Wine News

Postino Wine Cafe pops cork on first Dallas location in Deep Ellum

They'll have plenty of wine-by-the-glass options.

Courtesy of Upward Projects

The wine is finally flowing in Deep Ellum with the arrival of Postino Wine Cafe, the eclectic and funky concept from Phoenix, opening their first location in Dallas on April 19. They're opening at 2647 Main St., where they'll share a stand-alone building with Merit Coffee.

Co-founder Lauren Bailey says in a statement that the Dallas location follows their tradition of favoring cool and historical neighborhoods, beginning with the first Postino, located in an old post office in Arizona — making every Postino unique.

Counting Deep Ellum, there are 15 locations in Arizona, Colorado, and two in Houston, which opened in 2018 and 2019.

"Deep Ellum instantly caught our attention with its deep-rooted history, incredible buildings and lively community," she says. "We quickly fell in love with the art, the other businesses and most of all the people who make it such a special place. I had goosebumps when I first stepped into the building and knew in my gut that was the one."

They'll be open for lunch, happy hour, dinner, and weekend brunch, with a big wine program, obviously, along with a menu that a release calls "approachable yet sophisticated," and who are we to disagree.

Food
Postino's menu is built around shareables, panini, salads, soups, and boards. The favorite is bruschetta, in 12 varieties including Brie, Apple & Fig Spread; Mozzarella, Tomato, and Basil; Warm Artichoke Spread; Smoked Salmon & Pesto; Piquillo Pepper & Goat Cheese; and Burrata, Bacon, Arugula & Tomato.

Charcuterie boards form their own category and include: The Bounty Board with crispy cauliflower, vegetables, guindilla pepper, almonds, herb cucumber cream, and smoked almond hummus; Butcher’s Block with meat, cheese, smoked almond hummus, asparagus, olives, assorted nuts, and crostini; and Pub Board with soft pretzel, chorizo, cornichon, cheddar, Peruvian corn nuts, and pickle.

Meal options include the Nine Iron Panini with bacon, chicken, stracciatella, greens, tomato, and dijonnaise; Prosciutto & Brie Panini with fig jam and arugula; Hannah’s Field, a big salad with kale, quinoa, apple, apricot, toasted almond, pecorino stagionato, pickled red onion, and apple cider-mustard vinaigrette; Raspberry Chicken salad with almond, pecan, apple, gorgonzola, mixed greens, and raspberry vinaigrette; and Brussels Sprouts salad with kale, manchego, almond, and bacon.

Brunch includes the Croque Monsieur Madame, Cast Iron Sticky Bread, Focaccia Stack – grilled focaccia, smashed avocado, crispy prosciutto, fried egg, watermelon radish, arugula, feta, and spicy marcona almond; and Meatball Shakshouka with boiled egg and meatball in arrabiata sauce.

Their culinary team sources local Texas ingredients when possible, including local breweries such as Deep Ellum Brewing Co., Revolver Brewing, Community Beer Co., Lakewood Brewing as well as La Spiga Bakery for all of the bread.

Beverage
Postino features 30 wines by the glass and 40 wines by the bottle in their rack wine program available for dine-in or to-go, selected by beverage director and in-house certified advanced sommelier Brent Karlicek.

Karlicek says that their program includes unique collaborative projects with iconic winemakers around the world as well as hard to find boutique selections. In addition to wine, 30 beers are poured featuring local Dallas craft breweries, along with a number of Texas favorites and new cocktails for the brunch menu.

Design
The space is 3,500 square feet and seats 110 total, including a spacious outdoor patio that seats 50

Decorative hallmarks include mid-century modern furniture sourced from local vintage shops, quirky found objects, art installations, rollup garage doors, and walnut wine walls.

One standout in Dallas is the collection of vintage chandeliers. Deep Ellum's musical history is also honored with a wall inside the café decoupaged with vintage concert tickets gathered from the community and across the country, tying into Postino's adaptive reuse philosophy.

Deals
Postino's brunch includes $5 mimosas, brunch cocktails, plus happy hour specials including the daily staple: $5 until 5 pm, with all wines by the glass and pitchers of beer for $5, as well as $25 Bottle & Board on Monday and Tuesday evenings (a bottle of wine and a board of bruschetta for $25).

Take-out and 3rd party delivery will be available. Masks are requested of guests, when not seated to dine or drink.

nightlife deep-ellum wine

Losing some spice

Beloved neighborhood taqueria to close after 37 years in Dallas' Oak Cliff

Facebook/El Padrink

Cafeteria y Loncheria El Padrino will close its doors at the end of 2026, following 37 years serving the neighborhood.

An Oak Cliff taqueria will close its doors at the end of 2026, ending nearly 37 years serving the neighborhood. Cafeteria y Loncheria El Padrino, the brightly painted-brick gem at 408 W. Jefferson Blvd., will lose its lease at the end of December, according to Juan Contreras, son of the restaurant's owner.

Contreras confirmed to CultureMap that property managers will not renew his father's lease and have given the restaurant less than three months to vacate.

“Honestly it’s not a surprise,” Contreras says in an Instagram post. “With Bishop Arts and all the development interest around it, something was bound to happen eventually.”

The little restaurant sits at the end of a row of thrift and quinceañera dress shops, a few blocks from Bishop Avenue and the evolving Bishop Arts District.

Contreras, who shares his father's name, says the little Oak Cliff El Padrino was his dad’s first restaurant. “His dream," Contreras notes. "He’s been feeding this neighborhood since 1989.”

The family later opened a second location in Pleasant Grove.

Both restaurants are beloved for their welcoming atmosphere and unfussy, authentic Mexican fare.

"As a small business in Oak Cliff, we know what it means to be part of a community. Our neighbors are not just customers .. they are family," notes a Facebook post from the taqueria.

While handmade tortillas and tacos are staples, customers also come for antojitos — or "little cravings" — such as guacamole, menudo, pan dulce, queso, French fries, and chips. Heartier options include machacado (shredded meat) and eggs with bacon strips and cheese in the beans.

Regulars know, love, and fear the camarones a la diabla — shrimp that made a deal with the devil — with shellfish "swimming in salsa roja so picante, it’ll make your abuela say '¡Ay, Dios mío!'," says El Padrio's Facebook page. They recommend ordering a cold agua fresca de piña bien before taking a bite: "That sweet pineapple coolness is your lifesaver."

The younger Contreras, who is involved in local advocacy and community organizing, says the history of Oak Cliff — particularly the area around his father’s restaurant — illustrates the less welcome side of neighborhood revitalization.

“This has been building for years. Elected officials and interest groups sell you a beautiful picture of what a neighborhood can become," he says in his social media post. "What they leave out is that the people who stayed and kept these neighborhoods alive when nobody else wanted them are usually the ones priced out or pushed aside for ‘better’ tenants.”

The elder Contreras came to the U.S. "with nothing but his hands and the hope that his kids would have it easier than he did," says the son, "the way so many of our fathers did."

Unless something changes before the end of the year, the Oak Cliff location will continue operating throughout 2026, Contreras says. The Pleasant Grove location will remain open and unaffected, he adds.

“If you’re one of the Oak Cliff regulars or you’ve been meaning to stop by, now’s the time,” he says. “Come eat, order out, and tell your friends. Every visit means a lot to my dad right now.”

Hope is not entirely lost for the owner and local fans of his restaurant, Contreras says. The Contreras family has weathered its share of challenges and does not intend to give up on Oak Cliff easily. They just need to find an appropriate and affordable space from which to operate.

“This isn’t our first rodeo. If you know of a move-in-ready space in Oak Cliff where my dad can plug in and cook, send me a message," he says.

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