News You Can Eat

Lots of delightful and surprising dishes in this Dallas restaurant news

Maggie's Cake is so surprisingly delightful.

Taquero

This roundup of Dallas restaurant news comes light on the usual openings and closings, but heavy on the new dishes, with all sorts of interesting and quirky things to check out.

Here's what's happening in Dallas dining news:

Luckymouth Grocery, the vegan grocery in Oak Cliff, is exploring the idea of installing a vegan sandwich spot inside their store. As a prelude, they’ll begin offering a couple of breakfast sandwiches on Saturdays-Sundays from 10 am-12 noon for the next few months, during which they’ll perfect their menu and raise funds for construction. On July 16-17, sandwiches include The Meli with a croissant, Just Egg, Thrilling bacon, and Follow Your Heart American cheese; and The Mae Mae, featuring sausage, Just Egg, and Follow Your Heart American cheese on an an English muffin.

Cowboy Chicken is expanding Smackbird, its delivery and pick-up-only ghost kitchen specializing in Nashville hot chicken tenders and sandwiches, which the wood-fired rotisserie chicken chain operates out of its existing restaurants. The menu includes a chicken sandwich topped with mac & cheese, a tender meal, and sides such as mac & cheese and coleslaw.

Abruzzo's at Bishop Arts Winery, a neighborhood Italian restaurant in Oak Cliff, has re-opened.

La Stella Cucina Verace, the Italian restaurant in Dallas' Arts District, is now open for lunch on Saturdays and Sundays from 12-3 pm.

Taquero, the creative taqueria from chef Fino Rodriguez in the former Pints & Quarts space on Greenville Avenue, is serving a dessert called Maggie's Cake, a gorgeous looking confection featuring vanilla cake, raspberry icing, and fresh raspberries.

Perry's Steakhouse & Grille is offering a "Four Courses, Four Choices" special for $44, available for dine-in only, Monday-Thursday from 4-10 pm, with options such as oysters, pork chop bites, seafood stuffed mushrooms, wedge, Caesar, field greens, artichoke-potato-leek soup, Perry's famous pork chop, salmon, brick chicken, vegan skillet chopped steak, or a 6-ounce filet mignon. Desserts include orange vanilla cream cheesecake, flourless chocolate cake, chocolate crunch, or lemon bar. Also available is Perry’s Reserve Big Red Blend at special anniversary prices: 5-ounce pour for $25 ($41 on regular menu), 7.5-ounce pour for $35 ($56 on regular menu), or a bottle for $120 ($180 on regular menu).

Whiskey Cake has a new seasonal menu with Blistered Green Beans, Flash-Fried Brussels Sprouts, Lemongrass Shrimp & Soba Noodle with arugula, cabbage, snap peas, corn and tomatoes, Grains Bowl with Lamb meatballs and golden quinoa, Smoked Chopped Chicken salad on Romaine, Chickenbirdger sandwich with fontina, Smoked Tri Tip Dip sandwich with Swiss and onion jam, Shroomin’ Sandwich with cremini mushrooms, and Farmshuka Cauliflower Rice Bowl with grits and wilted greens.

BarNone in East Dallas has a new summer menu with reuben eggrolls, queso flameado Italiano served in a cast iron skillet with garlic bread, Buffalo popcorn chicken, and the Ultimate Grilled Cheese with grilled sourdough, American, cheddar, provolone, Swiss, tomato, mushrooms, bacon, roasted peppers, cream cheese, and avocado. Some dishes will be available as a weeknight special Monday-Tuesday from 4–9:45 pm. New cocktails include the Deep Eddy Ice Pick with lemon vodka and iced tea, a sidecar with Oak Cliff bourbon, a daiquiri with dark rum and velvet falerrnum, a Pomegranate Positano with Pama pomegranate liqueur and prosecco; and Jim Beam and real sugar cola. The outdoor space has some upgrades including a new misting system, drop-down shades that block out glaring sunlight, ceiling fans, and flatscreen TVs.

Hopdoddy has a new Roscoe Burger, a twist on chicken & waffles, featuring fried chicken with peanut butter and jelly sauces. What does that have to do with waffles? It's available July 6–August 2 for $12.25.

Fuzzy's Taco Shop has a new Piña Carnitas Taco with new shredded carnitas, jalapeño garlic sauce, pineapple pico, feta, and cilantro on a warm flour tortilla. It's available through August 21.

Dairy Queen has six new Blizzard flavors: Oreo Cookie Dirt Pie, Girl Scout Thin Mints, Nestlé Drumstick, Very Cherry Chip, Caramel Fudge Cheesecake, and Cotton Candy.

Mooyah Burgers, Fries & Shakes has a new peach cobbler shake with vanilla ice cream and peaches, topped with graham crackers, available through July 31 in two sizes: $5.49 for small, $6.99 for large.

Piada Italian Street Food, the fast-casual concept featuring piada sandwiches, has partnered with acclaimed coffee roaster Intelligentsia on two new drinks: Cold Coffee and Oat Latte, both $4. Cold Coffee is as it sounds. Cold coffee. Oat Latte is a latte made with oatmilk featuring notes of sugar cookies, milk chocolate, and molasses. Um OK gotta have that.

The Capital Grille is hosting a summer wine event called the Generous Pour featuring tastings of six wines including a Napa cabernet, a Washington state cabernet, a red blend from Tuscany, a rose from Puglia, a chardonnay from Puglia, and a pinot grigio from northwest Italy. The pour is $32, with the purchase of an entree.

Midnight Rambler, the underground bar at the Joule Dallas Hotel, is celebrating the culture of Dallas with a new cocktail menu pulling inspiration from local musicians including Stevie Ray Vaughan, Roy Hargrove, and Kirk Franklin. Bad Luck Blues, devoted to Blind Lemon, features Texas whiskey and local grapefruit with mesquite bean powder and sumac seed. The Other Selena is a tribute to the famous Selena mural in Oak Cliff with Calamity Gin distilled with blue bonnets and Texas wildflowers. A “Fast Pass” section includes a lineup of martinis.

DFW Restaurant Week is now available for reservations, with lunch, dinner, and newly added brunch, from August 8-September 4, at restaurants across Dallas, Tarrant, Collin, and Denton counties. Approximately 20 percent of the cost of each meal will be donated to North Texas Food Bank in Dallas or Lena Pope in Tarrant County.

Foodja, a workplace restaurant delivery platform, has expanded to Dallas, providing professional meal delivery from local restaurants to offices throughout Dallas County. Foodja’s network of drivers utilize the proper equipment to maintain food quality when transporting large orders. Available for companies with 50-20,000 employees, each employee to order their own customized meal from a rotating list of local restaurants.Foodja is currently in partnership with thousands of restaurants including Pei Wei Asian Kitchen, Bread Zeppelin, McAlister’s Deli, Fuzzy’s Taco Shop, Slim Chickens, and Coolgreens.

lists news-you-can-eat

Deep Ellum News

Trinity Cider partners with Picadera street food in new Dallas venture

Trinity Cider

An exciting new food & drink venue is coming in Deep Ellum: Called Trinity Cider X Picadera, it will combine two great tastes — Trinity Cider, the sophisticated craft cider maker; and Picadera, the award-winning Dominican street food concept — under one delicious roof.

The new spot will be located at 2721 Main St. in Deep Ellum, in the former Crowdus Bar and, before that, home of Drugstore Cowboy, and is scheduled to open in December.

Trinity Cider is the laid-back bar that's been serving house-made craft ciders, sake, and beer at their current location at 2656 Main St. since 2018. They'd already been thinking about a larger space, and jumped at the opportunity when Crowdus Bar closed. The new bar will be triple the size of their current spot, and it comes with a kitchen, which allows them to have a consistent food offering, as opposed to the pop-ups they currently host.

For Trinity Cider owners Evan Kalstad and Brian Meyer, Picadera was the perfect choice.

“We have had over 20 companies who do pop-ups, and a lot of them were interested in running our kitchen, but it came down to the food I liked," Kalstad says.

Picadera is from Michael Tavarez, who started the concept as a pop-up in 2020, doing Latin street food, setting up camp at buzzy spots around town, creating a space where he could give Dominican people a taste of home. He drew a large and loyal following not only for his authentic and heartfelt dishes but also for the festive patio party experience that always arose.

Trinity Cider Picadera Trinity Cider X PicaderaPicadera

In 2023, Picadera moved from pop-up model to ghost kitchen, with three Latin food concepts at Commerce Fork Food Co. While this expanded the business, it also diluted the street parties Picadera was known for. Cooking in a closed kitchen focusing on to-go items took out all the fun.

“Mentally, I was done, so I had to close it," Tavarez says. "But I got a lot of positive comments and support, so I knew I could not let my brand die."

It was a breath of fresh air when Tavarez got a chance to participate at the State Fair, and real validation when he helped work on the dish that won the Big Tex Choice award for Best Savory item, the Dominican Fritura Dog. (Tavarez partnered with the Martinez family who've been at the state fair of Texas since 1977.) The positive energy continued when he got the chance to partner with Trinity Cider.

They're still finalizing the menu, but it will include favorites like empanadas, croquettes, tostones rellenos, Dominican smashed burgers, a bodega chopped cheese sandwich, and a Wagyu hot dog.

They're also working on dishes that can be enjoyed while dining in and paired with draft cider. The star dish will be a Dominican twist on steak frites, with skirt steak, plantain fries, and Wasakaka sauce, a herby sauce resembling chimichurri. This plate will be also available with camarones al ajillo as an add-on, for a surf and turf option.

Options include mofongo, a traditional Puerto Rican dish of mashed plantains, served with proteins such as pork belly, churrasco, camaron al ajilllo, and queso frito as a meatless option. Dessert will include a tres leches cake made with famous Entenmann's pound cake; and Yaniqueque, a Dominican dessert similar to buñuelos, cut into strips, with dulce de leche ice cream.

The food menu is designed to complement the all-natural, gluten-free hard cider provided by Trinity Cider. Seasonal cider flavors will include pineapple, passion fruit, watermelon, peach tree, and slightly spicy mango, which they will rotate regularly. Their drink menu will also include non-alcoholic cider, as well as their famous sake bombs.

“Hard cider and Dominican food go very well together. A lot of the things that pair well with cider are ingredients that Dominican food is based on. It is a match made in heaven," Evan says.

deep-ellum openings