Green Stuff

Dallas restaurants wink at St. Patrick's Day with Irish good eats

If you like corned beef, this is your weekend.

Photo courtesy of Mimi's

St. Patrick's Day usually brings to mind liquid refreshment rather than food. But these Dallas restaurants are here to set us straight, with celebratory dishes and edible treats to eat, not just drink. Note: You're in luck if you like corned beef.

Check out these St. Patrick's Day specials:

City Works
Both locations in Frisco and Fort Worth are offering a week of St. Patrick’s Day bites including corned beef Reuben ($15) with braised corned beef, champagne sauerkraut, Guinness caramelized onions, Swiss cheese, and whole grain whiskey mustard on toasted marble rye bread; shepherd’s pie ($18) with beef, vegetables, and goat cheese potato puree; and corned beef poutine ($14) with crispy fries, onion gravy, and cheese curds. March 12-18.

Dunkin'
The "not-just-doughnuts" chain is bringing back Irish Creme flavored coffees and espresso drinks – one of the most wished-for coffee flavors by the brand's fans – for the first time in five years. Irish Creme will be available as a flavor in Dunkin' hot and iced coffees, frozen coffee, lattes, cappuccinos, Americanos, macchiatos, and more. Through the end of March.

Eatzi's
Locations in Dallas and Grapevine will do a St. Patrick’s Day menu with Irish soda bread, the legendary sweet bread with raisins and caraway seeds; chocolate and pistachio mousse layered with white cake, Nutella croquante, and chocolate ganache; and an Irish whiskey cupcake with chocolate, coffee, whiskey, and Bailey’s Irish Cream. March 14-17. Corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes will also be available, but only at the grill March 16-17.

Holy Grail Pub
Plano pub opens early on March 17 at 10 am to serve their popular Guinness pancakes with Jameson Irish Whiskey and Bailey's whipped cream. All day they'll feature a special menu of Irish favorites such as their Irish Cuban sandwich, corned beef with cabbage, and an Irish isle cheeseboard.

Hopdoddy
Burger chain is offering a special burger to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day all month long: The Dubliner burger, inspired by shepherd's pie, includes cheddar mashed potatoes, "lamb pie" patty, mushrooms, carrots, peas, parsley & celery sour cream aioli. If you pair it with a Guinness beer, it's $10 through March 17. But the burger is available all month long.

Mimi’s Cafe
They're doing corned beef & cabbage with steamed carrots and potatoes with whole grain mustard for $15. Their corned beef is a house made, eight-hour, slow-cooked brisket. You can also get it in corned beef & hash with two eggs, roasted potatoes, and toast or muffin for $11, served daily on Mimi’s All-Day Brunch menu. March 15-17.

The Playwright
Traditional Irish pub at One Arts Plaza features daily tastings, as follows: March 13, 5-7 pm – Jameson IPA Tasting. March 14, 5-9 pm – Killian’s Pint Night. March 15 – Guinness and oyster specials.

Public School Restaurant & Bar
Both locations in Uptown Dallas and Addison will serve Mama's Little Yella Pils in verdant (and safe) green food coloring, for $7 a pint. March 15-17.

Snuffer's Restaurant & Bar
All 10 locations will be serving two corned beef sliders on mini toasted poppy seed buns with sauerkraut, Swiss cheese, pickles, thousand island dressing, and fries for $7. Green beer is $3. There'll be $2 Jell-O shots at participating locations and $5 Jameson shots at any location, but not during the St. Pat’s parade at the Snuffer’s on Greenville. Now through March 17.

Sprinkles
St Patrick’s Day Shamrock Cupcakes have a chocolate cake, studded with mint dark chocolate M&M’s, and green mint frosting. Available through March 17. (If that doesn't strike your fancy, wait a day and go for their Flamin' Hot Cheetos Cupcakes, featuring vanilla cake, cored and filled with crushed Flamin Hot Cheetos, topped with white cheddar cheese frosting and finished with Flamin' Hot Cheetos crumbles, available March 18-24.)

SusieCakes
All three locations in Dallas, Plano, and Fort Worth are offering chocolate Guinness cupcakes topped with Irish cream buttercream; green velvet cupcakes, topped with cream cheese frosting, in regular and mini sizes; shamrock brownies topped with shamrock sprinkles; and shamrock frosted sugar cookies, individual or in a party platter of 18 cookies. Now through March 17.

Taco Cabana
New frozen green apple drink is made with Tito's Handmade Vodka. Available now through March 17.

Truluck's
Both Uptown Dallas and Southlake locations will serve a specialty cocktail called "Truluck of the Irish". Oy, but with their name, they deserve to take such liberties. The drink has Irish Whiskey, Gran Classico, lemon juice, and blood orange cordial. March 16-17.

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Dessert News

Acclaimed pastry shop Le Reve to open in Dallas' Mockingbird Station

Le Reve

Pastries at Le Reve look good and taste good, too.

A dessert shop with an avid following is opening at Dallas' buzzy Mockingbird Station: Le Rêve Gelato & Pâtisserie, a highly regarded shop in North Dallas' Preston Valley Shopping Center, is opening a location at 5321 E. Mockingbird Ln. #135, in the former Milk and Honey ice cream shop which closed in 2025.

Le Rêve is from Andy Pham, a baker and entrepreneur whose carefully crafted pastries and gelato have earned him much acclaim and made him a social media star.

He's hoping to open the shop sometime in late March or early April.

Pham started Le Reve as a cottage business before opening the first shop in 2022.

"I love French pastry and the European style of baking," Pham says. "I'm Vietnamese, but my grandparents had a French connection and I grew up with an exposure to French culture."

Whether macarons or pastries, his work is both tasteful and visually stunning. And his gelato — in flavors such as pistachio, French lavender, and Vietnamese coffee — is now sold not only at his shop but also by the pint at Central Market stores.

He does a variety of French pastries such as eclairs, small cakes, and Insta-friendly confections whose appearance is perfectly fabricated to match the flavor; for example, a lemon citrus pastry that looks exactly like a lemon. It's reminiscent of shokuhin sampuru, a Japanese tradition of creating plastic replicas of dishes.

Le Reve pastries L’orange et Citron Jaune at Le Reve.Le Reve

Pham's fame and acclaim includes landing a spot on the list of top 10 pastry chefs in Dallas at CultureMap Dallas' 2022 Tastemaker Awards, as well as a list of top 10 desserts.

Le Reve was also selected to participate in a national promotion in 2024 to hype the anniversary of cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants — one of 100 restaurants across the U.S., including 10 restaurants around Dallas, called on to do their own take on a Krabby Patty, the cartoon's signature dish.

Le Reve's entry stood out not only because it was the rare dessert participant, but also for its crafty execution, using sweet ingredients to mimic burger components: vanilla sponge cake bun, pineapple patty, crêpe lettuce, strawberry mousse tomato, puff pastry sticks for fries, and strawberry ketchup.

Opening a second location was part of his longterm plan, and when the space opened up at Mockingbird Station, it was an opportunity he couldn't turn down.

"I've always been a fan of the area, and Mockingbird Station seems like a perfect place for Le Reve," he says.

He's currently outfitting the space, which will get its own unique decorative theme.

"The first store was my recreation of a classic French patisserie, but this will be inspired by the south of France, with warm tones and a Mediterranean design," he says.

There will be seating, so that customers can sit and enjoy a sweet along with his trademark Vietnamese coffee featuring specialty Vietnamese arabica coffee beans.

Le Reve croissant Supreme croissant from Le ReveLe Reve

The sweets lineup will be similar to the menu at the North Dallas location, incorporating a major expansion he's undertaken in recent years: viennoiserie, aka croissants, including the ultra-trendy "supreme" croissants that are shaped like a wheel and often capped with icing.

"When I opened the first store, it was all new and I wanted to keep things manageable," he says. "Croissants are their own category, and it was important to me to do them well. I have family in France — my aunt and cousin would never let me live it down if I did a bad job. But viennoiserie have become a vital part of what we do now."

He's been warmed by the reception he's received from natives of France.

"I've gotten to know some of the French population in Dallas, and it makes me happy when they tell me that what we're doing reminds them of home," he says.

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