Tex-Mex Down

Dallas Mexican restaurant with famed brunch closes rocky location

Sorry for Arlington, who loses out on this.

Photo courtesy of Blue Mesa Grill

Just over five years to the day it opened, Blue Mesa Grill in Arlington has closed. Part of the Mesa SW family of restaurants, Blue Mesa is the concept known for its pioneering role in the brunch world, as well as its sweet potato chips and shake-your-own margaritas.

The restaurant opened in March 2013 at Lincoln Square, in an old Talbot's. Times have been tough at Lincoln Square.

Blue Mesa founder and CEO Jim Baron says in a release that there just wasn't enough business.

"We are sad to leave this location and our loyal customers there," Baron says. "But we did not foresee any improvement in our in-restaurant lunch and dinner business."

Oddly, the company is doing just fine in Arlington with catering jobs. "Our Arlington party and event business is thriving and that's where we see our future growth," Baron says.

Accommodating the catering demands was a factor in the newly-opened flagship Blue Mesa Grill and 5th & Carroll Events in Fort Worth. "That location is more than able to provide catering services for Arlington, and for that reason, it did not make sense for us the keep paying rent and other occupancy costs in Arlington," Baron says.

Four Blue Mesa Grill locations remain in the area, in Addison, Plano, Fort Worth, and Dallas, across from NorthPark Center.

Mesa SW Restaurants also owns and operates a Blue Mesa Taco and Tequila Bar, which has two airport locations including Terminal E at DFW Airport, and two of their more casual concepts, TNT Tacos and Tequila, which has locations at the Quadrangle in Uptown Dallas and in Austin.

closings

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