Clubby Restaurant

New Dallas global restaurant nabs Deep Ellum location with clubby past

Pierogis fit in with the global influences at new IdleRye.

Photo by Kevin Marple

A modern American restaurant with a globally influenced menu will open in Deep Ellum, in a space that has been home to many a bar over the years. Called IdleRye, it will open in the spring at 2826 Elm St., most recently 2826 Arnetic, but previously Club 2826, Club Envy, and many other clubs with either "club" or "2826" in their names.

IdleRye, which come on really needs a space between the "Idle" and the "Rye," comes from the restaurant group Smoke & Mortar, led by Bruce Wills, Daniel Wills, and Ray Skradzinski, owners of The Table in Flower Mound, and Tim Porter, CFO.

IdleRye’s cuisine will pull from each of the owners’ backgrounds — Skradzinski has Polish roots, and the Wills brothers are from Louisiana — to create colorful dishes with a global flair. There'll be a focus on small bites, house-made pastas, and sausages, not unlike what's on the menu at sibling restaurant The Table. The menu will include appetizers, salads, sandwiches, entrees, sides, and desserts — pretty much every category you can find on a menu — plus brunch and late night menus, too.

The drink menu will feature cocktails inspired by the prohibition era, wine by the glass or bottle, and beer on tap.

Ray Skradzinski, Bruce Wills, and Daniel Wills are veterans of Wolfgang Puck Fine Dining Group. Skradzinski will serve as chef; Bruce and Daniel Wills will serve as operators. IdleRye marks a return to Dallas for Bruce Wills and Skradzinski, who worked for several years at Wolfgang Puck’s Five Sixty in Reunion Tower.

According to a release, the meaning behind the name IdleRye comes from a combination of idle, to spend time relaxing, not engaged in work or activity; and rye, the grain used to make whiskey. This is good that they explained this. If only there were more explanation about the name in a quotation form.

"As the name suggests, we want our guests to sit back and enjoy our food and drinks without a worry in the world," says Bruce Wills, not to be confused with actor Bruce Willis, who was involved in a Dallas restaurant back in the '90s when he was part of the ownership group of Planet Hollywood, which opened in the West End, then closed. But he has nothing to do with this place.

IdleRye will be part of the block that's being redone by Westdale; it'll take up 3,400 square feet, with a 900-square-foot of patio. Patio is a must. There'll also be a courtyard behind the restaurant with cafe-style seating.

Bruce Wills worked with Kuzuu Design, who designed local restaurants FT33 and Tei-An, among others. IdleRye's design is inspired by rustic and steampunk influences with raw metals, wood, Edison-style lighting, and pipe fittings. The building will feature original brick from the ‘80s.

Hours will be Monday-Friday, 11 am-midnight, and Saturdays and Sundays, 10 am-midnight.

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Sushi News

Mizu Sushi opens at Greenville Ave Dallas address with sushi history

Mizu Sushi

A new sushi restaurant has debuted on Dallas' Greenville Avenue at a location with a long sushi history: Called Mizu Sushi & Handroll Bar, it opened in late November at 2014 Greenville Ave. in the space most recently occupied by Kaiyo Sushi but previously, for many years, Teppo, until it closed in 2022.

Mizu is from chef Roy Ahn, a Dallas sushi veteran who has owned or managed sushi restaurants such as Little Katana, Kome Sushi, and Sushi Zen in Southlake; he also owns Otaru, which he opened in the former Lucia Dallas space in Bishop Arts in 2024.

Ahn specializes in good sushi done well and at a fair price, and that formula is in play at Mizu, where the goal was to provide an old-school traditional sushi restaurant that could serve as a relaxed alternative to the current omakase trend, says Ahn's son, Chris Ahn.

"A lot of places that have opened lately have been omakase, but we wanted to offer an option where you don't have to break the bank," Chris says. "Not everyone has $300 — when it's that expensive, it's not easy to be able to indulge all the time."

If you really want omakase, they do have an omakase-style offering — "but we are also there if you don't want a formal experience — if you just want to come in and order a few items a la carte, and in a more casual style," Chris says.

Their menu features traditional sushi and hand rolls, with all the classics from tuna to uni to hamachi. "That's my father's style — to offer a variety of good-quality fish from Japan and around the world," Chris says.

They also have a full bar with cocktails, wine, beer, and sake.

They took over the location from chef Jimmy Park, who opened Kaiyo there in November 2023, but who says he wanted to place all his focus on Shoyo, his award-winning restaurant.

Mizu means water, Chris says.

"Japan is surrounded by water, and if you look inside the restaurant, it has a lot of blue neon lights that are reminiscent of water," he says. "We just wanted to creat a place with music, vibes, good lighting — just a nice place to get traditional sushi," he says.

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