Craft Beer News

New brewery-restaurant crafts beer and grub at Dallas' Trinity Groves

There's new beer brewing by Trinity Groves.

Photo courtesy of Visit Houston

A new brewery has opened at Trinity Groves. Called Steam Theory Brewing Company, it's at 340 Singleton Blvd., on the street level of Cypress at Trinity Groves, an apartment complex across from the original Trinity Groves center.

Steam Theory is owned by Jonathan Barrows and Chuck Homola, who met in the North Texas Homebrewers Club. Their vision is of a restaurant with beer and food that showcases fresh, simple ingredients.

"Our focus is on showcasing everything local," Homola says. "From the Dallas artist who designed the artwork in the restaurant, to the local fence maker who designed our tables, to the food we showcase on our menu."

Homola says that their beer will follow a "traditional" style that pairs with the food. For non-beer drinkers, they'll also have a full wine list and vintage cocktails.

Chef is Michael Weinstein, whose resume includes The Grape and Cadot, where he met Homola and Barrows. His menu will incorporate their beer into select dishes and will rotate four times a year to incorporate local seasonal ingredients, as well as daily specials.

Dishes from the summer menu include a half-pound cheeseburger, house-smoked salmon, rosemary-parmesan beignets, a "PLT" with pancetta, and shrimp with green curry coconut broth. Weinstein makes all condiments, even ketchup and mustard.

The beer selection will also rotate seasonally. Brew master is Kirk Roberts, a West Coast native who worked at Newport Beach Brewing Company and The Beer Company in San Diego. His first round of brews include a blonde ale, red ale, West Coast IPA, extra special bitter (ESB), lemon saison, American pale ale, American stout, and Scottish ale.

When Steam Theory’s beers are on tap, the restaurant will be able to can the beers made on-site for people to take their beer home to enjoy. They'll start with 32-ounce crowlers, and introduce 16-ounce cans in the fall. Customers will also be able to purchase kegs to go.

Steam Theory Brewing joins Dulcet Café and BingBox Snow Cream which opened at Cypress at Trinity Groves in June.

In addition to indoor seating, there are 40 seats on the patio along with both indoor and outdoor TV’s.

"After searching for a home for our concept for almost five years, Trinity Groves ended up being the perfect location for us," Homola says.

Steam Theory will be in "soft opening" mode for most of July, serving charcuterie boards only until the full menu rollout on July 26, and 12 guest beers from breweries across the country, while the in-house brewery operation gets up and running. Lunch will be added August 15.

craft-beer

Mex-Mex News

Upscale Mexican restaurant Jako Cocina to open in Uptown Dallas

jako

A polished Mexican restaurant is expanding to Uptown Dallas: Jākö Cocina Y Agave, which first arrived on the DFW scene in 2024, will open at 3301 McKinney Ave. #200, in the high-profile space previously occupied by the Quarter Bar, now closed.

This will be a second Jākö, following the original at The Grandscape in The Colony. According to co-founder Adafel Acosta, they'll open Uptown in mid-November.

"We're excited to debut a new Jākö Cocina Y Agave in such a dynamic location," Acosta says. "We always had the intention of expanding and are looking forward to sharing our unforgettable food and drink with diners in Dallas."

The unforgettable food and drink features authentic Mexican flavors with a South American twist by executive chef José Caballero, a native of Venezuela who previously worked at Michelin-starred restaurants. The menu combines familiar dishes such as birria and enchiladas with a modern take on Mexican gastronomy.

Ceviches are a big theme, such as their Ceviche Mixto, with whitefish and shrimp in a "leche de tigre" citrus marinade. There are upscale starters such as beef-stuffed empanadas, or croquettes with Iberian ham; tacos filled with barbacoa, fried snapper, and pollo al carbon; and the masterpiece picanha a la parilla — Allen Bros. Prime beef with truffle cilantro potatoes.

"Even though we describe the menu as 'elevated Mexican cuisine,' we have a pronounced Caribbean influence," Acosta says.

Cocktails feature a striking visual presentation, with an emphasis on tequila and mezcal, including margaritas in many varieties.

"The Uptown location will keep to the core of what we've done at The Colony that has worked out so well," Acosta says. "The major difference will be that the McKinney Avenue space is smaller, at about 3,200 square feet, so we will not have the division between lounge and restaurant we've had at The Colony. Instead, it will be a 100-percent restaurant environment."

There is one thing Uptown will have that The Colony does not: a patio.

"The space comes with a courtyard, and we are thrilled to have an amenity like that in Uptown," Acosta says.

The Quarter Bar was not in great shape (it supposedly was closing temporarily in January for a remodel which apparently never took place), and Acosta and company have been entrenched in renovation, infusing the space with Jākö's Caribbean-style vibe, evoking the resort town of Tulum. One note: For now, they are taking only the ground floor of the two-story structure; the disposition of the second floor space is still TBD.

One other new feature will be hours: Unlike The Colony, which is open for dinner and brunch only, Jākö in Uptown will serve lunch.

Prior to launching Jākö, Acosta worked for 25 years in the hospitality industry, mostly in hotels such as Virgin. He was part of the group that founded 3ntourage Hospitality, which has a revolving cast of players who've launched multiple concepts around Dallas over the years.

"Thankfully, Jākö has been successful," Acosta says. "This was a beautiful concept put together between two friends, with a goal that everyone else would love the concept, too."

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