Fried Pie Alert

Keep an eye out for fried pies at Chef Blythe's Southern Bistro in North Richland Hills

Fried pies from chef Blythe Bridges will be made from scratch.

Photo courtesy of Blythe's Bistro

A new Southern restaurant is coming to the Dallas-Fort Worth area from a chef named Blythe. But wait, not that Blythe (Beck) — this chef is Blythe Bridges, who is opening a place of her own called Chef Blythe's Southern Bistro, in North Richland Hills.

The other Blythe is opening a Southern-cuisined restaurant in Oak Cliff called Pink Magnolia, giving us the distinction of having two Blythes doing Southern food. We're special.

Bridges is a Fort Worth chef fulfilling her dream of opening her own restaurant. In the past few years, she's worked at and helped restaurants all over Texas, as well as running her own catering company. She attended the Art Institute of Dallas and received a culinary arts degree as well as a food & beverage operations management degree at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh.

Her bistro will open in early September at a new shopping center at 9160 N. Tarrant Pkwy., a location where she sees the need for a good restaurant.

"It's right where North Richland Hills, Keller and Colleyville intersect," she says. "There's nothing there to eat, other than chains. My parents live out there, and the CEO of Chili's lives across the street. All these people and families need somewhere to eat."

Her menu has a couple of signature items including house-made fries pies. She does something called "cheese bombs," which begin with a core of mozzarella cheese, wrapped in biscuit dough, which is wrapped in bacon, then deep-fried. And that's an appetizer. She also does an "adult" sloppy Joe.

"When I was young, we always had sloppy Joe's," she says. "These are things you're used to eating in the South, but with a chef-driven kick to it. It's basically ground beef in a tomato-based sauce on a hamburger bun. I add veggies and my own tomato sauce, and top it with jalapeno, a good cheese and avocado on some thick-crusted bread that I make myself. I'm doing a true scratch kitchen."

There'll be a full bar but the food will be primarily homey entrees and sides, including her cheffed-up version of CFS: a thick-cut chicken-fried steak with green beans, red potatoes and house-made biscuits.

"A good chicken-fried steak should not have a ton of breading," she says. "I hate going and trying to look for the meat. Ours will be an inch thick on the meat, and it's tenderized, with a good crust — not too thick, but extra crispy to where the gravy's not going to kill it. My philosophy on cooking is being basic. I hate when someone tries to reinvent the wheel."

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Spring Arrival

West Dallas gets new Spanish-Peruvian restaurant with big-name chef

Photo courtesy of Ulloa's

Paella will be on the menu.

A new restaurant with a high-profile culinary director will bring Spanish and Peruvian flavors to West Dallas: Called Ulloa’s, it is coming to 727 Fort Worth Ave., with a projected opening in March 2027.

The concept is from philanthropists Susan and Woodrow Gandy, who were previously investors in the historic Belmont Hotel just around the corner. They've teamed up with Dallas celebrity chef Kent Rathbun as culinary director, along with Christopher Tunnell as general manager to lead the front of the house.

Rathbun is a name Dallas diners know well, with a resume that includes The Mansion on Turtle Creek, the Landmark Restaurant at the historic Melrose Hotel, Seventeen Seventeen at the Dallas Museum of Art, Abacus, Jasper's, Rathbun’s Blue Plate Kitchen, and more. He's won numerous awards and made multiple appearances on Food Network. He was most recently behind the launch of On The Rocks, an Italian bistro in Burleson.

Chef Kent Rathbun will be the culinary director of Ulloa's. Photo courtesy of Kent Rathbun

Tunnell’s background spans both culinary direction and front-of-house operations. He worked at Los Angeles hot spots Ketchup, Geisha House, and Les Deux, as well as the Mandalay Bay and The Mirage in Las Vegas, before moving to Dallas to open The Mexican, the upscale restaurant in the Design District.

“I am truly excited to partner with Chef Kent Rathbun, whose reputation is amazing — not only in the DFW Metroplex, but in the culinary world,” Tunnell says. “He has been with this project since the beginning, helping develop it; this will be a very chef-driven, culinary-forward restaurant.”

The team's vision for Ulloa’s is both culinary and urban, with hopes of anchoring the corridor and attracting other businesses to Fort Worth Avenue — a stretch connecting downtown Dallas with Oak Cliff that remains somewhat underdeveloped despite its panoramic skyline views.

The restaurant is named for Spanish explorer, astronomer, and scientist Antonio de Ulloa, who spent extensive time in the Mexican peninsula before becoming Louisiana’s first governor. During his travels, Ulloa documented a fogbow — a circular rainbow formed when sunlight meets mist that causes silhouettes standing between the sun and fog to appear ringed in light, a phenomenon known today as “Ulloa’s Rings.”

That vibrant phenomenon inspired both the restaurant's identity and logo. The concept promises "bold, worldly flavors in a welcoming neighborhood setting inspired by exploration and discovery,” the owners say.

Ulloa's Rendering of Ulloa's.Rendering courtesy of Ulloa's

While the menu remains in development, Tunnell describes the culinary direction as “Spanish soul with a Peruvian heart.” The kitchen will merge the coastal flavors of both traditions — ranging from paellas and ceviches to crafted cocktails and signature adaptations by Rathbun.

The 200-seat, two-story space will feature a downstairs dining room, a large bar, and an outdoor patio. Upstairs, plans call for a secondary bar, a private dining room, a patio, and an expansive balcony patio, offering views of the city's skyline and of the Margaret Hunt Hill and Margaret McDermott bridges.

While the upstairs space will be available for private events, the owners intend for it to operate primarily as an organic extension of the main restaurant. The buildout will include a guest elevator along with ample parking, including both self-parking and valet options.

The team says the restaurant will have have an aesthetic that's “warm, theatrical, generous, elegant but alive, with the energy of a great Spanish tapas bar and the soul of Peruvian hospitality.”

Ulloa’s plans to launch with dinner service first, followed by lunch and weekend brunch.

restaurants bars peruvian flavors west dallas oak cliff kent rathbun