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Pair tunes with tonics this summer at Toyota Music Factory

Get pumped before the show.

Boi Na Braza/Facebook

How do you make a hot summer concert lineup even better? Pair your show of choice with a great meal beforehand. There are more than a dozen food and drink options at Toyota Music Factory, from Japanese cuisine to Salvadorian-Mexican fusion to burgers and pizza.

Here are our recommendations for what nibble before the musicians take the stage at The Pavillion at the Toyota Music Factory.

Counting Crows with special guest Live: 25 Years and Counting
July 24
Nosh & Bottle
Not feeling a sit-down meal before a stand-up concert? This Mediterranean and New York-style deli and cafe offers sandwiches, wraps, salads, nosh boards, charcuterie plates, cheeses, and wine pairings. Grab the roast beef with Swiss cheese on a hoagie roll, or a classic meatball sub with sausage and peppers, then get ready to recover the satellites at the amphitheatre venue.

Gladys Knight & the O'Jays
August 8
Bar Louie
Pick a spot on one of the restaurant's two patios, or take advantage of that sweet, sweet air conditioning inside, to order a specialty burger or shareable snack. The hits from the R&B co-headliners are vast, but not as vast as the selections for beer, cocktails, and wines by the glass.

Gerardo Ortiz with Pancho Barraza and Kevin Ortiz
August 31
Boi Na Braza
The Brazilian steakhouse is just the right vibe to pump you up for this concert, which brings the Grammy-nomiated Mexican singer-songwriter to North Texas. Fire-roasted steaks, mouthwatering chickend, fresh legs of lamb, and more are sliced tableside by gauchos, and they'll keep the food coming until you say "stop." Ensure you get the table you want at the time you want by making a reservation.

For a different kind of show, don't forget about Alamo Drafthouse Cinema. The eight-screen theater at Toyota Music Factory serves not just a massive menu of hearty favorites, but also special snacks, entrees, and drinks that are themed to the current celluloid blockbusters.

dinner brunch drinks promoted music concerts lunch jwvideo

RIP Al

Beloved Dallas restaurateur Al Biernat dies at 69 after ALS battle

Al Biernat

FB

Dallas restaurateur Al Biernat, RIP

Beloved Dallas restaurateur Al Biernat, founder of the acclaimed local steakhouse Al Biernat's, passed away on November 13, following a battle with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also called ALS or Lou Gehrig’s disease; he was 69.

Biernat was one of Dallas' all-time great hospitality figures, dating back to his days at The Palm steakhouse, for whom he worked in Los Angeles, Houston, and Dallas.

Biernat founded his namesake restaurant in 1998 on Oak Lawn Avenue, where his standard of excellence and doting charm made it a destination for special occasions, Park Cities swells, and celebrities in town.

His sense of hospitality had little competition in Dallas. He was a charming and personable host who genuinely liked people, and it didn't matter whether you were Conan O'Brien, David Crosby, or one of the other high-profile diners that visited his restaurants — or else just a regular schlub: He had a knack for making everyone feel special and remembered.

Biernat was born on August 20, 1955 and grew up in Michigan, then lived in Colorado, New York, Los Angeles, and Houston, before moving to Dallas to work at The Palm in the West End, where his dynamic presence gave the restaurant an incomparable vitality; it closed in 2017.

He opened Al Biernat's at 4217 Oak Lawn Ave. in 1998, followed by a second location in North Dallas at 5251 Spring Valley Rd. in 2017.

He began to experience ALS symptoms in May 2023, was diagnosed in December, and revealed his condition in February 2024. The revelation was met with an outpouring of sympathy and well wishes from the hospitality industry — a sign of the high regard in which he was held.

The average life expectancy for people with ALS is two to five years after diagnosis. Symptoms can begin in the muscles that control speech and swallowing, or in the hands, arms, legs, or feet. He began to have difficulty communicating in September, and spent his last days in a hospice.

On September 18, he broached the topic of dying, before ending on a note of gratitude to friends and family.

"Having Bulbar ALS I am realistic about my future," he said. "Friends and family have asked me if I’m afraid of dying, and this is what I say to them. Because of the salvation of Jesus, I will be rejoicing in my spirit to see him in all of his glory. Since we are all flesh, soul, and spirit, only my flesh is being left behind. But don’t get me wrong, I have a blessed life in this world, with a loving wife, and a beautiful family and many wonderful and caring friends. I am grateful!"

Both Al Biernat's locations will continue to remain open under the management of Biernat's nephew Brad Fuller, as they have for nearly the past two years.

Biernat is survived by Fuller, as well as his wife Jeannie and three daughters: Angelica Saylor, Kaitlin Biernat Connell, and Jess Biernat and grandchildren. According to family members, details regarding a celebration of his life will be announced soon.

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