Summer is all around us, summer is everywhere in Dallas, with seasonal menus popping up all over town. There are also a couple of big openings in this very upbeat edition of Dallas restaurant news.
Here's what's happening in dining:
Hatchways Café is a newly opened restaurant in Victory Park at 2346 Victory Park Ln., doing quick-serve breakfast, lunch, snacks, and grab-and-go from 7 am to 7 pm daily. The menu emphasizes whole grains, fruits, and vegetables; a wariness of refined sugar and refined flour; and a vegan-and-vegetarian-welcoming, gluten-friendly, allergy-conscious outlook. The menu includes gluten-free scones, seeded brown-butter blueberry muffins, dark-chocolate rye brownies, sea-salt chocolate chip cookies, toasts, a breakfast burrito, egg sandwich with turkey sausage, a brown rice bowl, vegan summer salad sandwich, pressed chicken “Cuban," rainbow tuna poke, Chinese chicken crunch salad, and chimichurri steak salad. All menu items can be ordered online and delivered to users in the Hatchways Workspace, including as catering to reservable meeting spaces.
Sundown at Granada, the restaurant adjacent to the Granada Theater on Greenville Avenue, has a new chef team, and thus a new menu with items such as turkey meatloaf, elote risotto, and goat cheese gnocchi. Sundown owners Mike Schoder and Julia Garton hired Marcus Kopplin, who will serve as the restaurant's new executive chef, replacing Jason West, who moved to Portland. Joining Kopplin as a consulting chef will be Justin Box, and the team will continue Sundown's mantra of great-tasting food that's local, seasonal, and farm-driven whenever possible. Kopplin most recently worked at Piatello Italian Kitchen, but has also worked at Shinjuku Station in Fort Worth, The Chef’s Table in Provo, Utah, and Juliet Classic Italian in Austin. Box has worked at a number of restaurants including Cafe Momentum and the Cedars Social.
OMG Tacos celebrates its grand opening at Richardson Restaurant Park on Saturday, June 29. The address is 744 S. Central Expwy. off 75 between Belt Line and Spring Valley Road, in the former Tacqui space. This location is twice as big as any of OMG Taco's other locations and will feature a full bar, three neon signs, and several large flat-screen TVs for sports viewers. It will be open 11am to 3am, like their other locations, and they'll be debuting new menu items such as their signature Prickly Pear Margarita they featured at the Margarita Festival in the spring. The current ownership is founder-CEO Calvin Nguyen and CMO Holly Nguyen, plus Tony Nguyen and Mary Wong as owner/operators.
Shake Shack, the so-called roadside burger stand chain from New York, is opening a location in Addison, at 5290 Belt Line Rd., #112A, in the fall.
Circo Dallas, a spinoff of a famed New York restaurant, has closed. A spokesman from the company that licensed the Circo brand to Dallas operator Lauren Santagati told the Dallas Morning News that the restaurant might reopen in that location or elsewhere in Dallas, possibly without Santagati. Circo opened in September 2018 atop the One Uptown building, where it had a second-floor pool area with cabanas and bars.
R&B, a lunch spot at the Statler Dallas hotel specializing in ramen and bao, has closed. The restaurant opened in July 2018 as a project of then-chef Angela Hernandez, who left the Statler in December.
Local in Deep Ellum has a new summer menu from chef-owner Tracy Miller available through Labor Day. Dishes include summer corn soup; spring pea guacamole with Silvia's authentic corn tortilla chips; charcuterie board with rosemary flatbread; crispy fried chicken with Texas toast; Angus ribeye filet with hand-cut fries; lavender lemon pound cake with Meyer lemon ice cream and whipped lemon curd; and warm blueberry cake with Madeira-spiked blueberry compote. Drinks include peach Bellini and peach sorbet, or a sake bomb featuring Trinity Cider on tap with lychee sorbet.
Five Sixty by Wolfgang Puck has a lineup of new items for summer, including Copper River sockeye salmon with asparagus; lamb shank with morels and spring onion; diver scallops with Japanese sweet potato puree; Murder Point oysters on the half shell; tempura squash blossoms; a salad with Larken Farms white peaches; and fried green tomatoes.
Bullion, the downtown Dallas restaurant from chef Bruno Davaillon, is refreshing its lunch menu to feature new grilled options and seasonal produce from local farms. New sections, The Grill and Additions, allow guests to add a protein, vegetable, or side to their meal, or to get creative with small plates. The Market is a new prix fixe menu of an appetizer and entrée for $29 with dishes inspired by the summertime produce available at local farms and will change weekly. Hors d'oeuvres include a flatbread made from chickpeas topped with tapenade, roasted tomatoes, feta, and fennel.
Las Palmas, the Tex-Mex restaurant in Uptown, is now serving brunch. The menu includes migas, chilaquiles, huevos rancheros, carne asada & eggs, breakfast tacos, chorizo breakfast burrito, chorizo frittata, chorizo eggs benedic, and an omelet.
Bulla Gastrobar has a menu of new dishes for summer, including tortillitas de camarón featuring fish and shrimp fritters; bistec a la Parrilla, a 4-ounce bistro steak with truffled potato, salsa criolla, and arugula salad; parrillada de Verduras, a plate of grilled veggies served with a house-made romesco sauce; and budín de pan for dessert.
UP Inspired Kitchen has six new menu items for summer that include: the avo benny on a whole wheat English muffin with veggie sausage and poached eggs; salmon watermelon salad; thicken Caesar with quinoa tabbouleh, brioche croutons, and Greek yogurt; spinach power salad with avocado, tomato, quinoa, and edamame; salmon Buddha bowl with quinoa fried rice; and a drink called the Blue Wave with banana, coconut milk, blue spirulina, and blueberries.
Seasons 52 has a new summer menu featuring corn, green beans, tomatoes and other summer gems including flatbread with corn, cheddar, and spiced bacon; spiced bacon & burrata panzanella salad; summer corn soup; pot-roasted basil-ricotta chicken; bistro steak; and blueberry cheesecake mini indulgence.
Bellagreen, the fast-casual healthy chain from Houston, has a new set of dishes for the summer, including melon salad with spring mix, arugula, watermelon, cucumbers, candied pecans, and feta; ginger sriracha salmon with gluten-free spaghetti, peppers, zucchini, squash, and garlic baby bok choy; paleo mango salmon tacos with jicama, mango, cucumbers, and cabbage on almond flour tortillas; and gluten-free key lime pie.
Cotton Patch Cafe has a new seasonal menu starting July 1 with the following items: Dr Pepper sirloin steak with grilled onions and mushrooms; Cajun trio with blackened chicken breast, grilled shrimp, and smoked sausage on seasoned rice; the Nacogdoches burger with American cheese, chili, a crispy jumbo onion ring, mayonnaise and pickles; green chile queso with zesty beef; strawberry pecan salad with chicken breast and blue cheese crumbles; grilled salmon and shrimp in honey barbecue sauce; and banana cream pie.
Pizza Inn had added its Hawaiian pizza to its all-day buffet for the summer. The pizza is layered with ham, mozzarella cheese, and pineapple.
Press Waffle Co. has a new dish for July: the waffle ice cream sandwich with vanilla ice cream sandwiched between two of Press' signature Liege waffles, with choice of sauce such as Nutella, cookie butter, or caramel.
Snuffer's has debuted the Texican cheeseburger topped with pepper jack cheese, guacamole, queso, and pico de gallo for $9, available through July.
Genghis Grill, the build-your-own stir-fry chain, is bringing back bottomless bowls, allowing diners to try as many flavor combinations as they want. For the price of a single large bowl, guests can go back as many times as they want to either refill their bowl or try something new. The deal is good through July.
Hide in Deep Ellum has a new cocktail menu, helpfully categorized by taste profile, including spirited, brave, comforting, and refreshing. New drinks include the Electric Lemonade with vodka, Bolivian brandy, blueberry, crème de mure, cucumber, mint, honey, lemon, and soda water; the Emerald City with shochu, midori, yellow chartreuse, lime, honey, hopped grapefruit bitters, matcha green tea, white pepper, and a whole egg; and the Soul Toll with sotol, banana, acid-adjusted pineapple, cardamaro, ancho reyes, and mole.
City Works in Frisco has a limited-time Frozen Mule cocktail ($12). A frozen take on the restaurant’s famous mule cocktail, the beverage is made with vodka, lime juice, and housemade ginger syrup, blended, and then garnished with a mint leaf. City Works invites guests to stop at the spacious patios at either location before watching Fourth of July fireworks or on any beautiful day this summer for a quick cool down and a delicious bite.
Parks Coffee coffee shop and roastery in Carrollton has three new summer-inspired beverages available through September 1: cold brew lemonade containing cold brew with tart lemonade and simple syrup; spiced chai latte with a shot of espresso; and sunshine coconut mocha with coconut syrup, served over ice or frozen.
Twin Peaks has a new beer called La Güera. It's a light Mexican-style lager brewed with corn, giving it a touch of sweetness and depth of color. "I'd been wanting to create a Mexican-style lager for a long time, and we figured it would be perfect if it could make its debut just in time for summer," says brewmaster Coty Bell in a statement. "We brewed the pilot batch back in November and started tweaking it to create the perfect brew." The beer is available in Texas Twin Peaks locations only.
Bourbon & Banter, The Statler's speakeasy bar, transforms into an island tiki paradise for the month of July, with themed decor, uniforms, and a special tropical menu that includes tiki shots; tiki cocktails for $12, including mai tais, daiquiris, and rum drinks, such as the Jungle Bird with campari and pineapple; and shareable drinks for $30, such as pina colada and the fish bowl.
Midnight Rambler in the Joule has three new drinks that explore tropical flavors, in line with the current tiki trend taking over the national drinks scene. One drink, called Shark Fishing With Machine Guns, has blue Curacao, Key lime, sparkling brut, and Absinthe Chum. Samoan War Club has three kinds of rum, gula jawa, and nutmeg. Savory Hunter has lemongrass & makrut leaf gin, lime, coconut, cilantro, and Thai chili.
Dunkin' has partnered with Hershey's in a lineup of new drinks: There's a frozen vanilla Coolata drink with Kit Kat pieces; and coffee flavored with Heath bar and Hershey's Cookies 'N' Creme, available in hot and iced coffee, espresso drinks, frozen coffee, and frozen chocolate. There's also a Hershey's Cookies 'N' Creme Donut, a square-shaped donut filled with vanilla flavored buttercream and topped with Hershey's Cookies 'N' Creme crumbles.
Outlaw Taproom at Four Seasons Resort and Club Dallas at Las Colinas has unveiled its new Four Seasons Soundstage in partnership with Avión Tequila, where they'll host musicians and bands Thursday-Saturday from 6-9 pm. They have a lineup of Texas singers and songwriters throughout July, beginning on the holiday weekend with JD Monson Trio on July 4, Phillip Johnson on July 5, and Jackie Darlene on July 6.
Perini Ranch, the James Beard award-winning Texas steakhouse, and Maker's Mark have launched a custom, limited-edition Perini Ranch Maker's Mark Private Select Bourbon, with smokey notes and hints of caramel and honey that's perfect for both sipping and mixing. Perini Ranch also created a new signature cocktail, the Buffalo Gap Ginger Snap, now available at Perini Ranch Steakhouse in Buffalo Gap.
