This edition of CultureMap's Restaurant News Roundup has one or two openings and then a lot of appealing new dishes and menus for spring, with classic spring ingredients like asparagus, artichokes, and fava beans. Since many are available, there's only a limited amount of time to try. Do not delay or they may be gone.
Here's what's happening in Dallas restaurant news:
Luna Coffee Co. is a new coffee shop now open at 5601 W. Lovers Ln. in the former Wow! Donuts & Drips space. It's really more of a rebranding than it is an opening. It's from the same family who opened Wow in 2017, and it will still serve Wow! Donuts. But they're shifting the emphasis to coffee, says co-owner David Sim, with a unique approach that includes topnotch coffee drinks at a low price. "Our menu is concise, with just six or seven drinks, all for $3.95. That includes all of the options like oatmilk or vanilla syrup which you'd pay extra for at other shops." They're also emphasizing speed, with a goal to fill customer orders in two minutes. They'll still be serving their doughnuts, which sets them apart from the competition. "We're rebranding as a coffee shop that also sells doughnuts instead of the stuff every other coffee shop sells," he says.
Cracker Barrel Old Country Store, the Tennessee-based Southern comfort food chain, is opening a location in Prosper at 3830 W. University Dr. (at the northwest corner of US 380 and South Teel Parkway) on May 11. It joins the dozen-or-so locations in DFW that include Mesquite, Allen, DeSoto, Lewisville, Rockwall, Denton, Arlington, and Fort Worth.
HTeaO, the iced tea franchise, will open a location in Prosper, at 200 S. Preston Rd. The chain has about 30 locations across DFW. The store is from franchise owner Steven Benavides and operated by General Manager Kevin Benavides. They'll celebrate their grand opening on Saturday, May 9 with free cups of tea from 10 am-12 pm.
Knox Bistro has new lunch and dinner prix-fixe menus by executive chef Armand Brunner, working under the culinary direction of boss chef Bruno Davaillon, with whom he shares a French heritage. Brunner is a graduate of Ferrandi Paris, the prestigious culinary institution, and has experience in notable Paris kitchens, including working under Michelin-starred chef Frédéric Simonin and acclaimed chef Pierre Sang, as well as serving as sous chef at farm-to-table bistro Le Beurre Noisette. The new prix-fixe menus include the Chef’s Lunch, a $30 midday offering with choices from soup of the day, fiish dip, crab quiche, or vegetable pasta. The dinner prix-fixe, available Sunday-Thursday all hours and Friday-Saturday 5-6 pm, is $50, with choices from artichoke salad, duck croquettes, asparagus risotto, or braised lamb.
The Henry, the Fox Restaurants Concepts restaurant on the fringe of Uptown, brings back its summertime pop-up, Hank’s Hideaway, on May 6, transforming its rooftop bar into a tiki escape with cabanas and rum cocktails. Including: Lilikoi Club with cacao jacked Cristal rum, passion fruit, pineapple, and lemon; Coco Loco with Don Q Gran Reserva Añejo Xo, Cristal rum, cinnamon, and drop trop sour served in a coconut; Scorpion Bowl with Don Q Reserva 7yr, pineapple-soaked brandy, & watermelon (serves 3). Menu highlights include Kalua pork sliders, crab cake with street corn salad, yellowfin poke bowl with yuzu sticky rice, and molten butter cake with caramel, pretzel toffee, and vanilla gelato.
Meridian, the neighborhood restaurant at The Village Dallas led by Executive Chef Eduardo Osorio — a nominee for Rising Star Chef in the CultureMap Dallas 2026 Tastemaker Awards — has debuted a new seasonal menu, featuring: shrimp toast with smoked trout roe & yuzu ginger aioli; "Fun-ion ring" with caramelized onion dip; spinach and ricotta agnolotti; Aleeya’s pasta, a vegan and gluten-free dish with Calabrian chilis & smoked tomato; whole branzino; embered roasted salmon with fava beans, artichokes, Meyer lemon, and fumet; Sakura Pork Kan Kan; green chopped salad, beet salad, & tuna tartare; and sides such as pommes purée, truffle fries, crispy parmesan potatoes, & charred cabbage.
Radici Wood Fire Grill has a new dinner menu at both its Farmers Branch and Grand Prairie locations, featuring Wagyu Denver steak; pork ribs glazed in pomegranate BBQ sauce with Sicilian-style potato salad (olives, artichokes, & red wine vinaigrette); and chicken sausage pasta with cassarecce, charred broccoli, & pistachio pesto.
Velvet Taco has a first-ever limited-time margarita: Called the Spicy Pineapple Margarita, it has tequila, orange liqueur, lime juice, agave nectar, jalapeño, and pineapple with a spicy rim and is available through June 2.
Shake Shack has two new menu items for summer: Boneless Baby Back Rib Sandwich, featuring boneless baby back pork ribs, BBQ sauce, coleslaw, and pickles on a toasted potato bun for $13; and a side of mac & cheese with cavatappi pasta in cheddar & American cheese sauce for $6 — the chain's third new side in the past year. Available at all Dallas locations through the end of July, depending on supplies.
Truluck’s has two new items for May: Lemon-blueberry custard bread pudding with vanilla bean ice cream, crème anglaise, blueberry sauce, and lemon streusel; and The Lychee Empress cocktail with Empress Elderflower Rose Gin with Carpano Bianco, lychee, lemon, and raspberry.
Yardbird Southern Table & Bar Dallas has a limited-time menu of specials during May as follows: grass-fed burger BLT with truffle fries; Nashville hot chicken burger with a Carolina Reaper rub, with house fries; jerk-spiced salmon burger with a side salad; and butter pecan ice cream sandwich featuring Wagyu tallow chocolate chip cookies, butter pecan ice cream, pecans, and bourbon caramel.
Hat Creek Burger Company has partnered with Terry Black’s Barbecue on a limited-time collaboration that brings Central Texas barbecue to 26 Hat Creek locations across Texas including Dallas, Allen, Coppell, Keller, Little Elm/Frisco, Mansfield, McKinney, Rowlett, Richardson, Roanoke, and Sachse. The centerpiece is the Pitmaster Stack, a burger layered with Terry Black’s chopped brisket, BBQ sauce, cheddar, pickles, and onion rings on a Martin’s Potato Roll. Plus beef tallow-fried onion rings and a new banana pudding shake made with real bananas and topped with vanilla wafers. The menu will be in place for six weeks, ending in early June.
Tacos Juancho, a taqueria in Oak Lawn, is the only place in Texas to have made a new list by Food & Wine of the "8 Hottest New Taco Spots to Visit in the US." The writeup by Bill Esparza says that "since opening its doors in September 2025, this bright orange Mexico City-inspired brick-and-mortar space has become the talk of the town in Dallas." For example, the restaurant made the news in December when Mexican telenova star Angelique Boyer paid a visit. Then again in February when it was burglarized. F&W likes its "tacos al pastor, gaoneras de rib-eye on a blue corn tortilla, and tacos de suadero." The restaurant is at 3604 Oak Lawn Ave. — previously home for many years to the famed Snookie's Bar & Grill, then Rusty's Taco, and then briefly, AG Sushi Grill.
Thomas', the best English muffin in the world, has debuted new, limited-edition Thomas' Apple Cinnamon English Muffins featuring cinnamon and real apple pieces, available for a limited time now through October for $5.69 per package. Thomas' dates back to 1880 when Samuel Bath Thomas created his original English muffin in New York using a secret process that included griddle baking to create the famous Nooks & Crannies English Muffin. The company has since added bagels, muffin tops, and breakfast breads, including a line of swirl breads, to its breakfast offerings. They sell the #1 English muffin and #1 grocery bagel in the U.S.
Tostitos is expanding beyond the chip aisle into the refrigerated realm with a new guacamole. Called Tostitos Chunky Guacamole Hint of Lime Flavored Dip — that's a very long name — it will have fresh Hass avocados with no artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives and will be non-GMO project verified, vegan, kosher, and gluten free. Their surveys found that 64 percent of consumers eat guacamole with tortilla chips. It will launch in fall 2026, in 8-oz, 15-oz, and single-serving 2-oz sizes.
