Opening News

Dallas restaurateur conjures up exciting Mediterranean market-cafe for Plano

Yaser Khalaf is known for restaurants such as Baboush and Shawarma Bar.

Baboush

There's an exciting new combination restaurant-market coming to Plano's Legacy West: Called Darna Euro-Mediterranean Market, it's an ambitious Marrakesh-inspired bar, restaurant, and market with all sorts of foodstuffs set to open in the fall.

Darna means "our house" in Arabic. The concept will be a celebration of the shops, cafés, street vendors, and bazaars that are such a major attraction in the Mediterranean: Spanish meat boards, French pastries, Italian and Turkish flatbreads, Greek souvlaki, Moroccan tagines, and Lebanese mezze.

The 6,200-square-foot market and eatery will be located at 7700 Windrose Ave., #G-170, AKA the former Barnes & Noble space.

Visitors can shop among the food and drink offerings in Darna's Market or else sit down for a meal at the full-service Café. Products will include olive oils, Moroccan spices, dried fruit, nuts, and European cheeses and meats.

Darna will also feature a Turkish coffee bar and a full-service alcohol bar offering everything from craft cocktails to select beer and wine.

A deli will offer ready-to-eat offerings, as well as quick-service mezza, salad and sandwich stations.

Darna will also have that post-pandemic essential: an expansive patio.

Darna is from Yaser Khalaf, founder of Yela Concepts whom Yela president CEO Pat Garza calls "a revolutionary force in the restaurant industry for more than a quarter-century." Khalaf is known for restaurants such as Baboush in Uptown Dallas and Shawarma Bar in Fort Worth.

"To Yaser, food is more than what you taste; it’s an immersive experience defined by texture, aroma and visual art," Garza says. "And that’s exactly what guests can expect at Darna. Inspired by Yaser's heritage and years of research, Darna is a one-of-kind concept that will deliver a fun, authentic, approachable experience unlike any other in North Texas."

They'll have the atmosphere down, as well, which is true to form for Khalaf, whose restaurants have always been stylish and swanky. Darna will feature an authentic ambiance inspired by timeless Middle Eastern elements with nuances of modern chic, North African and coastal Mediterranean interiors.

openings

Dumpling News

Asian soup dumpling chain Ugly Dumpling to open location in Allen

Ugly Dumpling

Colorful dumplings from Ugly Dumpling

A new dumpling concept is coming to Dallas-Fort Worth: Called Ugly Dumpling, it's a chain specializing in Chinese soup dumplings, and it's opening its first DFW location in Allen, at 213 N. Central Expy., near the intersection of McDermott Road, where it will debut in early fall.

Ugly Dumpling is from Vertex Hospitality Group, a national restaurant franchise organization whose portfolio includes two other Asian chains, KPOT Hot Pot & Korean BBQ (which has a location in Arlington and another coming to Fort Worth), and Kinya Ramen.

Buoyed by the success of those two brands, Vertex launched Ugly Dumpling in 2023, opening the first location in Edison, New Jersey. They now list 26 locations on their website, in Virginia, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, and Texas, although 14 are "coming soon," including one in Austin that's been in the works since 2024.

Soup dumplings — official name, xiao long bao — are a dish of Shanghai origin that are popular due to their unique combination of a delicate dough wrapper enclosing a tender filling and savory broth, which releases when you take a bite — making for an indelible comfort food experience.

Ugly Dumpling's menu includes six varieties of dumplings, accompanied by a savory soup broth, as follows:

chicken
pork
pork & crab
pork & truffle
pork, shrimp, & spinach
Szechuan pork

Porky! They can be ordered in a dumpling sampler, one of each variety, for about $14. No vegetarian options, although they do have a couple of vegan dishes such as vegan wonton soup.

There are also Chinese classics like spring rolls, cream cheese wontons, hot & sour soup, salt & pepper popcorn chicken, garlic green beans, orange chicken, beef & broccoli, Mongolian beef, Kung pao chicken, and fried rice; plus tempting Asian favorites like edamame and bao buns, and even chicken wings.

They also serve boba tea and other beverages.

Bringing the concept to DFW is Grace Zhao, who previously owned Zhao Star Chinese Bistro in Frisco, which she sold. She's all in on Ugly Dumpling — "we're hoping to open more than one location, but Allen comes first," she says.

A statement from marketing head Margaret Farrell says that "when we created Ugly Dumpling, we wanted to tap into the historical Shanghai street food movement but do so in a way that caters to the modern palette. [Surely she means 'palate'?] Our menu respects Shanghai's centuries-old cooking techniques while cultivating an exciting experience for today's restaurant goer."

openings