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Dough Pizzeria closes up Dallas and decamps to Plano

Dallas pizza fans, get it tonight.

Photo courtesy of Dough Pizzeria

This may come as bad news to pizza fanatics but Dough Pizzeria, the Neapolitan-style pizza restaurant located at Preston Road and Forest Lane, is closing on April 21, as in tonight, as in at 10 pm, it will shut down for good.

According to the owners, the company is re-establishing its headquarters to Plano, and repositioning itself with a smaller footprint.

"As we continue to grow the Dough Pizzeria brand, we will be investing in a smaller design with patios," the restaurant says in a statement. "Many of our great employees will be coming with us to Plano so we can hit the ground running. Unfortunately this Dallas sale means tonight will be our last service in Dallas."

Dough opened at that location in 2011 as an offshoot of the original Dough in San Antonio, which not only earned certification from the Verace Pizzeria Napoletana Americas but also a visit from Guy Fieri. While the Dallas branch never attained the VPN certificate, it still made its pizzas loosely in the Neapolitan manner.

In 2016, the owners of the Dallas location signed a deal to open a branch with a smaller footprint in Plano. Co-owner Brad Liles said that Plano made sense for a few reasons.

"We focused on Plano because of the growth there, with Toyota opening its new headquarters, etcetera," he says. "And co-owner Keith Hall and I both live in the area. Our Dallas branch has done well and has grown every year."

The Plano location will take over a space with a history of pizza: It's a former Pizza By Marco, the local chain forced to change its name to My Family's Pizza in 2014, and which also has another branch in the neighborhood. Liles says that this Dough will be a different, smaller "neighborhood" model.

A spokesman at the Dallas branch said that the announcement of the closure was sudden, and that they weren't sure what would be going into the space to replace them — "but we should be open in Plano in mid May."

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Escargot News

New all-day French bistro in downtown Rockwall is all from scratch

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Belle View Bistro Rockwall

An all-day French bistro has made its debut in Rockwall: Called Belle Vie Bistro, it’s a new mom-and-pop in the charming historic downtown district, at 112 E. Rusk St., the former home of The Fatted Calf restaurant, where it opened its doors on November 12.

Belle Vie is from Luis and Iliana Marquez, a hard-working couple who also own Los Marquez, a popular taco--themed food-truck-turned-restaurant in Rockwall they first debuted in 2019. In May, the couple took over the former Fat Chicken space to open a brick and mortar location of Los Marquez, where they serve well-made Mexican food like tacos, burritos, and quesadillas, but also burgers & fries. They open for breakfast with breakfast tacos, and run a daily lunch special, often creative, always popular, such as birria ramen with choice of beef or lamb for $11.

But the couple had a bigger vision of creating a place where chef Luis could stretch and showcase his skills.

"Luis has a lot of culinary experience, and it’s something that he’s been putting aside,” Iliana says. “We were just waiting on the perfect time to bring this to life.”

"This is something exciting and new for us, it’s something that we always wanted to make,” Luis says.

Like Los Marquez, Belle Vie is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, serving classics like French onion soup, moules frites, escargot, and duck confit. There are also comforting and American dishes like spinach-artichoke dip, crab cakes, and fish & chips.

Lunch features Cobb salad, a French dip, and chicken & Brie panini, while an extended breakfast -- which runs from 7 am to 4 pm — includes pancakes, waffles, eggs benedict, beignets French toast, and crepes, plus pastries and breads made from scratch.

Mural on the wall at Belle Vie Bistro RockwallFacebook

The bakery counter is a delight, with eclairs, croissants, scones, fruit tarts, and cake slices in flavors like carrot cake and white chocolate raspberry. There's also a serious coffee program with espresso drinks such as lattes.

"We pride ourselves on making everything from scratch," the duo says. "Our bread—whether for sandwiches, paninis, hamburgers or anything listed on our menu is made fresh just for us by our incredibly talented pastry chef and baker. The same care goes into our pastries and desserts ensuring every bite is special and crafted with love."

The dining room is warm and cozy with dark wood chairs and plush booths and a full-wall mural depicting a street in Paris. They also have a full bar, with cocktails and beer on tap. Prices are reasonable, ranging from $9 for a Belgian waffle during breakfast to $45 for prime ribeye at dinner.

For now, they're not taking reservations — it's first come, first serve.

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