce and lobster tagliatelle. Wood- or stone-fired pizzas include margherita and Cajun shrimp pies, while house-baked breads, old-fashioned red velvet cake, coconut cake, and chocolate chip cookies round out the menu.

The Ivy has always been at the center of family life, India notes. Now she and Ernest are bringing that way of life to Dallas.

She adds, “I am confident it will be a great home for The Ivy and for our family.”

openings katy trail