News You Can Eat
Sweets and treats rule this round of Dallas restaurant news
Dallas restaurant action is so sweet right now. There are doughnuts, ice cream, cupcakes, and novel new frozen treats. There's also a healthy place or two, some new cocktails, and even some pizza buzz. But this round of news is all about the sugar and spice.
Here's what's happening in Dallas dining:
Roti Modern Mediterranean opens in Uptown Dallas on June 16, with a customizable build-your-own menu of wraps, pita sandwiches, salads, and rice plates. Roti was founded in Chicago; this is the first location in Texas.
Norma's Cafe opens its fifth location, this one in Plano, at 605 W. 15th St. off Central Expressway. This location is a modernized update of the Oak Cliff original, similar to the locations in North Dallas, Frisco, and Park Lane. New to Norma's, the Plano location includes a private dining room that can be reserved for business meetings and special events.
Truck Yard's Ice Cream window is open for business. The menu includes bomb pops, ice cream sandwiches, fudgesicles, chocolate-covered tacos, and other pre-packaged quiescently frozen confections.
Side Dough, the takeout spot next door to Eno's Pizza Tavern in Bishop Arts, is now open, selling Eno's menu for delivery (with a $4.95 fee) or free pick-up, plus beer and wine to-go.
Sweet Daze, the doughnut and ice cream shop at 581 W. Campbell Rd. in Richardson from the team behind OMG Tacos, is in soft opening mode, with amazingly photogenic treats including unicorn and galaxy doughnuts and black ice cream.
Raising Cane's opens two new branches in the fall, at 2503 W. Mockingbird Ln. in Dallas, and at 1110 E. Northwest Hwy. in Garland. That will make 43 Raising Cane's restaurants in Dallas selling chicken fingers, crinkle-cut fries, coleslaw, and Texas toast.
Slater's 50/50, a burger restaurant with a fixation on bacon, opens on Greenville Avenue in June. This is the brand's first franchise. The menu has bacon cocktails, bacon ketchup, bacon milkshakes, bacon cheese fries, a bacon brownie, fried bacon mac 'n cheese balls, Dr. Pepper-glazed wings, carne asada fries, and a mint Guinness milkshake. Has bacon peaked?
I-CE NY, the first Thai-style rolled ice cream concept in Dallas, is opening its second location at Firewheel Market, at SH-78 and SH-190. Its lineup includes seven ice cream base flavors, 20 mix-in ingredients, and more than 32 toppings. The concept began in 2011 in Thailand under the brand I-TIM-PAD. The first United States store opened in in 2015 in New York, where it became I-CE NY. The first branch in the Dallas area opened in Carrollton; another will open in Houston.
Fuzzy's Taco Shop is opening a location at 10910 N. Central Expwy., at the intersection of Royal Lane on the southeast corner.
Oak in the Design District has new menus and new decor. Dishes include blackened scallop with chorizo rice and seared hamachi with green apple. It's also installed a wood-burning grill. A sushi bar and lounge have been added, and the interior has been updated with brass chandeliers.
Pinstack in Plano has new menu items, which will also be offered at the Las Colinas branch when it opens in summer 2017. New dishes include pretzels, honey sriracha chicken stir-fry with jasmine rice, flatbreads, and for dessert, the 7-10 Split.
Bisous Bisous Pátisserie in West Village brings back the pizza cruffin for June. It has Luscher’s Italian sausage, pepperoni, marinara sauce, and mozzarella stuffed and rolled inside croissant dough and baked muffin-style.
Max's Wine Dive has new dishes for summer including spicy coconut quail wings, seared salmon, Caprese salad, and St. Louis spare ribs with loaded cowboy potatoes and poblano cream corn.
Sprinkles has two new cupcakes for June: red velvet and pineapple upside-down cupcake, with caramelized pineapple filling and pineapple frosting.
Nékter Juice Bar in University Park is the only branch in the area to serve Skoop, a dairy-free frozen confection made with cashew milk, honey, and agave nectar, in two flavors, chocolate and vanilla. Too bad it includes honey, since that rules it out for most vegans, which you would think would be the primary audience for an item like this. The University Park branch doesn't actually have the item yet; the store got the machine but it's missing a part. So it won't be available for another week, they say.
Razzoo's Cajun Cafe is offering 32-ounce mason jar cocktails made with juices, sweet wine, and liquor. Flavors include watermelon crawler, peach mambo, and something they call "box wine boogie" with sweet red wine, lemon vodka, pomegranate schnapps, lemon, pineapple, and orange slice. Sounds delightful, and just think, you get 32 ounces.
Pōk the Raw Bar, the West Village poke restaurant, has a new "Matcha X Watermelon" drink with matcha and fresh watermelon juice.
Ocean Prime Dallas has new seasonal items on its lounge menu that include sliders, blackened fish tacos, short rib Gouda tater tots, shrimp cocktail wraps, and baked oysters.
Tricky Fish, the Southern-influenced restaurant in Richardson’s CityLine, is serving brunch on both Saturdays and Sundays. New dishes include Andouille hash and eggs, a Benedict with Andouille sausage, fried shrimp and oyster grits, praline pancakes, and bananas Foster monkey bread.
Cici's, known for its pizza buffet, has a new stuffed crust trio that includes the original, plus a bacon-stuffed crust, and the new grilled cheese stuffed crust.
Maggiano's, which recently launched a new brunch, is contributing $1 on every brunch item to Make-A-Wish, through August 2.
Coco Shrimp is coming to Wylie. Coco Shrimp 
New brunch menu offerings at Cru.Photo courtesy of Cru
New protein-paced Omega Bowls at Fish City Grill.Photo courtesy of Fish City Grill