Boot Scooting

Vintage honky-tonk heads west of Dallas with unique steakhouse twist

This is something that not every honky-tonk has.

Photo courtesy of Hannah Way

A longtime honky-tonk in the east is taking a big step west. Southern Junction Nightclub and Steakhouse, a steakhouse and country nightclub in Royse City, is opening a second branch in the centrally located city of Irving.

Southern Junction will bring along all of its honky-tonk essentials including live music, dancing, and even a mechanical bull. But it also has something extra that other honky-tonks do not: a full steakhouse restaurant menu.

The Royse City original opened in 1985 but really came into its own in 1987 when it was taken over by Paul Morelan. He used his restaurant experience to create a menu, combined with a stellar lineup of country music acts. Performers who played there include Garth Brooks, Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, and Dwight Yoakam. A dress code calls for "no spurs."

Morelan and his wife, Sandy, retired in 2008. Current owners include Charles Houk and Chris Harlow, who executed Morelan's vision and found a new partner in Eric Linder, who wanted a new concept in Irving.

The club will open in a roomy hall with more than 20,000 square feet at 101 N. Rogers Rd., just west of old downtown Irving, in a space that was once a nightclub called Texas Dance Depot, but was most recently an event space called Lindero Ranch.

"Irving is a really interesting place," Houk says. "Right now, the audience for our current location is limited mostly to people from the east side of the Metroplex. People come in for special occasions, but we know there are people who'd like what we offer if we were more convenient. The Irving location is right in middle of the Metroplex."

They expect to be open in early spring, once they punch out on a few requests from the city of Irving, including the completion of a parking lot nearby.

Hours are Wednesday through Saturday, from 6 pm to 2 am, and 3 am on weekends. There's a nicely built stage for performers, plus pool tables, free line dancing lessons, and "buck-off" nights where people compete for the prize of best rider on the mechanical bull, just like in Urban Cowboy.

Steak is the star of the small menu, with filet, rib-eye, New York strip, T-bone, and kabob in chicken or beef. Sides consist of chicken salad, a salad, or a baked potato.

There's also a unique feature where customers can select their cut of meat and cook-their-own on grills set up inside the restaurant. The trimmings from the steak are used to make burgers.

"Paul had a steakhouse in Houston before he opened Southern Junction, called Texas Steakhouse Ranch," Houk says. "All of our recipes were passed down from him. The spice rub we put on the steaks came from Paul, as did the aging process."

And the idea to transform from restaurant into a party atmosphere as the night grows late also came from Morelan.

"Dallas probably does not need another honky-tonk and it sure doesn't need another steakhouse — but what we do is unique in that we have both of those things under one roof at the same time," Houk says.

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Revolving Doors

12 restaurants in Dallas that have either just opened or just closed

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Harumama Noodles & Buns

In the inevitable ebb and flow of Dallas restaurants, openings and closings are part of the deal — often coming at the end of the year, when restaurateurs, like the rest of us, take stock of the future.

When there is more than one opening and closure, it becomes difficult to keep track. For this reason, there are lists.

Here's a roundup of Dallas restaurant openings and closures, with the bad news first.

CLOSURES

Terra Mediterranean
Mediterranean favorite in Plano closed on December 8, almost four years to the day they opened. When restaurateur brothers Jalal Chanaa and Adam Shanaa opened it at the The Shops at Willow Bend, it was the third location of Terra, following the original in Fort Worth and another in Irving. Both of those locations have since closed, although they're planning to reopen Fort Worth soon. Meanwhile, the brothers are advising Dallas fans to head to Ali Baba, their other restaurant in Richardson, which they say has the same menu.

Yummies
Despite the confusingly quirky name, this Allen restaurant was a fast food halal restaurant featuring halal beef patties prepared fresh in-store every day, plus pita sandwiches, shawarma, and fajitas. They'd been open for seven years including enduring the pandemic, and locals liked their burgers. But they closed at the end of November.

Whistle Britches
Fried chicken & biscuits concept from chef Omar Flores quietly closed its location at 6110 Frankford Rd. in November. Queries about the what and why are going unanswered, but a recording on the location's phone says both that #1 the closure is temporary and also #2 a new concept will go in its place. This was the location featured in Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, so closing it seems like a shoot-yourself-in-the-foot kind of move, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. There are still two remaining locations open, in Plano and Southlake.

Mixtitos Kitchen
Mexican-fusion restaurant in East Dallas finally closed after two years of chef-owner Jose Luis Rodriguez bemoaning a lack of interest in his unusual menu of American, Mexican, and French dishes. He earned oodles of idiotic media attention, but the menu was a tough sell in a space that was previously home to La Acapulqueña, which served cheap Mexican food and margaritas in that space for 33 years. Changing the menu or paying his rent apparently never crossed his mind.

Barley & Board
Denton brewpub is closing after nearly 10 years. According to a post from the owners, the lease was up and they opted not to renew. B&B brought a level of cosmopolitan cool to Denton, combined with an easygoing vibe that made it a fresh addition when it was opened by a hospitality supergroup in 2015. Alas, they got pummeled by the pandemic; one chef said that "things were never the same after COVID." In 2021, they pared down the menu, yet still remained a big magnet, bringing lots if revenue into the Square. A second location — which opened at Grandscape in 2018 — closed in November. Denton will close on January 6.

Taco Cabana in Murphy
The Taco Cabana location at 104 FM 544 in Murphy has permanently closed. A Taco Cabana representative said that the location was not doing enough business. People of Murphy, it's on you. Fortunately, the chain has 18 other Dallas-area locations. Support your neighborhood Taco Cabana!

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OPENINGS

Rodeo Cold
Yee-haw dive bar in old east Dallas at 3826 Ross Ave., in the former Eastbound & Down space, is now open. Rodeo Cold is a sibling of Green Light Social, the Austin-born nightlife venue which opened off Good Latimer Freeway in 2021 from owners Robert Dummond and Ian Fletcher, who've partnered with Ian’s brother Eric Fletcher. Their vision is a bar with a late '70s/early '80s vibe plus a little Texas Western color thrown in, and a basic menu with American classics such as steak fingers with gravy, Texas chili, burgers, hot dogs, Frito pies, and nothing-too-fancy ready-to-drink cocktails.

MiYa Chinese
Chinese restaurant that just opened in Casa Linda Plaza in the former Pei Wei space, is the brainchild of David Romano, an industry veteran, with visionary Jia Huang, who grew up in China and has 10-plus years of experience in restaurant operations in America. They're doing classic Chinese take-out like beef with broccoli and orange chicken, plus hand-pulled noodle dishes such as Sichuan Dan Dan with cucumber, carrot, and sesame Dan Dan sauce ranging in price from $14 to $18. The space is nice but the music — pop stuff like "You're the One That I Want" by Olivia Newton-John piped in extra-loud — is iffy.

Be Home Soon
Casa Linda Plaza is en fuego right now and here's yet another opening: a place with rock-star cred that opened in mid-November. Be Home Soon is from Madison King, a onetime Dallas musician-turned-chef who envisions a warm, comfortable restaurant with a full bar and menu she describes as "home cooking, no matter where you're from." They're open for lunch and dinner with fun appetizers, soups, salads, sandwiches, and blue plate specials like meatloaf for dinner.

Kafi BBQ
This one jumps the gun a little because it isn't quite open yet — but it's days away. Kafi is an unusual BBQ restaurant specializing in halal Wagyu beef, and it will open at 8140 N. MacArthur Blvd. #100 in Valley Ranch on December 14. It's from Salahodeen Abdul-Kafi, a tech engineer and amateur chef who started bringing his BBQ to events at his mosque, where he would sell out very quickly. The menu will include $15 Wagyu brisket sandwiches, brisket on a stick, Iraqi kebab-inspired sausage, and combo plates.

Harumama Noodles + Buns
Small San Diego-based chain with five locations in California is known for "cute" steamed buns decorated to look chicks, pigs, cows, pandas, etc. They've opened a location in Carrollton — their first in Texas — at 1060 W. Frankford Rd. Beyond its twee appeal and Instagram value, the restaurant has a big menu featuring ramen, poke, bao buns, crab wontons, fried rice, potstickers, eggrolls, and salads.

Russo's New York Pizzeria - Frisco
Longtime pizza chain based in Houston which serves New York-style pizza has opened a new location in Frisco at 3420 Main St. #200, in a small new center near Teal Parkway. In addition to full pies, they offer pizza by the slice.

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