Happy Healthy Dining

Flower Child restaurant blooms for Dallas' healthy hippie diners

Flower Child restaurant Mother's Eart Bowl

The opening date for Flower Child restaurant has arrived.

Photo courtesy of Flower Child

Opening day has arrived for Flower Child, the latest concept from Fox Restaurant Concepts, the Arizona-based group that also owns True Food Kitchen. Flower Child is the fast-casual chain that skews younger and healthier, with more vegetarian and vegan options on the menu.

Look for it to open in all its hippieish pop-art glory on March 14, in the former Gap store at 5450 W. Lovers Ln. in Inwood Village, near Empire Baking Co. and the Inwood Theatre.

A preview was held on March 11 for media, neighbors in the shopping center, and various bon vivants who took in Flower Child's food, fruity drinks, and "modern bohemian abode" setting, with splashes of '60s-era colors — lots of lime green and a pretty rainbow-colored mural on the back wall.

You order at a counter and get a number, and the food is delivered when it's ready. Silverware is metal but drinks are served in plastic cups with lids and straws, which doesn't seem to go with the hippie spirit. There's an open kitchen, wrap-around patio, and designated "yoga mat parking," where you can drop off your mat while you eat.

The menu offers organic, gluten-free, vegetarian, and vegan items for lunch and dinner seven days a week. There is much mix-and-match, with make-your-own combination bowls where you can choose vegetables, grains, and proteins if you must. There are also salads, wraps, and entrée bowls designed by the restaurant, combining foodie ingredients such as quinoa and heirloom beans.

So you can order anything from a side of mashed potatoes to a wrap sandwich to something as composed as the Forbidden Rice, a bowl with black pearl and red japonica rice, snap peas, bok choy, broccoli florets, and root veggies in season such as maroon carrots or turnips.

The Mother Earth bowl combines ancient grains with sweet potato, portobello mushroom, avocado, cucumber, broccoli pesto, leafy greens, red pepper miso vinaigrette, and hemp seed.

Salads include kale with grapefruit, apple, black currant, smoked almonds, white cheddar, and apple cider vinaigrette, and a "vegan ingredient" salad with Romaine, diced cauliflower, avocado, roasted corn, grape tomatoes, olive bits, and sunflower seeds in a lemon-tahini dressing.

You can slap a slab of protein on top of anything you order, from a selection that includes chicken, grass-fed steak, salmon, and tofu. They're all grilled until they acquire a browned crust, including the tofu, which had an impressively creamy-yet-firm texture.

There is wine and beer, kombucha on tap, and Flower Child's own cold-brew coffee.

The first Flower Child in Texas opened in 2016 in Austin, which seems only fitting. It'll be the second Fox restaurant to open in Dallas; True Food Kitchen opened in Preston Center in 2013.

But Fox isn't done with us yet. It'll open another TFK in Plano at Legacy West plus a branch of North Italia, the Italian concept. A second North Italia will open in Uptown Dallas in 2018, alongside The Henry, cast as the "greatest neighborhood restaurant."

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Closure News

Mexican bar and restaurant on Dallas' Ross Ave closes after only 4 months

dallas.culturemap.com

A Mexican hangout from San Diego has departed Dallas: El Chingon, which served Mexican food, cocktails, and a clubby atmosphere near downtown at 3404 Ross Ave., closed on Sunday, September 6, after a mere four months.

The venue, which opened its doors on May 1, blamed the closure on the city of Dallas' code compliance department, citing repeated procedural issues that ultimately persuaded the operators that closing was the only option.

The short lifespan has to be a record, especially given the extensive investment made on the space — an abrupt ending to what was a prolonged birthing by GBOD Hospitality Group, the San Diego owners, who invested more than four years and millions of dollars to get it open.

"Our goal was simple: give Dallas the best, most Chingón experience we possibly could," their statement said. "And Dallas showed up for us…. Unfortunately, almost from the beginning, operating that vision became a constant fight with the City."

"We dealt with repeated Code Compliance visits, citations, and ongoing challenges to our Certificate of Occupancy and restaurant use," their post said. "Over time, it became increasingly clear that El Chingón simply was not what the City wanted us to be. Events, programming, dancing, the way we used our space — nearly every part of the experience became another opportunity to find fault with our identity."

El Chingon operated as a high-energy restaurant, bar, and nightlife destination known for its “Bad Ass Mexican” cuisine. The concept was founded in San Diego’s Gaslamp Quarter in 2017, where it built a following for its lively programming and street-food menu of tacos, burritos, and shareable bites.

It's part of GBOD Hospitality Group, a San Diego outfit founded by brothers Raymond and Patrick Davoudi, with third partner Joe Santos, who owns San Diego bars such as Havana and Prohibition Lounge. Dallas was the third El Chingon, following San Diego and Fort Worth, where a location opened in 2020 and has not experienced the issues that befell the Dallas outpost.

The company first acquired the Dallas location in 2022, and began what felt like a never-ending period of reconstruction and renovation of the rundown brick structure, first built in 1945, which years ago had been home to a wholesale floral shop.

"We made changes," they said. "We worked with City officials. We worked with the neighborhood. We hired consultants and attorneys. We met with elected officials. We repeatedly tried to find a reasonable path forward while continuing to operate the restaurant we spent millions of dollars building. Instead, the scrutiny intensified."

"Eventually, there comes a point where fighting City Hall becomes a bigger part of running the business than serving the people who came through our doors. So, City Hall wins this round."

They've since put the property up for sale but did hint that they might reopen, stating that "we have not given up on Dallas."

"We still believe in this city. We still believe there is a place here for what El Chingón does. And we hope that in the coming years, we will have the opportunity to invest in Dallas again and once more be part of this community," they said. 'For now, thank you, Dallas. For every taco. Every tequila. Every celebration. Every packed night. Every memory. Stay Chingón. This isn’t goodbye forever."

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