Uptown Restaurant Tales
Boxwood Tap + Grill neighborhood pub sprouts up in old TABC space
UPDATE: Tommy DeAlano requested that the story add the other partners that are involved with Boxwood, saying, "Boxwood T+G was founded and is managed by a collaboration of talents: Chris, DJ & Martin Donohoe, Tommy DeAlano & Shawn Egerton."
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Six months after Uptown staple Thomas Avenue Beverage Company closed, a new neighborhood pub has opened in its place at the corner of Thomas Avenue and Allen Street. Boxwood Tap + Grill promises a mix of craft beers, cocktails and quality pub fare.
The new restaurant, which opened July 22, comes from owner Tommy DeAlano, who has had a hand in multiple Dallas establishments, including The Dram and Candleroom. He says that he had been mulling several concepts for a new place in Dallas, and when TABC shut down, he moved to get the spot.
To get Boxwood ready, DeAlano renovated the entire space. Gone is the large horseshoe bar in the middle of the room.
“Our cocktails are more branded to refreshing, casual and comfortable,” owner Tommy DeAlano says. “They’re not the 12-step mixology drinks that takes forever.”
“It’s completely different,” he says. “There is nothing other than the placements of the bathrooms that are similar. We put a large bar along the main wall, enclosed the kitchen and added some booths. It’s a complete facelift.”
The bar features 10 taps, ranging from Lakewood Lager to Founder’s All Day IPA to Guinness Draft. There are also 20 bottled beers from across the world.
“We want to have a local element, but we didn’t want to pigeonhole ourselves as only local,” DeAlano says.
Mixologist Jason Kosmas helped design the cocktail menu, which features a handful of fruit-inspired drinks designed to stave off the summer heat. The drinks aren’t as complicated as what one might find at Smyth or Standard Pour, providing for more flexibility when crowds swell.
“Our cocktails are more branded to refreshing, casual and comfortable,” DeAlano says. “They’re not the 12-step mixology drinks that take forever. We want cocktails that you can get quickly and taste great.”
The bar also does pitchers of cocktails and beer for lounging on the patio.
Boxwood T+G is open seven days a week, from 4 pm to 2 am, and serves dinner until 11 pm. The menu is upscale pub food: small plates such as hummus and pulled pork sliders and cheeseboards, sandwiches such as a fish po’boy battered in Peticolas Royal Scandal, and entrees like flat iron steak and grilled salmon. The small plates and snacks are served until 1:30 am every day.
Brunch is in the works, but DeAlano wants to make sure everything else is running smoothly before the restaurant starts brunch service. It should start within two months.
The open space enables Boxwood to accommodate the swarm of bar hoppers on Friday and Saturday nights, and the outdoor bar by the patio gives outdoor drinkers a chance to grab a beer or cocktail. DeAlano says he is happy about how well the restaurant is fitting into the neighborhood.
“We’ve been pleasantly surprised by how well the neighborhood has taken us under their wing,” he says. “This past weekend, we had a busy blend of people, and everyone seemed to have a great time.”
