Restaurant Ambitions
New R Bar & Grill hopes to sex up Arlington restaurant scene — in a hotel
Houston restaurateur Lonnie Schiller is about to make Arlington cool with a new restaurant at the Hilton Arlington called R Bar & Grill. Schiller, of Schiller Del Grande Restaurant Group, has partnered with chef Michael West to open this new concept on March 17.
West previously worked under chef Joanne Bondy at the Old Hickory Steakhouse at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine. His menu is described in a release as "casual but innovative," with dishes like an 18-ounce cowboy rib-eye with onion rings; wild boar chili; pizzas; and "food truck-inspired dishes" such as banh mi, chicken-fried chicken tacos and Wagyu beef burgers. Really, is a banh mi sandwich a "food truck" dish?
Cocktails such as the "new old fashioned" will be mixology-style, with fresh juices, house-made bitters and mixers.
Schiller, a founding investor in CultureMap, assisted with the concept development. "Hotel restaurants have often been a bit of an afterthought," he said in a release. "Just enough to satisfy the guests and provide room service, but rarely a destination experience.
"The team wanted to approach this project differently and change all that. We designed R Bar & Grill with a street-level experience in mind, bringing elements you might find in some of the exciting and thriving districts closer in Dallas."
The release describes the hotel decor as contrasting to the "standard suburban hotel restaurant." Ooooh, a dig against suburban hotels. The decor will be defined by hues, natural materials, rustic wood, galvanized zinc and soft lighting. A central bar and wood-burning pizza oven will be the visual focal points.
R Bar will be open Sunday through Thursday, 11 am-11 pm, and until 2 am on Friday and Saturday.