Tex-Mex News

Favored Dallas Mexican restaurateur opens new spinoff of his Knox spot

Doce Mesas' chile relleno with veggies on the side looks divine.

Doce Mesas

Beloved Dallas restaurateur Mico Rodriguez is about to open a new Mexican restaurant: It's a second location of Doce Mesas, his upscale Mexican eatery at 4444 McKinney Ave., and it'll open at The Hill, the development at the northeast corner of US75 and Walnut Hill Lane.

Specifically, it's at 9810 N. Central Expy. #600, the space that was once home to BBQ restaurant Red Hot & Blue.

Rodriguez says that they're planning to open by the end of the month. "We hope to open the last week of July," he says.

Mico still maintains a devout following as the co-founder of Mi Cocina, Dallas' best-known Mexican restaurant chain, which he left in 2010.

He went on to cofound his next concept, called Mr. Mesero, opening the first location on McKinney Avenue in 2011. That location served as a template for the Mesero chain, which currently has seven locations across DFW.

In 2017, Rodriguez parted ways with Mesero Restaurant Group following a lawsuit. He kept the original on McKinney Avenue, while Mesero Restaurant Group got the rest. He changed the name of his location to Doce Mesas, which translates into "12 tables," in 2018.

"I started out with 12 tables back in 1991," Rodriguez says. "And then it was 12 tables again in 2011 when I opened Mr. Mesero. It's my history. That's what Doce Mesas means to me."

Doce Mesas' menu is primarily Mexican food, but also includes other dishes such as roast chicken, and a cool Romaine salad with avocado and hearts of palm. He's currently offering a fried chicken sandwich to capitalize on the hot trend, which he makes with chicken thighs and bread & butter pickles.

There are tacos, enchiladas, and combination plates, but all done with unexpected and upscale twists. Nachos come topped with carne asada, black beans, and avocado; queso has white cheddar cheese, charred poblano, and spinach, like a clever cross between queso and spinach dip. There's also ceviche and a chicken pozole soup.

The bar has beer, wine by the glass, cocktails, and half a dozen margaritas including a unique frozen featuring three layers: mango, strawberry, and sangria swirl.

Red Hot & Blue closed in January 2019, re-opening as HQ Prime Beer Garden which subsequently closed the same year.

Rodriguez says he'd been working on opening a spinoff a little more north of Uptown. The Hill is convenient to neighborhoods loaded with Mico fans including Preston Hollow, Lake Highlands, east Dallas, and parts north. That particular address also has prime positioning, facing out with good visibility from US75.

tex-mex openings

Asian Food News

Taste of Malaysia restaurant brings rare Asian cuisine to Dallas area

Taste of Malaysia

A new restaurant has debuted in Coppell with a cuisine that's relatively rare in Dallas. Called Taste of Malaysia, it's now open at 3001 Olympus Blvd #130, at the Sound at Cypress Waters, between an Ari's Italian market and a Kilwin's ice cream shop, where it's serving authentic Malaysian dishes and flavors — adding another option to Dallas' burgeoning Asian restaurant scene.

A neighbor to Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia, Malaysia has been described as having some of the best street food in Southeast Asia, boasting a mix of Malay, Chinese, Indian, and indigenous flavors. Signature dishes include satays — skewered meats — plus vividly spiced soups and rice dishes.

The country's national dish is nasi lemak, a beloved comfort food originally devised as a breakfast staple, featuring fragrant rice cooked in coconut milk with pandan leaves, sometimes enhanced with boiled egg and sliced cucumber and ikan bilis, i.e. anchovies.

Coming in at a close second is laksa, a spicy noodle soup made with rice noodles or egg noodles in a broth flavored with aromatic spices, shrimp paste, and coconut milk or tamarind.

These are the dishes that natives of Malaysia and fans of Malaysian food crave, says Shiva Nair, part of the team, along with his wife, Vsruti "Vish" Nair, that opened Taste of Malaysia.

Shiva has more than 20 years in the hospitality business including managing hotels and running other restaurants.

"There are a lot of Malaysians here in Dallas-Fort Worth but not many Malaysian restaurants," Shiva says. "That's what gave us the idea to open this."

Their menu features seven varieties of nasi lemak — including vegetable curry, chicken curry, slow cooked beef, slow-cooked chicken, fried chicken, fish, and spicy shrimp — all made with coconut rice, peanuts, boiled egg, and cucumber.

Coming in second is laksa soup, like a chicken noodle soup but with an aromatic and complex broth.

They also have fried rice, noodle dishes, satay chicken skewers, spring rolls, a samosa-style pastry with potatoes and vegetables called karipap, and a chicken "kutlet" — a breaded patty with minced chicken enclosed in a crunchy crust.

All of their meat is halal, meaning that the animals are raised and butchered in accordance with Islamic guidelines — a growing trend in Dallas-Fort Worth.

There's a full bar and the ultimate lure for timid diners: a lunchtime buffet, $18 on weekdays and $20 on weekends, with 15 to 20 dishes, with chicken, shrimp, fish, and vegetarian and vegan options, which are plentiful in Malaysian cuisine.

"We serve the buffet only at lunch, so that those who are unfamiliar with the cuisine can sample every dish," Shiva says.

"We saw an opportunity to bring Malaysian flavors to North Texas, a region hungry for authentic, halal-certified Asian food with real spicing and real heritage," he says.

openings coppell asian cuisine