News You Can Eat

New restaurants and lunchtime options fill this plate of Dallas food news

CrushCraft Thai will have chef-driven daily specials.
Photo courtesy of CrushCraft
CrushCraft is located in the Quadrangle.
Photo courtesy of CrushCraft
Blind Butcher's menu includes the Canadian delicacy known as poutine.
Photo courtesy of Blind Butcher
Tanoshii's new lineup of lunchtime burgers includes a veggie burger with miso.
Photo courtesy of Tanoshii
Glazed Donut Works has added Thursday to its nighttime schedule.
Photo courtesy of Glazed Donut Works

As 2014 kicks in, we're seeing lots of restaurant action, with openings, Fort Worth rumblings, loads of lunches and a quiet closure at the Crescent.

Carnivorous Blind Butcher opens on Greenville Avenue on February 6. Matt Tobin and Josh Yingling of Goodfriend have partnered with Ryan Chaney, Tony Bricker and chef Oliver Sitrin in this bar-restaurant featuring sausage, charcuterie, bangers and mash, and bacon bratwurst with sauerkraut. There's a vegan item too: a tofu bacon hot dog with pickled mustard seeds. Also, three kinds of poutine, a Canadian snack with French fries, brown gravy and cheese curds: mushroom, pork belly and duck. Blind Butcher will be open for dinner every day from 4 pm to 2 am.

Cool though oddly named CrushCraft Thai will open in the Quadrangle in February. This fast-casual Thai concept from chef Paul Singhapong and Jack Nuchkasem will feature traditional Thai dishes made from scratch. Menu categories include Thai street food; Thai favorites; and chef-driven dishes that push the envelope, such as sweet pork belly curry and braised short ribs.

The Cane Rosso in Fort Worth is now open on hipster Magnolia Avenue in the old Ryan's Fine Grocer space. Pizzaiolo Shon Ben-Kely moved here from Las Vegas after having worked with pizza guru Carmine D’ Amato, Michele D'Amelio (pizzaiolo at Pizzeria Testa in Frisco) and Roberto Caporuscio. This is the third branch, following the original in Deep Ellum and the spin-off near White Rock Lake.

Tim Love-related restaurant Barter is now open for lunch, Monday-Saturday, from 11 am to 2 pm. There is red chili with cornbread and an intriguing salad with escarole, arugula, black kale, Parmesan, cornbread croutons, Gaunciale and avocado. Sandwiches include tenderloin with caramelized onions and horseradish, as well as a burger with Redneck cheddar and bacon served on an English muffin. Entrees include fish and chips and, just as at Love's Denton steakhouse Queenie's, steak sold by the ounce.

Deep Ellum ramen spot Tanoshii Ramen + Bar is now serving "Japanese burgers" at lunch. Is that really a thing? The "hambāgā" is topped with miso chili, lettuce, tomato and onion. Teriyaki chicken burger is a chicken thigh cutlet. A vegetarian korokke burger is a mixed vegetable croquette coated with panko, fried, and topped with slaw and tonkatsu sauce. All burgers, served on a brioche bun, are $8.50; sweet potato fries with wasabi cucumber ranch dip are $4.50 extra.

Trinity Groves restaurant Chino Chinatown will launch a dim sum Sunday brunch on February 9, with steamed buns, chorizo egg rolls and dumplings. The restaurant will also begin serving lunch Mondays through Saturday on February 3.

Deep Ellum doughnut shop Glazed Donut Works is expanding its weekend late-night hours to include Thursdays from 8 pm to midnight. The nighttime menu includes the signature doughnut grilled cheese and maple-bacon long johns. Thursday nights replace Tuesday morning hours, which Glazed has curtailed for now, until the road construction on Elm Street is finished.

The name is out on the Fort Worth restaurant from former Pakpao chef Eddy Thretipthuangsin: Bite. The menu will include lamb meatballs, duck breast, scallop and grits, short ribs, lobster ravioli, flatbreads, sandwiches, and salads. There'll be a daily seafood entrée and "cut of the day." Entrees range from $16-$30. The restaurant opens in Montgomery Plaza on West 7th Street in the spring.

Fort Worth will get a gourmet ice cream shop called Melt Ice Creams, opening this spring in the southside district at 954 W. Rosedale St. Owner Kari Crowe Seher will make the ice cream in flavors such as brown sugar coffee, lavender honey and lemon basil sorbet. She told Eater that she'll keep her menu small, maybe six flavors.

Oak Cliff has a new Cajun seafood restaurant called Pier 247, from the owners of nearby Bar 303. It takes up residence in an old gas station at 247 W. Davis St. The menu includes fried oyster and crawfish nachos, po'boys, catfish Sloppy Joes and fried seafood baskets.

Top Chef is casting for season 12. Producers will be in Dallas on February 18 from 10 am-1 pm at the Hotel Palomar. To download an application, visit TopChefCasting.com.

In closing, Arcodoro y Pomodoro at Crescent Court is no more.

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Burger News

Family-owned Patty Lou's Smashburgers will open in old downtown Plano

Photo by Sara Aurora Cimminiello on Unsplash

Smashburger

A new restaurant starring a buzzy burger is coming to old downtown Plano: Called Patty Lou's Smashburgers, it will feature the namesake smashburger, and will open at 1004 E. 14th St. #105, in a historic location that was most recently home to a Starbucks.

Patty Lou's is a new concept from Urban Family Concepts, the hospitality company whose other restaurants include Urban Seafood Co., Urban Rio Cantina & Grill, and Italian restaurant Urban Crust, all located in the downtown Plano area.

Patty Lou's is their burger entry, a quick-service spot serving smashburgers, the flattened version of a burger with crisp edges that's been a hot trend for the past year.

According to Urban Family Concepts partner and spokesperson Dana Blaugrund, the restaurant will open in late spring.

Patty Lou's is also a sweet homage to a family member — named for Patty Lou Peters, of "Patty Lou and her Texas Sweethearts" fame, an all-female country & Western / Western swing group founded in the '40s, when female groups were a rarity.

Patty Lou was the mother of Bonnie Shea, who co-founded Urban Family Concepts with her husband Nathan Shea. Infusing the personal touch into everything they do is part of the company DNA, says Urban partner Michael Lee.

"Urban is generally driven by what we like," Lee says. "Urban Rio, our Mexican concept, came about because Bonnie loved that cuisine, and Urban Seafood Company, Nate loves seafood. Burgers are a favorite of their son-in-laws."

Their version of the smashburger will feature American cheese and onions that melt into the meat, Lee says. They'll be served on potato buns, and there'll be some toppings — but they won't go too crazy.

"It'll have onions, lettuce, and pickle, but we're going to stay minimal, with additional toppings on the side," he says. "Going overboard with ingredients can get complicated. Our goal is, very simple burgers that taste very good, at a value price, so that everyone can enjoy coming back and getting a burger."

The menu will also feature smashed chicken burgers, hand-cut French fries skin on, lightly battered onion rings, and milkshakes. They'll also serve alcohol, including bottled beers, wine by the glass, and a signature frozen cocktail. Eventually, they'll add specials like a burger of the month.

The location was originally home to the Ice House, built in 1917, an institution that provided ice products to Plano residents and businesses, says Urban partner Payton Hickey.

"You could pull up and get a block of ice from workers with tongs," Hickey says. "During remodeling, we could still see the raised floor where the freezer was, where they kept the ice."

They operated a licensed location of Starbucks in that space until 2024, when Starbucks opened a store nearby with a drive-thru in the former longtime Jack in the Box at 15th Street and US-75.

Decor at Patty Lou's will embrace a diner feel with counter seating, while incorporating elements from Patty Lou Peter's life, Blaugrund says. (It's a nice coincidence that her name syncs up with "hamburger patty.")

"We'll have her original guitar and some memorabilia in the restaurant — a cool mixture of country music and burger restaurant," Blaugrund says.

burgers openings