News You Can Eat

Dallas-Fort Worth Restaurant Week reveals participating eateries

Steakhouses are always willing participants.

Eddie V's

One annual tradition unfazed by the coronavirus is DFW Restaurant Week, the annual dine-out hosted by local restaurants and benefiting the North Texas Food Bank (NTFB) and Lena Pope.

This is the event's 23rd anniversary, and offers both dine-in and take-out options, plus an adjusted donation structure designed to help diners make a big impact in our community in the midst of COVID-19 recovery.

It kicks off August 31-September 6, though most restaurants extend participation for additional weeks through September 27.

Some restaurants also offer a head start on dining with Preview Weekend August 28-30. Reservations open on August 4.

Participating restaurants for 2020 are, as usual, steakhouse-heavy although there are more alternatives than usual, including the portfolio of restaurants at the Statler Dallas hotel. There are a large number of Fort Worth participants, as well.

This year has dine-in and new take-out options for three-course prix fixe dinners for either $39 or $49, and two-course lunches for $19.

Diners can get a free additional course with a FedEx Office | DFW Restaurant Week Fourth Course Certificate. For each meal purchased during the campaign, 10 percent will be donated to NTFB (greater Dallas area) or Lena Pope (Tarrant County). Restaurants will adhere to the current safety guidelines.

NTFB and Lena Pope are taking a smaller donation — 10 percent vs. previous 20 percent — in order to better help participating restaurants.

Here are the restaurants:

3Eleven Kitchen & Cocktails
400 Gradi Dallas
Adelmo's Ristorante
Al Biernat's
Arthur's Steakhouse
Billy Can Can Saloon
Bistecca - An Italian Steakhouse
Bistro 31
Blaze Brazilian Steakhouse
Bulla Gastrobar
Chamberlain's Steak and Chop House
Corrientes 348 Argentinian Steakhouse
Culpepper Steak House
Dee Lincoln Prime
Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse
Dragonfly at Hotel ZaZa Dallas
EBESU Robata & Sushi
Eddie V's Prime Seafood
El Bolero - Design District
Ferrari's Italian Villa & Chop House
Fire Oak Grill
Fogo de Chão Brazilian Steakhouse
Gemelle
Grace
III Forks Prime Steakhouse
Jalisco Norte
KĀI Restaurant and Lounge at Legacy West
Kenny's Wood Fired Grill
Kirby's Prime Steakhouse
Kona Grill - Dallas
La Bistro Italian Grill
Lavendou Bistro Provençal
Lawry's The Prime Rib
Lonesome Dove Western Bistro
Mac's on Main
Mansion Restaurant at Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek
Merchant House
Mercury Chophouse - Arlington
Mexican Bar Company
Moxie's Grill and Bar - Plano
Musume
Next Bistro
Nick & Sam's Steakhouse
Niwa Japanese BBQ
Nonna
Nosh Bistro
Oak Steak & Seafood
Ocean Prime - Dallas
Overeasy
Pakpao Thai Food – Design District
Perry's Steakhouse & Grille
Primo's MX Kitchen & Lounge
Randy's Steakhouse
Restaurant506 At The Sanford House
rise n°3
Scout
Seasons52
Sfereco
Silver Fox Steakhouse
Sloane's Corner
St. Martin's Wine Bistro
Stock & Barrel
Table 13
Tei-An
Texas de Brazil
The Capital Grille
The Melting Pot
The Oceanaire Seafood Room
The Original MoMo Italian Kitchen
The Ranch at Las Colinas
Toulouse Legacy West
Twigs American Kitchen
Yellow Rose Steak & Chop House

charity chefs

Burger News

Family-owned Patty Lou's Smashburgers will open in old downtown Plano

Photo by Sara Aurora Cimminiello on Unsplash

Smashburger

A new restaurant starring a buzzy burger is coming to old downtown Plano: Called Patty Lou's Smashburgers, it will feature the namesake smashburger, and will open at 1004 E. 14th St. #105, in a historic location that was most recently home to a Starbucks.

Patty Lou's is a new concept from Urban Family Concepts, the hospitality company whose other restaurants include Urban Seafood Co., Urban Rio Cantina & Grill, and Italian restaurant Urban Crust, all located in the downtown Plano area.

Patty Lou's is their burger entry, a quick-service spot serving smashburgers, the flattened version of a burger with crisp edges that's been a hot trend for the past year.

According to Urban Family Concepts partner and spokesperson Dana Blaugrund, the restaurant will open in late spring.

Patty Lou's is also a sweet homage to a family member — named for Patty Lou Peters, of "Patty Lou and her Texas Sweethearts" fame, an all-female country & Western / Western swing group founded in the '40s, when female groups were a rarity.

Patty Lou was the mother of Bonnie Shea, who co-founded Urban Family Concepts with her husband Nathan Shea. Infusing the personal touch into everything they do is part of the company DNA, says Urban partner Michael Lee.

"Urban is generally driven by what we like," Lee says. "Urban Rio, our Mexican concept, came about because Bonnie loved that cuisine, and Urban Seafood Company, Nate loves seafood. Burgers are a favorite of their son-in-laws."

Their version of the smashburger will feature American cheese and onions that melt into the meat, Lee says. They'll be served on potato buns, and there'll be some toppings — but they won't go too crazy.

"It'll have onions, lettuce, and pickle, but we're going to stay minimal, with additional toppings on the side," he says. "Going overboard with ingredients can get complicated. Our goal is, very simple burgers that taste very good, at a value price, so that everyone can enjoy coming back and getting a burger."

The menu will also feature smashed chicken burgers, hand-cut French fries skin on, lightly battered onion rings, and milkshakes. They'll also serve alcohol, including bottled beers, wine by the glass, and a signature frozen cocktail. Eventually, they'll add specials like a burger of the month.

The location was originally home to the Ice House, built in 1917, an institution that provided ice products to Plano residents and businesses, says Urban partner Payton Hickey.

"You could pull up and get a block of ice from workers with tongs," Hickey says. "During remodeling, we could still see the raised floor where the freezer was, where they kept the ice."

They operated a licensed location of Starbucks in that space until 2024, when Starbucks opened a store nearby with a drive-thru in the former longtime Jack in the Box at 15th Street and US-75.

Decor at Patty Lou's will embrace a diner feel with counter seating, while incorporating elements from Patty Lou Peter's life, Blaugrund says. (It's a nice coincidence that her name syncs up with "hamburger patty.")

"We'll have her original guitar and some memorabilia in the restaurant — a cool mixture of country music and burger restaurant," Blaugrund says.

burgers openings

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