Burger News

Dallas indie restaurant Sky Rocket Burger does 3 things well

Not one patty, not two, but three.

Photo courtesy of Sky Rocket

This is a story about a burger joint newly opened in Dallas that is not a chain: Sky Rocket Burger is an intrepid little restaurant at 7877 Frankford Rd. that's independently-owned by Scott Wagner and his wife Tio, two California transplants with a dream to flip burgers.

Their approach: keep it simple, do it well.

"We do burgers and fries, it's pretty basic," Scott says. "But we use Angus beef — brisket and chuck, fresh not frozen — and we grind our meat on location. That's kind of our niche."

Which is not to deny that some restaurants do the same thing. "But it's not something your typical burger joint is going to do," he says.

"We also have our buns baked special for us, and we butter and toast them," he says. "Our French fries are hand-cut and we use russet potatoes and leave the skin on, of course. Each piece of what we do is thought out. But we also try to keep our prices down as much as possible. For the quality we're doing, it's a good value."

They cook on a flat-top. A single patty goes for $4.89, and a cheeseburger is $5.39. The buns are sprinkled with sesame seeds, and a burger comes with lettuce, tomato, and pickles. They go all the way up to triple burgers; despite their gargantuan size, Wagner says they sell at least half a dozen of those a day. "To guys, mostly," he says. Duh.

Their location has given them a ready-made set of customers. "We're close to the University of Texas at Dallas, so we're getting a lot of students," he says.

Their token offering to vegetarians is a grilled cheese. "As of now, we have no veggie patty, but maybe in the future," he says. "People tell us to get a chicken sandwich. We could do that, too. We have fountain drinks, and people ask about milkshakes.

"But next thing you turn around, we'll be Cheesecake Factory," he says. "We're trying to steer away from that. If you want a killer burger, we're your spot."

burgers

Closing Time

Some surprising names in this list of Dallas restaurant closures

Photo courtesy of On the Border

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The end of one year and beginning of another often provokes soul-searching, some closing of doors. That's definitely the case in the Dallas restaurant world with a rash of closings that have taken place in recent weeks — so many that it requires a list to keep track.

These six restaurants have either just closed or are about to, and there's another seven closures we've already reported, listed at the bottom. In good news, despite media reports to the contrary, Pizza Inn is not closing its Dallas location.

Here's the latest round of closures:

Bam's Vegan vegan smoothies and wraps spot at 2301 N. O'Connor Rd. in Irving is closing at the end of month, after five years. According to their statement, they are choosing not to renew their lease and their last day will be January 26. Founder Brandon Waller said he will be taking a step back to focus on his family, as well as creating ways to make the business even better "to reach people across the globe."

Black Walnut Cafe, the family-friendly, casual restaurant concept based in Houston, has left the Dallas market after 11 years. The chain had two locations in the Dallas area, in Allen and Coppell. They were known for upscale home-cooking such as chicken-fried steak but would regularly rotate in new dishes such as shrimp & spinach salad, portabella & goat cheese pasta, roasted vegetable sandwich, Thai chicken noodle, and ahi & avocado toast.

Eddie's Napolis the family-owned Italian pizzeria chain has closed its location in Prosper. The chain was founded by namesake Eddie Vllasaliu and had a number of locations spread across the northern suburbs. Vllasaliu sold some of those locations over the years which were subsequently deemed not as good, Prosper being one of those locations. You haven't lived in an outlying suburb until you've ordered pizza from an Eddie's Napolis only to find that you ordered from the "wrong" location. The only Eddie's still in the family's hands is in Frisco at 8822 Teal Pkwy. They also own Dua Trattoria, an Italian-Mediterranean fusion restaurant they opened in Frisco in 2024.

Meddlesome Moth the craft beer gastropub in Dallas' Design District is closing in the spring. A spokesperson did not respond to queries but employees were told that that the longtime beer haunt would not be renewing its lease due to an increase in rent. The Moth was Dallas' original gastropub, a pioneer not only in the craft beer world but also a pioneer in the Design District when it opened there in 2010 — followed by restaurants such as FT33 (now closed), Sassetta (now closed), Wheelhouse (now closed), Carbone (now open, yay) and Carbone Vino (also now open).

Morton's the Steakhouse which had been operating in Dallas since 1987 closed its Dallas location at 2222 McKinney Ave. According to COO Scott Crain, they opted not to renew their lease and shut down on December 31. Morton's had been at that location since 2011, the same year it was acquired by Landry's. (It started out in the West End.) Crain says they are looking for a new location "but until one is found, we encourage our Dallas-area guests to join us at our nearby sister properties including Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse, Catch, The Oceanaire Seafood Room, and Saltgrass Steak House." Four Morton's are still open in Texas — three in the Houston area and one in San Antonio — among nearly 50 across the U.S.

On The Border Mexican Grill & Cantina the Tex-Mex chain known for margaritas and fajitas closed its Frisco-adjacent location in Plano at 5000 SH-121; according to a company representative it closed on December 31. It had been in that location for nearly 20 years. On The Border was originally part of Brinker International and opened its first location in Dallas on Knox Street in 1982. The closure leaves only 20 locations in the Dallas area, with the closest being the location at Willow Bend.

These six recent or pending closures join a growing list of closures that have emerged in recent weeks, as follows:

Trova Wine Market, the Dallas wine bar, will close on January 18, sale is underway.
400 Gradi, the global Italian pizza chain, closed its location in McKinney, and will close its original Dallas location soon.
Sushi Marquee at The Star in Frisco shut out the lights.
City Works, vibrant brewpub at The Star in Frisco, closed after New Year's.
Petra and the Beast, the award-winning Dallas restaurant from chef Misti Norris closing
Terra Mediterranean the Mediterranean favorite in Plano closed on December 8, almost four years to the day they opened.
Whistle Britches the fried chicken & biscuits concept from chef Omar Flores quietly closed its location at 6110 Frankford Rd. in November, but is rumored to be reopening as Flores' Mexican concept Muchachos.

Not closing
One restaurant that is not closing, despite a story claiming so by WFAA, is Pizza Inn. The restaurant, which has been open at 4304 Live Oak St. (and not Oak Lawn Avenue, as the WFAA story originally claimed) for over 25 years, is merely changing hands. According to a statement, "we want to assure our guests that our location at Live Oak is not closing but transitioning to new management as of January 20, 2025. We are excited for this new chapter and we deeply appreciate the ongoing support from our local Dallas community. Pizza Inn looks forward to serving our guests for many years to come."

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