July is turning out to be a scorching hot month — for restaurant openings in Dallas, that is. Ba-da-bing. There are so many new ones, we felt the need to make a list. If you want to know what the very newest restaurants are, the ones that have just opened, you've come to the right place.
BB Bop Seoul Kitchen
Korean fast-casual concept comes from Steve Shin and his sister and brother-in-law Sandy and Greg Bussey, chef at The Joule. It specializes in bibimbap, the Korean dish combining rice with vegetables, sauces, "protein" and fried egg. It's a step up for the team from their original branch, with new dishes including fried chicken and chicken wings. There's alcohol too, including Asian beer and cocktails made with soju, a distilled rice liquor, in varieties such as green tea mint lemonade and hibiscus limeade.
Cafe Salsera
Latin-Caribbean restaurant in Deep Ellum with salsa on the side and coffee and pastries all day. Menu items include meatballs in a spicy tomato sauce, fried yucca in garlic sauce, roasted chicken, jerk shrimp, and Puerto Rican-inspired "mofungo" dumplings made with mashed plantains and topped with shrimp mojo. The pastry case features house-made treats such as brownies iced with Nutella frosting, cookies, and individual Key lime and coconut pies.
Del Frisco's Grille
Newest branch of this up-and-coming chain serves the citizens of Plano with a location at the Shops at Legacy. This is the first DFG for Collin County and features an open-air kitchen and second-floor mezzanine that overlooks the patio and street below. The menu features salads, flatbreads, sandwiches, and trendy shareable dishes like chicken wings and deviled eggs.
Hickory
Chef Kent Rathbun heads far north (Highway 121 and the Tollway) to do burgers and barbecue in a modern roadhouse setting. There's the obligatory burger topped with a fried egg, plus apple coleslaw, burnt end baked beans, potato salad, onion rings and waffle-cut Maytag blue cheese fries. Each table comes equipped with serve-yourself pickles and other condiments, and there's a full bar.
Kin Kin Urban Thai
Chef Eddy Thretipthuangsin bounces back to Dallas, this time with a Thai restaurant in the former Cyclone Anaya's space, storm-troopering next door to Green Papaya, the longtime Vietnamese restaurant. The menu is light on Thai and heavy on "urban," with such non-Thai dishes as dumplings, calamari, roti curry and pork belly. But no worry, there is the quintessential pad Thai noodles.
Malgudi Garden
Vegetarian restaurant focusing on "holistic, healthy and conscious eating," in the former Chennai space, has some traditional Indian specialties such as dal, the lentil stew, and biryani, the comforting rice dish. But it also does some unique curries, puddings and porridges from regions all over India, along with house-made pizza. On weekdays, a $10.99 lunch buffet includes pizza, soup, salad and choice of entree.
Off-Site Kitchen
Chef Nick Badovinus' casual burger joint has relocated to roomy new digs at Trinity Groves, made colorful with neon beer signs and an American flag. The dining area is bigger, i.e., it boasts actual seats where you can sit down. There are still the half dozen burgers (including the winner in the 2015 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards), plus sandwiches, tacos, fried chicken and cheese fries.
Paul Martin's American Grill
California chain comes to Dallas, this one from Paul Fleming, founder of Chinese-like chain P.F. Chang's. It describes its menu as "American classics," which seem like rather kind words for spinach dip,
calamari, kale Caesar, short ribs, brick chicken and polenta with vegetables. It's in Turtle Creek Village, the center at Oak Lawn and Blackburn, which has been under renovation forever.
Rapscallion
Greenville Avenue restaurant from brothers Bradley and Brooks Anderson and chef Nathan Tate is a neighborhood bistro similar to Boulevardier, its Bishop Arts sibling. But instead of French food, Rapscallion's menu is influenced by Tate's Southern roots: short rib steak, fried catfish with littleneck clams and black-eyed peas, grass-fed burger, mac and cheese, hushpuppies, fried okra, and chicken done two ways — rotisserie and "Nashville" hot fried.
Wabi House
Ramen on Greenville Avenue comes from Dien Nguyen, head chef for Piranha Killer Sushi. The compact menu comprises about 20 items, with several ramen options, including one that's vegetarian. Signature tonkatsu ramen features chashu pork, corn, wood-ear mushrooms, marinated egg, black garlic oil and sliced scallions, in a broth simmered for 18 hours.
