Ice Cream News

Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams to open shop on ultra-hot Dallas thoroughfare

Ice cream is where it's at.

Jeni's

An acclaimed ice cream chain is scooping up a location on Dallas' Greenville Avenue: Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams is opening a location at 2012 Greenville Ave., the space previously occupied by Steel City Pops, which closed in 2021 due to the pandemic after seven years.

A spokesperson from Jeni's confirmed that the shop is coming to the Lower Greenville neighborhood, with an opening date still TBA, but possibly by the summer, fingers crossed.

Jeni's is a nationally acclaimed brand based in Columbus, Ohio, that first became available locally by retail at Whole Foods Market and Central Market stores.

They made their Dallas debut with their first local shop in Deep Ellum in February 2021, then opened a second area location in Addison, in the Prestonwood Place shopping center in October 2021.

(They also have locations in Florida, Nashville, Chicago, Atlanta, Charleston, Los Angeles, St. Louis, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Charlotte, Austin, and Houston.)

Their scoop shops offer about 19 flavors (depending on the location), with incredible-sounding offerings such as Milkiest Chocolate, Wildberry Lavender, Brown Butter Almond Brittle, Goat Cheese & Roasted Cherries, and Coffee With Cream & Sugar, made from Intelligentsia coffee, the acclaimed Chicago roaster.

They offer creative vegan flavors such as Caramel Pecan Sticky Buns, Cold Brew With Coconut Cream, Frose Sorbet, and Banana Cream Pudding, a recent addition made with real bananas, coconut cream, and vanilla wafers.

They also rotate in seasonal specials like Boozy Eggnog, Cognac with Gingerbread, and White Chocolate Peppermint. Their latest is Maple Soaked Pancakes, a breakfast-inspired flavor made with salted butter and real maple syrup.

One scoop is $5.95, but you can get half scoops so you are able to get more than one flavor, or a flight of 10 half scoops for $20.

Notably, they do not muddy the waters with other items such as sundaes or milkshakes. This is ice cream, baby.

For years, Dallas had no decent ice cream, but we're in a good place for ice cream right now, with the imminent arrival of Van Leeuwen, the ice cream concept from New York that is opening a location in the West Village in Uptown, as well as numerous gelato shops in town, including two nearby: Botolino Gelato Artigianale at 2116 Greenville Ave., a block down from where Jeni's will go, and Zero Gradi Gelateria and Dessert Bar in downtown Dallas.

openings

Wings News

New chicken wing joint sells 'em by the pound in Dallas' Deep Ellum

Wings By the Pound

A no-nonsense wing spot has debuted in Dallas' Deep Ellum: Called Wings By the Pound, it sells exactly that, at a shop at 2707 Main St., in the former home of the Slutty Vegan burger joint, which closed in 2024.

Wings by the Pound states proudly that it "isn't a combo joint" but is instead "a counter built on one idea — call your weight, watch it hit the scale, and take it off the scale." Then presumably you take it home, you eat it, end of story.

It presents itself as an alternative to typical wing spots which sell wings by the number. Numbers are complicated.

"We sell you weight. Pick wings or tenders, call your poundage from a half-pound to four, and we weigh it up in front of you," they say.

From there it's the standard wing-joint set of choices: wings or tenders, level of heat, sauces, and sides. "No combos, no guessing," they brag, although is there a lot of guessing with wings?

Here's some very specific numbers:

One pound of wings, which they approximate at 12 pieces, is $15.05. Two pounds, or 24 pieces, is $27.11.
One pound of tenders, which they approximate at 8 pieces, is $17.02. Two pounds, or 16 pieces, is $25.06.

They also sell french fries — crinkle cut — in choice of plain, cheese sauce, or "pound sauce" for $8 to $15. Pound sauce is their version of the prototypical secret sauce, which generally boils down to Russian-ish dressing, i.e., mayonnaise and ketchup with various add-ins, spicy and otherwise; the version at Wings By the Pound incorporates hot sauce.

There are wet sauces, including Thai, chipotle, hot honey, and garlic Parm; dry rubs, including suya (peanut) and jalapeño-lemon; and five dips: cheese sauce, ranch, bleu cheese, honey mustard, and pound sauce.

Some might recall that there was a Wings By the Pound concept that first debuted in 2020 at Trinity Groves, the restaurant incubator in West Dallas, but that closed in 2022.

This Wings By the Pound is a new concept from ArkDal Hospitality Group, headed by Cary Thompson, Royce Colley, and Mo Wells, which also operates Velour Restaurant in Victory Park.

The location in Deep Ellum has no seating on premise and functions as a take-out spot only. A spokesperson said that the location opened in mid-June.

chicken deep ellum openings