Fish Dish

Lovers Seafood hooks all-star Dallas team for restaurant and market

Lovers Seafood and Market will combine sit-down eatery with fresh seafood market.

Photo courtesy of Aaron Staudenmaier

The team that owns Shinsei in North Dallas is opening another restaurant, this one with a seafood theme. Called Lovers Seafood and Market, it's a new eatery from Tracy Rathbun and Lynae Fearing that will open in March in the former Rex's Seafood location, at 5200 W. Lovers Ln. at Inwood Road.

Rathbun and Fearing have assembled a crack team of familiar faces, beginning with chef Aaron Staudenmaier, a former chef at Abacus who left in 2012 to lead the kitchen at Boot Ranch in Fredericksburg.

Staudenmaier's menu includes soups such as gumbo and clam chowder, and shareable starters such as Thai-style mussels and clams, ahi tuna poke, and Cajun fried oysters.

Larger plates include fish and chips, a Cajun roasted half-chicken, and fish tacos. Sandwiches include a burger, lobster roll, crispy hot chicken sliders, and po’boys.

The restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner daily. In addition to sit-down dining, the restaurant will feature a full bar and a market selling seafood and shellfish for customers to take home.

Other hires include pastry chef Ty Bohoney, general manager Max Heidenreich, and assistant manager DJ Andre 7.

Bohoney is a classically trained chef with extensive experience in restaurants and catering. His most recent position was with Kent Rathbun Concepts, where he created menus and executed pastries and breads for full-service catered events.

Heidenreich represents another Rathbun family reunion — he started at Abacus and opened the original Jasper's in Plano.

DJ Andre 7 is a popular DJ, actor/model, and fitness trainer who will bring "a fun and energetic vibe to the restaurant," says a release.

Designed by Greg O'Neal of Philosophy Design, the space seats 79 and is adorned with shiplap lumber walls, hemp ropes, and herringbone millwork, plus a wood stain patina to give the restaurant a modern twist on coastal comfort and elegance.

An aquamarine bar sits beneath a sea of crystal liquor decanters, retrofitted into a beautiful lighting feature. Outside, a boardwalk-inspired patio can accommodate an additional 40 diners.

Rathbun and Fearing say they couldn't be more excited about their new concept.

"This is our neighborhood, and when the opportunity presented itself, we knew we had to jump on it," they say. "We’re looking forward to providing our friends, neighbors, and the entire city with great food, drinks, and the freshest market catches in a fun and relaxed setting."

openings

Supermarket News

Texas supermarket chain H-E-B to open its first location in Carrollton

H-E-B

New H-E-B supermarket grocery store in Allen.

The city of Carrollton will welcome its first location of the massively popular H-E-B supermarket chain. According to a release, the store got a thumbs up from the Carrollton City Council at a meeting on January 6, when they approved an ordinance to rezone the land at the northeast corner of Parker Road and Josey Lane, in order to make way for the grocery giant.

The zoning amendment accommodates a 120,000-square-foot store with gas station, car wash, restaurant, and pharmacy — with the latter two offering drive-thru services.

Other features will include covered grocery pick-up and more than 600 parking spaces, along with bakery, seafood counter, meat market, floral section, housewares, produce, and seasonal plants.

Carrollton’s Planning and Zoning Commission held a public hearing on November 24, 2025, and made a recommendation to approve the ordinance to rezone the tract to allow for not only retail space, but the onsite gas station and car wash, as well. A traffic impact analysis was also submitted, reviewed, and approved by Carrollton’s Transportation Engineering Division.

In a statement, Carrollton Mayor Steve Babick says they are all so very proud.

"This venture is the culmination of years of hard work across the region by several actors and shines a light on Carrollton as our community continues to set itself apart as an example of investment and development opportunity," Babick says.

H-E-B director of public affairs Mabrie Jackson says they are "excited to bring a new store to Carrollton and surrounding cities."

"While no construction timeline has been finalized, we look forward to sharing more details later this year," Jackson says.

Intriguing that she felt compelled to mention the "surrounding cities." In case you don't have Google maps in front of you, cities surrounding Carrollton include Addison, Farmers Branch, Lewisville, and The Colony.

H-E-B opened its first DFW-area store in Frisco in 2022, and has since opened locations in Plano, Frisco, Allen, McKinney, Melissa, Rockwall, and Prosper, plus two in Tarrant County: Fort Worth/Alliance, and Mansfield.

supermarkets openings h-e-b