Lunch Is Served

Veteran chef whips up wholesome lunches for North Dallas office workers

If you like to seek out chef-driven gourmet food in offbeat places, head to Carverpark, an office building canteen from two well-known names in Dallas' dining scene.

Carver 150 comes from James Rowland and Fana Yohannes. He's the well-regarded veteran chef who worked at the Crescent Court (Beau Nash), Bistro Nous and Greenville Avenue Bar & Grill, among other places. She's the front-of-the-house pro from York Street and Lucia Dallas.

Carver 150 is located at the Two Forest Plaza complex at 12201 Merit Dr., near Forest Lane west of 75, and it's open for breakfast and lunch to occupants of the office building, or to anyone else who wants to dine in. Although many office buildings feature in-house delis, their menus are too often a greasy collection of low-quality fare. Carver 150 represents an unusual level of creativity and affordability for the office-bound worker bee.

"The menu changes every single day," Rowland says. "I have a big commitment to inexpensive, healthy, wholesome food. The menu is priced from $5 to $9. There's nothing more than $9 on this menu.

"But it's creative. I have no pre-set menu. We celebrate the season and what we get in. That's what I work off: I go to the market and use whatever I get."

Menus are frequently posted on their Facebook page, and at lunch hour, there's always a line. Options have included tortilla soup, almond chicken salad, penne pasta Bolognese, turkey spinach Cobb salad, Buffalo chicken wrap, or a brisket hoagie sandwich with griddled onions and potatoes.

A regular feature is house-made potato chips, which they sell in a bag. "Two days a week, we're cooking fresh potato chips and after two hours, they're all gone," Rowland says.

Carver 150 opened in 2013, but the Carver empire is expanding: The couple just opened a spinoff called Carver Park, located in a 14-story office building at 7557 Rambler Rd., near 75 and Walnut Hill Lane.

At this outlet, they've ramped up the menu with the addition of sushi, featuring the chops of a former sushi chef from Steel. Carver Park also has a larger kitchen which will likely be used as the base for a catering operation, for which Rowland has seen a great demand.

And then there are always other office buildings with tenants seeking a healthy, affordable lunch. "I think we're going to grow," he says.

Quesadillas might show up on the creative menu at Carver 150.

Photo via Yelp

Quesadillas might show up on the creative menu at Carver 150.

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Tacos To Come

2 new concepts from Chilangos Tacos team headed to Dallas' Greenville Ave

Chilangos Tacos

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Signage in the windows points to a new stop along Greenville Avenue’s taco trail: Tacos Richy is preparing to open at 3606 Greenville Ave., near Martel Avenue in East Dallas, across from LG Cafe.

The new street taco shop comes from EMPWR, a hospitality group whose concepts include Chilangos Tacos and Dulce Churro.

The group is also poised to open Brazamar, a Mexican restaurant, in the adjacent space in Lowest Greenville. Brazamar will be a Mexican restaurant centered on “fire dining.” The name combines brasa, Spanish for ember or grill, and mar, meaning sea, offering a clue to its focus on grilled meats and seafood.

The more casual Tacos Richy is expected to serve Mexico City-inspired street food, including gringas — similar to quesadillas but folded like oversized tacos — and tacos al carbon, according to signage posted on Tacos Richy’s Instagram page.

Involved in both restaurants is EMPWR director Jon Garay, a Mexico City native and Southern Methodist University graduate who co-founded Chilangos Tacos in 2019. The concept now boasts half a dozen locations, including shops in Plano, East Dallas, at the AT&T Discovery District, and outposts in Nashville and Las Vegas.

Garay moved to Dallas from Mexico City, as did his Chilangos Tacos partner, chef Joel Mendoza. (Chilango is slang for a resident of Mexico City.) Garay got his start in Dallas in 2018 with La Botana Taco Bar, an Uptown food truck where he and Mendoza developed recipes, including birria tacos.

Garay has not responded to a request for an interview about the new Greenville Avenue restaurants.

The Chilangos menu may offer an idea of what to expect at Tacos Richy. It features tacos and quesadillas with a choice of carne asada, pastor, pollo, barbacoa, or caramelized mushrooms. Prepared in the Mexico City style, they're topped simply with onions, cilantro, and salsa.

Tacos Richy says on Instagram that sauce will be an important component of the menu. “Color. Heat. Flavor. Every taco needs a signature salsa. The brushstroke that finishes the masterpiece,” they say.

They also note that "every masterpiece begins with a base," and that theirs is maíz (corn). "It begins with masa, ground, pressed, warmed by hand.

"Tacos Richy has offered only a few hints about its plans on Instagram. In a recent post, the restaurant wrote in Spanish, “Lo que comenzó como una idea se está convirtiendo en algo que llevamos tiempo preparando. Por ahora no podemos contarle mucho, pero vaya preparándose, porque lo que se viene está muy, muy Richy."

That translates loosely to “What started as an idea is turning into something we've spent some time preparing. For now we can't tell you much, but get ready, because what's coming is very, very Richy.”

Another post teases, “You’ve seen the name, you’ve seen the signs, but you still have no idea what’s coming.”

In other words, stay tuned.

EMPWR describes itself as a hospitality group that celebrates Mexican Heritage. It aims to “create spaces that feel honest, inclusive, and alive.”

Neither restaurant has announced an opening date, but updates are being posted on Instagram.

restaurants dallas lower greenville mexican food