Craft Beer News

Dallas' Bishop Cider is expanding bigly including 2 craft beer buyouts

More Cidercades are on the way.

Courtesy of Bishop Cidercade

Dallas' Bishop Cider is executing a crazy-big expansion that includes acquiring two Dallas-Fort Worth breweries and also opening four new locations.

Bishop Cider is the company founded by husband-and-wife Joel Malone and Laura Malone that makes hard cider, founded in 2014 right as cider was beginning to trend. They also operate the Cidercade concept, featuring dozens of taps of Bishop Cider, plus food and an "entertainment buffet" where patrons pay a nominal admission fee and can play the games and activities for free. "Cider" + "arcade" = Cidercade, see. There are currently three Cidercade locations: the original in Dallas, plus locations in Austin and Houston, and soon there will be four more.

They're also now expanding into craft beer.

Craft beer
According to a release, Bishop has acquired Wild Acre Brewing in Fort Worth, who were open to a deal in exchange for the benefits Bishop Cider could provide, including a large in-house sales and marketing team.

Wild Acre Brewing Co brews crafted beers, malts, and wines and also offers a taproom for tasting and drinking alcoholic beverages.

Wild Acre beer will continue to be produced at the facility, but the brand will be getting a refresh that includes fine-tuning recipes and investing in equipment that improves Quality Assurance and Quality Control.

There's also a new sheriff: Grant Wood, most recently co-founder and brewmaster at Revolver Brewing, before the company was acquired by Molson Coors in 2016, and previously, Boston Beer Company.

Located at 1734 E El Paso St., the Fort Worth facility comprises nearly 200,000 square feet of warehouse space and sits on 21 acres, providing ample room for expansion. To that end, Bishop Cider will open a "one-of-a-kind entertainment concept" at the site, with details on that coming in the fall. So that's new CiderCade location #1.

Wild Acre will also be the new home to TexBev, a beverage co-packing company owned by Bishop Cider and currently located in Dallas. According to Cidercade co-owner Joel Malone, moving TexBev will allow it to expand its capacity and capabilities with the addition of the equipment from Bishop's Dallas cidery and Legal Draft's Arlington brewery.

"Wild Acre has gained a lot of respect in Fort Worth," Malone says in a statement. "Founder John Pritchett has built a very impressive facility and the beer can hold its own against other local breweries, but I believe there is potential to compete on a larger stage."

Bishop Cider has also acquired Arlington brewery Legal Draft Beer Co., which closed its doors in March 2022 after six years in business. This acquisition was primarily about the equipment; according to Malone, the wait times for new brewing equipment have grown exponentially in recent years.

Bishop did not assume their liabilities and will not market beer bearing the Legal Draft label. Bishop will however open a Cidercade location at the Arlington property, at 500 E Division St., at the end of 2022. So that's new location #2.

Cidercade expansion
Construction is currently underway on Cidercade Fort Worth, 1813 W Bowie St., just south of downtown. It will be the largest Cidercade to date at 25,000 square feet and is expected to open by the end of summer. So that's new location #3.

Bishop will also relocate Cidercade Dallas from its current location 2777 Irving Blvd #200 to 1555 Regal Row, whose larger space will allow for a major expansion. The new location has 79,000 square feet, making it nearly 10 times larger than the original. It will feature concepts, games, and activities not offered elsewhere else in Texas. The current location will remain open until the new site is complete. An opening date has not been announced. So that's new location #4.

Bishop Cider was founded in Dallas' Bishop Arts District a decade ago as a quaint 700-square-foot cider bar.

"Dallas, our home base and literal home, was our first location, but a redo of Cidercade Dallas has been on our wish list for years," Malone says in a statement. "We finally get to bring our wildest ideas to life and go huge."

Summing up, their business now comprises three brands:

TexBev provides beverage co-packing services for its clients with a focus on specialized processes such as tunnel pasteurization, hot fill, and retort sterilization. TexBev is a co-packer of canned cold brew coffee, tea, juice, energy drinks, wine, beer, and RTDs.
Cidercade has dozens of taps of Bishop Cider, serves artisan food, and offers an “entertainment buffet” where patrons pay a nominal admission fee and the games and activities are free to play.
Bishop Cider, the company’s house brand of hard cider, is currently sold and distributed in Texas, Oklahoma, and select states in the northeast.

craft-beer

Naan News

Lively Indian fusion restaurant-club debuts in Irving with sharp team

InSo Las Colinas

Chicken skewer at InSo Las Colinas

An Asian fusion restaurant that's way more than a restaurant has opened in Irving: Called InSo — short for Indus Social — it's a Southeast Asian fusion restaurant that transitions from upscale dining into a late-night lounge experience, now open at 3165 Regent Blvd., in what was most recently a Sickies Garage, and before that, Walk-On's, where it's serving Indian fusion food, cocktails, and entertainment.

The full name — InSo at Las Colinas, Club, Kitchen, Bar — tells the whole story. The concept is designed to fill a gap in the area: Serving lunch and dinner then pivoting to high-energy nightlife, with live music, themed nights, and rotating entertainment.

Food
According to a representative, InSo draws its name from the Indus region, located in the northwest part of India, stretching from Persia through South Asia, and home to the earliest known urban culture of the Indian subcontinent.

Their culinary approach draws inspiration from the regions of Indus and Southeast Asia, with influences fromTexas. Plates are designed with contrasts — aromatics against warmth, brightness against structure, rooted yet contemporary — defining InSo as a distinctive Southeast Asian fusion restaurant.

The menu features some amazing dishes you definitely do not see everywhere. Appetizers include:

Hot Gristmill Corn Naan with butter chicken sauce, peanut sauce, jalapeno-honey butter
Chicken Tikka Boulevard Tacos with Texas chow-chow, cilantro yogurt, pomegranate, cotija cheese, warm corn tortillas
Broiled Spinach, Burrata Cheese and Artichokes with pepita breadcrumbs & naan chips
BBQ shrimp potstickers, with buttered toast points

Entrees include:

Grilled Chicago Stockyards Filet Of Beef, with royal spinach, marble potato kebabs, & kashmir chile onion ring
Cashew And Sesame Crusted Salmon, with yuzu butter sauce, mustard green spoonbread, & charred broccolini
Swiss Chard, Potato, & Pea Tendril Crepes, with tatsoi and mizuna, jicama, corn, queso fresco, & ancho ranchero sauce
Wok Seared Broccolini Sandwich, served in a pasilla chili flatbread with green bean, shiitake mushroom, paneer cheese, & bean sprouts
Lamb Rack Biryani, with basmati rice, red pepper raita, & guajillo chile deviled eggs

There's also a 50-oz Szechuan and Malabar Peppercorn Crusted Tomahawk Ribeye with green peppercorn-Mekong whisky sauce, fried eggs, and Royal spinach.

Desserts include a tempting warm Naan Bread Pudding with Ron Zacapa rum, Tahitian vanilla, golden raisins, and cardamon cream.

Appetizers start at $15. Entrees range from $17 for a falafel sandwich to $40 for the salmon. But they also offer a late-night and happy hour menu with items priced from $15 to $22.

The team
Executive Chef is Michael Morabito, who brings decades of culinary leadership under the mentorship of his father, who was a renowned hotel chef. He worked at Caesars Palace’s Palace Court in Las Vegas, The Mansion on Turtle Creek, and Colonial Country Club where he was executive chef.

Manager Greg Minella brings a globally inspired, detail-driven approach, shaped by years living in Turkey, his Italian heritage, and early exposure to the food world through his family’s roots in New York’s historic Fulton Fish Market. His career spans acclaimed fine-dining destinations and private clubs, including Gershwin’s, Star Canyon, Aurora, Dragonfly at Hotel ZaZa, and Carte Blanche, where he helped earn the only Five-Star Forbes rating awarded to a freestanding restaurant in Texas.

Assistant manager is Trisha Prellwitz and sous chef is Robert Pineda.

The club
The restaurant is a sibling to Goli Soda, a similar concept in McKinney which also boasts a lively after-dining scene. At InSo, that means bold cocktails and a heightened social energy with live bands and DJs spinning a wide variety of sounds: indie soul, deep house, Sufi electronica, and Texan funk.

openings