It's a sweet story of food truck success, as two Dallas food trucks expand from mobile to permanent restaurant status. Coincidentally, both new restaurants are in shopping malls.
Nammi, already open at Valley View Center, comes from Teena Nguyen and Gary Torres, owners of the highly popular Vietnamese food truck of the same name. The restaurant offers the truck menu, including the award-winning Vietnamese banh mi sandwich, plus new dishes created specifically for the restaurant.
"Ever since we hit the road in 2011, we always dreamed that if our food truck adventure went well, we would open a restaurant," Nammi co-owner Gary Torres says.
"Ever since we hit the road in 2011, we always dreamed that if our food truck adventure went well, we would open a restaurant," Torres says. "Mobility has its limitations, such as adequate kitchen space and a dining area."
For the restaurant, there are three menus, Torres says. One is everything they do on the truck: banh mi, rice bowls, tacos. The second is their signature fusion dishes, including sliders; nachos; and a sandwich that's a cross between a panino and banh mi, incorporating different cuisines like green chili brisket and chicken curry.
"The third is 'old school eats'," he says. "People have been asking us for so long to have a pho. But we're doing a chicken noodle pho, to keep doing things differently. We'll have ice cream and ice cream sandwiches from our Cool Haus ice cream truck as well."
Green House Market, from the team behind Green House Truck, will launch at NorthPark Center in November. The restaurant is going into the old Starbucks space on the second level, next to the AMC theater. Focused on fresh and healthy cuisine, Green House Market will feature counter-service and to-go foods.
Chef Ben Hutchison will reprise staples from the truck, including grilled ciabatta sandwiches and stir-fried brown rice bowls. But he'll add granola yogurt parfaits, curried pumpkin soup, chickpeas with olives and lemon, sprouted quinoa tabbouleh, seared tuna, and flourless lemon-almond cakes.
Nammi owners Gary Torres and Teena Nguyen in their new Valley View Center restaurant.
