Oak Lawn News

Oak Lawn Dallas bar Alexandre's maps expansion with food and patio

Their craft cocktail program is a signature.

Photo courtesy of Alexandre's

A cozy Dallas bar known for good cocktails and live music is about to double its size. Alexandre's, which has been a staple of the Oak Lawn community for 17 years, has scooped up the space next-door at 4024 Cedar Springs Rd., a move that will expand its footprint and create an opportunity to serve food.

Owner Lee Daugherty says this fulfills a longtime goal of expanding, and the property owner recently gave his thumbs up.

"He was trying to lease it out, there was a hot chicken place that tried to come in, and finally [the owner] said, 'I want you to have this space,'" Daugherty says.

Daugherty opened Alexandre's in 2004, and has created an intimate and well-liked neighborhood bar with live music and a welcoming staff. The bar's only problem was that, at 1,200 feet, it was often not big enough to accommodate the diverse crowd it drew.

Obtaining the former doughnut shop will double his space and comes with key kitchen features including a grease trap and vent-hood. Daugherty intends to knock down some walls and open it up, and he's most excited about the opportunity to add patio space.

"We're cleaning it out, and all I can say is that, if you ate at that doughnut shop, you're probably immune for COVID-19," he says. "They were sweet people who worked hard, but it didn't get the foot traffic it needed."

He hasn't even started thinking through the menu, but expects to be open for lunch and dinner, although not late-night food.

"We'll do a restaurant-style burger, we want to do decent food, and some people have suggested tapas and finger food - something to nibble on," he says.

At least half of the benefit of the kitchen is the positive effect it will have on his cocktails.

"Everyone needs to eat — but having a kitchen will allow us to expand our craft cocktail program, do more house-made syrups, incorporate more fresh ingredients," he says. "We're still a bar and a live music venue, and we want to stay with that, because that is what Alexandre's is."

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Lindsey Wilson contributed to this story.

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Healthy Eats News

Alabama chain Urban Cookhouse opens first DFW restaurant in Prosper

Urban Cookhouse

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A healthy restaurant chain from Alabama has made its DFW debut: Urban Cookhouse has opened its first outpost in Texas at the Gates of Prosper, a small center at 1151 S. Preston Rd. #10, taking over a former location of Sauce Pizza.

Urban Cookhouse was founded by David and Andrea Snyder, an entrepreneurial couple who opened their first location in Homewood, Alabama in 2010. The chain now has eight other locations in Alabama and one in Tennessee.

The concept has a healthy, homey vibe with a menu featuring more than a dozen sandwiches and wraps, salads, soup, and fork and knife offerings such as pork tenderloin with red chimichuri, lime-marinated steak & rice, and ‘The Down Home’, a BBQ-style plate with smoked turkey, pasta, and broccoli salad, as well as vegetarian options and a kids' menu.

A weekend brunch on Saturday and Sunday features a breakfast charcuterie board for $25 with pastries, deviled eggs, yogurt parfait, and bread. There are mimosas, bloody Marys, Micheladas, sangria, beer, and wine by the glass, plus a coffee bar with a signature blend from 1418 Coffee in the works.

There's a whole thing with their orange rolls, one of the three items Urban Cookhouse is best known for (along with their Broccoli Salad and Half-Baked Cookie). It's like an orange version of a cinnamon roll, featuring a yeast roll been smeared with a sweet paste flavored with orange zest, baked, then and topped with a thin orange glaze that hardens as it cools.

Urban Cookhouse serves a complimentary orange roll with its meal-size salads and entrees.

Their other shtick is that they prepare their meats on The Big Green Egg, the dome-shaped ceramic oven favored by many a gourmet home cook.

A portion of the Prosper restaurant is dedicated to a petite market selling sauces, dressings, chicken salad, broccoli salad, the signature orange rolls, spiced pecan, honey and pickles and cheddar pasta to-go. Family-style meals are also available for pick up after 3 pm.

Bringing the concept to Frisco is James Zemlock who has 30 years of culinary and management with Grimaldi’s Pizzeria, The Capital Grille and Tommy Bahama.

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