Ross Ave News

It's a whole new deal at Alice, Asian restaurant on Dallas' Ross Avenue

That pu-pu platter on the right is among Alice's most intriguing dishes.

Photo courtesy of Alice

A restaurant on Dallas' Ross Avenue is doing a refresh with a new menu and new-ish chef: Alice, the intimate Asian restaurant that opened in 2018, is pushing into the post-pandemic world with a new menu from new executive chef Ashkan Moeinearaghi. So much new.

The menu is centered around sushi, sashimi, and nigiri — which follows given that Moeinearaghi was previously sushi chef for Alice, which he joined in 2021.

"We're flipping the Pan-Asian script by experimenting with ingredients, presentations, and combinations rarely seen on the local level," he says.

Alice opened in the former Joyce & Gigi's space at 1623 N. Ross Ave. initially under the aegis of This & That Hospitality (High Fives, The Whipper Snapper, Tiny Victories), although founder Brian Rutt has more decisively seized the reins.

In a statement, Rutt says that Moeinearaghi was a pistol in the kitchen.

"We hired this relatively young chef new to the U.S. post shutdown, and I watched him grow into an incredible leader in the kitchen," Rutt says. "He would always come up with interesting new ideas and we gave him the opportunity to add his own style to the menu."

Born in Iran, Moeinearaghi moved to the U.S. in 2015, first starting out as a line cook at a Japanese curry house in California, before moving on to a country club where he created new menu items every 10 days.

Standout dishes on Alice's new menu include:

Pu Pu Platter, the most intriguing option, featuring smaller portions of Alice signature dishes along with exclusive off-menu items
Pacific Islander ceviche with Ahi Tuna, coconut milk, red bell peppers, onion, cilantro, mango, and lime juice
Vegi Roll with taquan, kampyo, yamagobo, cucumber, avocado, topped with blanched kale, wasabi vinaigrette and lemon zest
Sashimi Platter, a flight of Ahi tuna, yellowtail hamachi, and Atlantic salmon, each with a unique dressing and toppings
Chinese Noodle, traditional egg noodle with shiitake, ginger, garlic, and a quail egg
Spider Roll, tempura fried soft shell crab, spicy kani kama, coconut curry sauce

Alice has a new beverage menu from bar manager Ricky Cleva, with a mule featuring Espolon Reposado, mango, Thai chili, ginger beer, lime, and a Lychee Martini with Tito’s, lychee, grapefruit, and lime. In addition, the bar boasts sake and wines from California, Italy, and France.

chefs

Pizza News

Yonx Pizza seduces north Dallas suburbs with New York-style pies

Yonx

Yonx Pizza, by the slice.

A pizzeria with a dedicated following has debuted in Melissa: Yonx Pizza Bar & Co., an indie spot that does New York-style pizzas as well as pizza by the slice, has opened a location at 1521 McKinney St. #700 — an address that had pizza history as it was home for nearly a decade to a Palio's Pizza, which closed in 2025.

Yonx is from Robert Hede, a restaurant veteran who was previously involved with the Village Burger Bar chain, where he was a partner. He switched from burgers to pizza in 2022 when he connected with NY Pizza and Pints, a small local pizzeria chain, opening a location in Wylie at 1125 FM 544 #800. After two years, he broke off from the chain to found Yonx at the same address.

Yonx does the kind of New York-style thin-crust pizza that Dallas-Fort Worth loves, in a standard 14-inch, as well as a massive 24-inch "Kong" size. They also do slices, which can be ordered as a lunch with a Caesar salad for $9.99.

Varieties include familiar favorites like pepperoni, as well as slightly gourmet options with New York-inspired names such as:

Balsamic on Bleeker St., with garlic sauce, mushrooms, shaved ribeye, mozzarella cheese, arugula, and balsamic drizzle
Bronx Bomb, with Sicilian marinara, mozzarella, meatballs, mushrooms, and ricotta cheese
Brooklyn, basically a meat-lovers with Sicilian marinara, mozzarella, sliced ham, chopped meatball, beef, & pepperoni
Greenwich Garden, a vegetarian with Sicilian marinara, mozzarella, red & green bell peppers, white onions, mushrooms, spinach, & black olives

Prices range from $16 for a 14-inch cheese pizza to $46 for a NY Giant Supreme Soho with Sicilian marinara, mozzarella, pepperoni, sausage, beef, red & green bell peppers, white onions, sliced mushrooms, & black olives.

Yonx Pizza soup in a bread bowl.Photo courtesy of Yonx

There are also sandwiches on house-made toasted focaccia such as the Italian tower with melted provolone cheese, sliced ham, salami, lettuce, red onion, pepperoncinis, & sundried tomato aioli.

Appetizers include comforting soups served in a bread bowl including tomato basil and jalapeno cream soup with charred jalapenos. Plus wings, garlic knots, and "Brooklyn Ballers" — their signature meatballs in marinara, made in-house. topped with whipped ricotta and Parmesan, served with pesto and focaccia ends.

A full bar features frozen margaritas and frozen mojitos made with agave gold tequila. The best day to order those is "Frozen Fridays" from 11 am-10:30 pm when the blueberry mojitos are $6 and the margaritas are $5.

The Melissa location opened in January, with the same menu as the Wylie original, and has been met with an unprecedented wave of positive reviews on Facebook: one comment after another raving over how great the pizza is, and what a godsend it is — positive reviews that began to stack up even before the place had officially opened, the likes of which have been rarely seen.

This location boasts almost double the size of the original in Wylie, with a covered patio where they'll host live music on the weekends outside.

Hede, who has been hands-on at the Melissa location since it opened, says he's all-in on these northernmost suburbs of Dallas.

"I like this area — I feel like all the growth is heading out in this direction, there's just a lot of activity up here," he says.

pizza openings