Pizza Dough

Plano finally joins Neapolitan-style pizza trend with this restaurant opening

Plano, a city with a surprising shortage of pizza, is about to get more.

Photo courtesy of Dough Pizzeria

Plano has so far been left out of the Neapolitan-style pizza trend that has hit nearly every other neighborhood. What'sa matter, Plano, you don't like pizza? But that's about to change when Dough Pizzeria opens a branch on Parker Road near the Dallas North Tollway.

Dough is the pizza restaurant that was founded in San Antonio, and an outlet at Preston Forest in Dallas opened in 2011. That was far ahead of what has been an onslaught of Neapolitan-style pizzerias opening around Dallas, beginning with the pace-setting Cane Rosso, and followed by concepts such as Pizza Snob, Spin, Blaze, and Project Pie.

In fact, so much has occurred in the world of pizza that one player, Project Pie, has already opened and closed its Dallas branches during that time (though that was due to management issues and not the everlasting appeal of pizza).

"People love pizza," says Dough co-owner Brad Liles. "The only reason we haven't expanded in the last few years was that our family was dealing with an overwhelming health issue, but that has thankfully improved. So we can give future locations the focus our guests deserve."

Plano made sense for a few reasons. "We focused on Plano because of the growth there, with Toyota opening its new headquarters, etcetera," he says. "And co-owner Keith Hall and I both live in the area. Our Dallas branch has done well and has grown every year. We just need to keep focusing on quality and freshness. We make our own cheese, sauce, dough, and sausage, all from scratch. When we don't make it from scratch, we bring in high-quality ingredients."

The Plano location will take over a space with a history of pizza: It's a former Pizza By Marco, the local chain forced to change its name to My Family's Pizza in 2014, and which also has another branch in the neighborhood. Liles says that this Dough will be a different, smaller "neighborhood" model.

"We are trying a smaller design as a potential prototype moving forward," Liles says. "But it will still have full service, the same menu, and a full bar. We're working with Austin designer Joel Mozersky to sexy it up."

The new location is projected to open at the end of the year.

pizza openings

Pei Wei News

Upscale Indian restaurant takes over an original Pei Wei in Dallas

Roti Grill

A hallowed restaurant space in Dallas' Knox Park Village has a new tenant. The new tenant is Roti Grill, the Northern Indian restaurant known for its modern take on traditional Indian food. The space is the former Pei Wei space at 3001 Knox St., which closed in 2023 after nearly 20 years.

Roti Grill knows the neighborhood well, as it has been there since 2005 (as reported by Andoni Vossos), just around the corner at 4438 McKinney Ave. — a location that was a little hidden away, without much street presence. (And yet they survived 20 years.)

That Pei Wei was only the fifth Pei Wei to open in Dallas. (No. 1 was Preston Frankford, #2 was Carrollton, #3 was Las Colinas, and #4 was South Arlington — this is the kind of solid-gold intel you can find in Fork Fight!, the memoir by Pei Wei co-founder Mark Brezinski.)

But the Knox location was among the most visible, and remained a major foodie destination for most of its two-decade lifespan.

Roti Grill founder Pardeep Sharma says the new location brings not only greater visibility but also a more refined version of the typical Roti Grill dining experience including full-service dining and a full bar serving craft cocktails made with Indian ingredients.

“There’s a lack of Indian restaurants in DFW where guests can sit down and take their time enjoying wine, beer, or cocktails along with dinner,” Sharma says.

Open daily from 11 am-10 pm, the restaurant offers a contemporary, elevated Indian dining experience, unlike its other counter-service locations. Guests can enjoy a full-service meal paired with cocktails and wine.

Sharma is a veteran restaurateur who has owned some of Dallas' most popular Indian restaurants starting with Kebab N Kurry, which he opened in Richardson in 1982. He went on to open India Palace in 1985, a longtime staple in the Indian restaurant community.

He launched Roti Grill in Plano in 1992, and has since opened locations at Victory Plaza near downtown Dallas and at The Star in Frisco.

Roti Grill Knox Street Roti Grill gives former Pei Wei space a bright makeover.Roti Grill

Dishes include

Vegetable Samosas filled with spiced potatoes and peas
Chili Paneer with onions and bell peppers
Dahi Papdi Chaat - fried chickpea flour cake, spicy chickpeas, and chutney

Tandoori specialties include chicken tikka, ground lamb seekh kebab, and shrimp tandoori — each served with basmati rice, naan, and masala sauce. Entrees include chicken Vindaloo in a tangy sauce; plus vegetarian favorites like Chana Masala and Malai Kofta - vegetable and cheese dumplings in a creamy sauce.

Drinks include the Indian Sunset with Indian rum, amaretto, cranberry juice, and pineapple juice; and a Mango Margarita with Hornitos tequila, mango purée, and lime.

The new location spans 3,300 square feet and seats up to 80. It features a vibrant design by Hatsumi Kuzuu (Tei-An, FT33). The former Pei Wei now incorporates decorative details of Indian architecture and art, large wood beams, vibrant colors, and stenciled figures.

It joins other excellent-yet affordable restaurants at Knox Park Village that include Bread Zeppelin, the ingenious salad chain that puts salads inside a crusty loaf of bread, and Fadi's Mediterranean Grill, the excellent Mediterranean and Lebanese concept from Houston.

uptown openings