Any time a restaurant opens, one feels a little flurry of excitement. But these new restaurants, which have all just opened, bring some kind of extra oomph, be it a ground-breaking cuisine, an out-of-town cachet, or a celebrity flair. These are the kinds of places where people wait in line.
Here are five ultra-hot openings for the spring:
Carlo's Bakery
This New Jersey-based bakery comes with TV-celebrity heat: Owner Buddy Valastro is star of the baking reality show Cake Boss. It was enough to draw long lines at the bakery's opening on March 19, in the former La Madeleine spot in Preston Center. In addition to fancy cakes, Carlo's specialty includes cannolis and a puff pastry creation filled with cream that it calls the lobster tail.
Cow Tipping Creamery
Not enough fuss can be made over this new ice cream stand, as it has so many irresistible angles. It's from Austin, and we love things from Austin. It has a kind of pop-up personality, camped out as it is inside Good 2 Go. It brings us a new kind of ice cream with house-made toppings. And it's under the umbrella of the Cane Rosso pizza chain. Instant success.
Rock & Brews
Restaurant from KISS members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley feels as suburban as its location next to the Nebraska Furniture Mart in The Colony. It's a huge place with white tufted vinyl banquettes and a big menu boasting an epic nine salads and seven burgers, including a veggie burger made of eggplant, beans, and rolled oats on a whole wheat bun. A broad mural has a rock-and-roll theme with Texas musicians, including Stevie Ray Vaughan, Willie Nelson, and Janis Joplin.
The Royale Magnificent Burgers
Burgers are a dime a dozen, but this Plano burger spot has two elements that make it hotter than the rest. First, it is from Top Chef John Tesar. Second, he knows burgers, as he proved at his acclaimed but now closed Arts Plaza restaurant The Commissary, with which The Royale has much in common. In addition to burgers, the menu has his signature bangle onion rings; milkshakes, which can be spiked; and poutine, which Tesar does in different versions such as with crumbled lamb meatballs.
Vetted Well
This South Side restaurant sits atop the brand-new Alamo Drafthouse in The Cedars, where it boasts some of the best and most unique views of downtown Dallas. Along with great beer and unique boilermaker cocktails, the menu of munchables includes fried croquettes with mashed potato, bacon, and Gouda cheese, and biscuit beignets, a fried fritter that's somewhere between a biscuit and a beignet, served with sauces including a rum caramel.
Royale Magnificent Burgers does it Tesar-style.
