More Seafood for Dallas

California seafood restaurant splashes onto Dallas' landlocked shores

Seafood is on the menu at Water Grill.

Photo courtesy of Water Grill

A seafood restaurant concept from California called Water Grill is coming to Dallas, into a new office tower on McKinney Avenue, just north of Klyde Warren Park.

Water Grill is part of a seafood-centric hospitality group called King's Seafood Company. Founded in Costa Mesa, California, by cousins Sam and Jeff King, King's operates six restaurant concepts, including King's Fish House, which has 11 locations in California, Nevada, and Arizona; 555 East in Long Beach; Lou & Mickey's in San Diego; Pier Burger on the Santa Monica Pier; and Fish Camp in Huntington Beach.

Water Grill has branches in downtown Los Angeles, Santa Monica and San Diego; Dallas will be the fourth. It's being built on the street level of 1920 McKinney Ave., an 11-story office and retail project one block from Klyde Warren Park. The building is scheduled to be finished in early 2016.

King's Seafood Company CEO Sam King notes in a release that the pro-business spirit that makes Dallas what it is. "We chose Dallas because of its global culture, upscale dining landscape and business-friendly environment," he says.

The menu will include oysters — which the release calls "the briny bivalve" — with up to 18 varieties, plus live sea urchin, lobster and crab. The restaurant will feature an exhibition kitchen and sea water tanks that will display a seasonal assortment of live shellfish including crab, prawns and spiny lobsters. A whole fish "program" allows guests to select from a seasonal assortment of fresh fish cooked in their choice of preparation styles.

The decor is "refurbished ship," with rustic woods and nautical accents. The release says that the wood used for the flooring, beams and walls will be from reclaimed 100-year-old barns, many sourced within 500 miles of Dallas. "Local wood," who knew?

A central copper bar top will anchor the space, with 20 local beers on tap, 35 wines by the glass and "hand-crafted" cocktails incorporating locally sourced produce — which in Dallas' case means cocktails with turnips?

A private dining room and 500-bottle working wine cellar will create an intimate space for 14 to 16 guests.

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Italian Restaurant News

Italian restaurant The Saint makes debut in Dallas Design District

Samantha Marie Photography

The Saint

A swanky restaurant is relocating from one hip Dallas neighborhood to another: The Saint, the Italian steakhouse from Hooper Hospitality Concepts which originally opened near Deep Ellum in 2023, is moving to a new address in the Dallas Design District.

The restaurant will open at 1000 N. Riverfront Blvd., and it's happening soon: According to a release, it'll open on Saturday, January 3.

It's going into same building that will be home to Night Rooster, The Saint's sibling Asian concept which will open sometime in 2026.

Hooper Hospitality Concepts CEO Andy Hooper says in a statement that "the Design District offers the ideal setting for the experience we’ve created. It gives us greater visibility, a setting that matches the sophistication of our menu, and a chance to welcome even more guests into the world of The Saint."

Decor
The 1,800-square-foot dining room seats 85. Highlights include a golden-tiled stairway leading to the restaurant’s second-story landing, crowned by an 18th-century gilt chandelier, counterbalanced by a graffitied antique oil portrait hand-tagged by Design District artist Kelly O’Neal.

It's a whole opposites theme, creating a space where both “saints and sinners” feel at home. The wallpaper features a vivid interpretation of saints-and-sinners iconography, blending flora, fauna, snakes, doves, and talismanic motifs into a damask pattern.

Scalloped upholstered booths soften the room with elegant curves under the pink glow of an antique 1920s Parisian glass-domed chandelier. Nearly every seat captures a view of the downtown Dallas skyline.

New chef
The kitchen is now led by executive chef Sergio Esquivel, a Dallas-born chef whose culinary roots trace back to early days cooking beside his grandmothers. He attended The Culinary Institute of America and has worked at Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse, Georgie by Curtis Stone, Harper’s, Nuri Steakhouse, and as personal chef for the Jones family at AT&T Stadium.

His style blends steakhouse tradition with Italian technique, Peruvian brightness, American comfort, and Korean depth, with a commitment to crafting everything in-house.

His menu will include dry-aged cuts from Texas ranchers, Wagyu selections, housemade pastas, seafood, and vegetarian and vegan dishes.

Standout menu items include

Texas Wagyu Tartare with truffle carpaccio and balsamic cured egg yolk
Shellfish Platter with Maine lobster, king crab, oysters, and prawns with cocktail sauce
Wild Mushroom & Black Truffle Tagliatelle
32-oz Bistecca Alla Fiorentina

The bar program will continue to offer inventive cocktails and a notable wine selection, now enhanced by a lineup of new signature drinks such as the In Good Faith with Ford’s Gin, Ramazotti Apertivo, hibiscus syrup, lemon and sparkling wine; plus new smoked whiskey decanter drinks, offering a mesquite-smoked Manhattan and Old Fashioned in regular and top shelf selections.

deep-ellum openings