Opening News

Pretty Asian restaurant brings Viet-Thai fusion to Dallas' Preston Center

Malai Kitchen

There's a new Asian restaurant opening in Dallas' Preston Center: Malai Kitchen, the small chain from husband-and-wife Braden and Yasmin Wages, will open a location inside Preston Center Shopping Center at 6130 Luther Ln., in the space most recently occupied by Bartaco.

According to a release, it'll open in the fall.

Malai Kitchen does a modern take on Thai and Vietnamese cuisine, featuring creatively designed dishes inspired by traditional Southeast Asian cuisine.

The first location opened at the West Village more than 10 years ago in January 2011. A second location opened in Southlake in 2016, and a third in October 2017 at Fort Worth’s The Shops at Clearfork.

The couple draws inspiration from annual trips to Southeast Asia, says Braden.

"Yasmin and I are devoted to constantly evolving our food and drink menus to keep them fresh and relevant to food trends in Thailand and Vietnam," he says.

"Our foundation, from day one, has always been to showcase our own take on Southeast Asian cuisine," Yasmin says in a statement. "We are thrilled to welcome new Malai guests in our soon-to- open location in the Park Cities/Preston Hollow area. We already feel the welcoming nature from the neighboring businesses and think our concept fills a niche in the space of modern, full-service Asian inspired cuisine in this particular area of Dallas."

Bartaco opened at 6130 Luther Ln. in December 2018, but closed in March 2020 due to the pandemic. Prior to that, it was Kent Rathbun's Blue Plate Kitchen, which lasted five years before Rathbun turned it into a catering kitchen.

The Preston Center Malai Kitchen will offer an estimated 3000 square feet of interior dining with seating for 115 guests. In addition, the new restaurant will house a large U-shaped 22 seat bar spanning a total of 42 feet, a 28-seat patio — with air conditioning during the summer and a firepit for the winter — and a 500-bottle showcase wine room visible from the dining room.

The restaurant will be open for lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch, and nearly everything is made from scratch, from curry paste to fresh squeezed coconut milk to house-made sriracha. Malai Kitchen also offers an abundance of healthy options and most items can be made gluten-free, vegetarian/vegan, and dairy-free upon request.

openings

Hot Dog News

Portillo's hot dog chain opens first airport shop in Dallas-Fort Worth

Portillo's

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Travelers taking flight can now get a hot dog: Portillo’s, the fast-casual chain from Chicago, is opening the first-ever Portillo’s airport location in Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.

The new location is one of two — along with another in The Villages, Florida — that will feature a new small, dine-in only format. It won't have the traditional drive-thru. Because there is no drive-thru at the airport, see. See what I'm saying.

Unlike traditional Portillo’s locations, the airport restaurant will feature a smaller, walk-up accessible footprint with multiple ordering touchpoints – including at the register, self-order kiosks, and order ahead for pick-up.

There will also be a variety of seating options accommodating more than 50 guests as well as a grab-and-go area — useful for travelers taking food on the plane, to their gate, or for leisurely meals during layovers or the unfortunate flight cancellation.

Portillo's partner for the DFW Airport location is PhaseNext Hospitality, whose president and CEO Roz Mallet says she is "thrilled to partner with Portillo's on this first airport location."

“As a fan of the culture, food, and history of Chicago, I have also been a longtime fan of Portillo’s,” Mallet says.

Guests can expect signature Portillo’s items like Chicago-style hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches, char-grilled burgers, and Portillo’s "famous" chocolate cake.

Hot dogs come in regular, chili cheese, Polish sausage, and Maxwell Street Polish sausage which has mustard and grilled onions.

Their Italian beef sandwich features thinly sliced roast beef served on French bread, which is then dipped in hot gravy. You can order it dipped with sweet or hot peppers and mozzarella.

Portillo's first entered the Dallas market with a location at the Grandscape development in The Colony in January 2023. They have seven other locations in DFW, in Allen, Arlington, Denton, Fort Worth, Grand Prairie, Grapevine, and Mansfield.

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