Vegans Need Not Apply

New restaurant Waldron Lodge will make Bishop Arts District even meatier

The corner of Bishop and Davis streets in the Bishop Arts District is about to become the meatiest place in Dallas when a new restaurant-bar called Waldron Lodge opens in May.

According to owner Kenneth Cross, the Lodge will specialize in wild game: pheasant, quail and wild boar. Chef is Beau Johnson, who attended Le Cordon Bleu Academy in Arizona, worked at The Mission in Arizona and at T. Cooks at Royal Palms, and has cooked for Taylor Swift, Danica Patrick, the Phoenix Suns and the Arizona Diamondbacks.

"One of our big things will be pulled pork sandwiches made with wild boar," says owner Kenneth Cross.

"I decided to call it Waldron Lodge to pay homage to my father," Cross says. "He's from Waldron, Arkansas, in the Ozark Mountains. We used to hunt rabbit and go fishing there.

"There'll be a lot of wild game like duck tacos, bison and elk hamburgers — even the sausage for our foot-longs. We'll do trout, smoked salmon. One of our big things will be pulled pork sandwiches made with wild boar. Even our bar stools are made out of cowhide seats."

Cross worked for his father, a lawyer, before branching out into restaurants such as Alley Oops on Beckley Avenue, which he eventually sold. For this place, he took over the highly visible spot that was Anchor Plumbing, which he renovated using reclaimed materials.

"We redid the floors using wood that came out of a good-sized place near Mexia," he says. "The walls are done in old shiplap wood. We had to cut down a cedar tree that was falling over, so we turned it into a bar-top. On the outside edge, it has the knobs and contours of a tree. We just figured we'd take it before it breaks into pieces we can't use."

Bishop Arts is where Cross grew up. "I thought about opening in Uptown or Deep Ellum, but I was born and raised in Oak Cliff," he says.

"I didn't want to leave my community. I was born and raised on the golf course. Nobody believes me, but when I was 16 or 17, I said, 'One day, this will be a new Deep Ellum.' Before I knew it, I started seeing things change. There's no place like being in your own neighborhood."

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Pizza News

Italian restaurant coming to Addison will sling New York-style pizza

Goodfellas

Pizza by Goodfellas

New York pizza is coming to a walkable neighborhood in Addison: Called Goodfellas NY Italian Kitchen, it's opening in the Addison Circle complex at 5026 Addison Cir., in a space with long pizza history, most recently occupied by New York Pizza and Pints.

According to owner Sunu Samuel, it'll open in mid-March.

Samuel is a veteran restaurateur who is bringing his experience slinging pies in New York. He previously owned the similarly named Goodfella's Woodfired Pizza Pasta Vino in The Colony. There's also a Goodfellas Pizza & Subs in Wylie, and a number of Goodfellas across the U.S. who share similar comprehensive menus of pizza and American-Italian dishes.

"I've owned a number of restaurants around Dallas-Fort Worth for the past 20 years," he says. "We were contacted by the landlords at Addison Circle who were hoping to get another pizza restaurant in the space. We figured this new wood fire pizza pasta concept would be a good fit."

They'll have more than 20 varieties of pizza including meat lovers, BBQ chicken, Buffalo chicken, an Indian-spiced tandoori chicken, spinach & artichoke, and more.

There's a burrata pie with creamy burrata cheese, cherry tomatoes, and arugula; and the Sally pie featuring lemon garlic chicken with mushrooms and rosemary potato chips.

They proof the dough for 48 hours, and use a hybrid oven combining cooking by wood and gas. Their dough boasts an ingredient you don't see in every pizza.

"Ours is different in that we add seminola, a coarse flour that's often used in bread and pasta," Samuel says. "It's what makes our crust crispier, which Dallas diners like."

There are also sub sandwiches, entrees such as eggplant parmigiana and chicken marsala, and about a dozen pasts such as lasagna, rigatoni alla vodka, and ravioli with spinach & sausage.

Prices will range from $16-$22 for pizzas, and $10-$18 for pastas. They're anticipating a brisk to-go business but will also have a sit-down dining room with wine and beer for those who want to eat in.

"These are entrees and pastas that are familiar to people from the Northeast — people who who've been to Mulberry Street and miss all the New York-style Italian dishes," he says.

pizza openings