News You Can Eat

Tacos are trending strong in this roundup of Dallas restaurant news

Tacos courtesy of Federales Dallas.

Federales

This roundup of Dallas dining news includes a pretty nifty assortment of openings, not your usual chain but some local and indie places, as well as new menus, new menu items, and and at least three taco-related items.

Here's what's happening in Dallas restaurant news:

Tre Stelle Coffee Co. is an intriguing new coffee shop that says it hopes to bridge the gap between modern and traditional coffee. It's a family-owned coffee roaster and wholesale business founded by 25-year-old Jonathan Ghebreamlak and his father Yordan, with a newly-opened storefront in far north Dallas at 17390 Preston Rd. #210, in the same shopping center just below Frankford Road as Hacienda Ranch. Tre Stelle, which means three stars in Italian, embodies the time-coffee traditions of their native country of Eritrea in East Africa. "East Africa is home to some of the most delicious coffee in the world, yet there aren’t many people of color on the storefront ownership side of the industry," Jonathan toldDallas Weekly. "I wanted to change the narrative in that regard. It was also important to me to continue the traditions of coffee drinking that surrounded me growing up."

Benihana, the big Japanese teppanyaki and sushi restaurant chain, is opening a location in Addison, at 5000 Belt Line Rd. #600, in the former Kobe Steakhouse spot on the southwest corner of the Dallas North Tollway in the Addison Walk marketplace, in late August. It will seat 242 in a contemporary setting featuring 23 teppanyaki tables and an expansive sushi lounge and bar.

Taco Joint, the Dallas taqueria chain, has opened its first location in Collin County at 1300 W. Plano Pkwy., in Rosewood Property Company's Heritage Creekside in Plano. It has all of Taco Joint's signature features including a large patio, creative murals, famous breakfast tacos, and daily deals during the week, including happy hour weekdays from 3-7 pm. It joins five other locations throughout Dallas, with two more opening in the next six months.

Lexy's, a new restaurant at Trinity Groves in the former Casa Rubio and Souk Mediterranean space, opens on August 15. Menu items include Crab & Lobster Cakes, Brisket Stuffed Avocado Croquettes, and Shrimp Fried Rice.

Mama's Pizza, a chain from Fort Worth that's been in business since 1968, now has a location in Dallas at 11828 Inwood Rd., in a former Subway at the intersection of Forest Lane, where it opened on August 8.

Rodeo Goat Ice House opened a location in Frisco, at 3111 Preston Rd., the eighth for the chain along with Dallas, Houston, Plano, Rockwall, and Casa Linda in East Dallas.

Turkish Cafe & Lounge has a new lunch menu it's serving every day from 11 am-3 pm which features kebabs, wraps, gyro sandwich with fries, salads, and an appetizer trio with hummus and baba ganoush.

Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar has a lineup of new menu items they'll start serving on August 17 that include Mini Corn Dogs + Fries and a Four Cheese Lasagna TV Dinner layered with ricotta, mozzarella, romano, parmesan cheese and meat sauce, served with garlic parmesan broccoli, and warm cannoli cake.

Federales, the tequila and taco bar in Deep Ellum, is now open for weekend brunch Friday–Sunday 11 am–3 pm with a menu that includes a breakfast burrito with eggs, chorizo, cheese, potatoes, and corn salsa in a house-made flour tortilla; breakfast tacos including steak & egg or potato & chorizo hash; chilaquiles with salsa roja, corn tortillas, sunny side egg, and cotija cheese. On Sundays and Wednesdays, they're doing Quesabirria Tacos with lamb in adobo sauce and melted cheese.

Whistlebritches, the acclaimed chicken restaurant concept from chef Omar Flores, has several new menu items including Buffalo Fried Cauliflower with house made ranch dressing, Crunchy Corn Fritters, and Grilled Chicken Fredo with fusilli pasta and parmesan cheese, available at all three locations in Plano, Dallas, and Southlake.

Taco Cabana is launching Hatch chile items on August 17 including Hatch Chile Smoked Pulled Pork Tacos for $3.19, a three-pack of Street Tacos served with Hatch Chile Ranch for $4.99, Breakfast Bowl for $5.49, and a Crunchy Burrito served with Hatch Chile Ranch and tortilla chips for $8.59. There's also a $4 Hatch Chile frozen margarita, a spicy beverage that is this season's rotating flavor.

Tacodeli has two novel seasonal menu items available through October 15: Chile Relleno featuring poblano peppers stuffed with veggie rice over a refried black bean spread and topped with jack cheese, crema and cilantro; and Short Rib Birria with a corn tortilla dipped in short rib stew, stuffed with jack cheese & braised short rib, served with consomme on the side for dipping.

Dive Coastal Cuisine in Snider Plaza has specials through the end of August: Shrimp Avocado Salsa with corn chips, Texas Peach Salad with pecans, prosciutto, smoked gouda, and mixed greens, pistachio-crusted Alaska halibut with succotash and coconut rice, and Corn Chowder.

Hopdoddy has a new Back To School Burger with a Piedmontese beef patty topped with fried bologna, muenster cheese, and a fried egg, available through September 6.

Boba Republic, the boba tea drink shop, has introduced macarons in cute bear shapes, in an assortment of flavors including Vietnamese Coffee, Honey Lavender, Earl Gray Black Sesame, Strawberry, Cookies & Cream, and Sea Salt Caramel, available at both locations in Allen and Plano.

La Madeleine has added the classic French macaron to its café menu in a pre-set box of six flavors including coffee, vanilla, lemon, crème brûlée, chocolate and raspberry for $11.99.

DQ has a new Reese's Take5 Blizzard Treat with Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, caramel, peanuts, and pretzels blended into DQ soft serve.

Manhattan Project Beer Co. has an enticing new beer called BA Fission that summons sparkling rosé. They brewed it with raspberries and aged it in cabernet wine barrels, then carbonated it a touch higher to enhance the sparkling rosé experience. BA Fission is available in the taproom and will hit the market in the next two weeks.

Après Hours is a new Dallas-based maker of espresso martinis with real espresso, available in three dairy-and-gluten free flavors: Classic, Salted Caramel, and Vanilla. It's sold at Pogo's, Berkleys Market, Roots Market, Uptown Liquor, Monticello Liquor, Cafe Duro, Castle Spirits, Lucky's Liquor, Buddy's Booze, Jerry's Liquor, and Gunter Liquor.

Better Balance, a Dallas-based brand which makes healthy plant-based proteins, has formed a partnership with Frisco RoughRiders at Riders Field. Better Balance offers a food cart serving stadium snacks including BBQ Sliders made with Better Balance plant-based shreds marinated in bbq sauce, potato slider buns, coleslaw, dill pickles, and kettle chips; and Guajillo Tacos made with Better Balance plant-based shreds simmered in roasted tomato-guajillo sauce, served in tortillas with black beans, pico de gallo, salsa verde and tortilla chips; The cart is located near Seat Section 118. To view the Riders Stadium Concessions map, visit www.milb.com/frisco/ballpark/food-options.

Smokey John's Bar-B-Que & Home Cooking is the only Dallas finalist in H-E-B's 2022 Quest for Texas Best competition, with their signature SJBBQ Bar-B-Que Rub. Four winning products will be chosen on August 24 at Fair Park. The winner gets $25,000 and placement on store shelves, with cash prizes to the next three winners.

MingsBings is a line of plant-based pockets based on the traditional Chinese bing, a dim sum item dating back to the Ming dynasty and popular street food. The line was created in 2020 by celeb chef Ming Tsai, award-winning chef, TV personality, and entrepreneur, and hosted of the PBS cooking show Simply Ming. MingsBings are sold in over 2,000 retail stores, including Target and Whole Foods. They're really good!

Angry Dog, the restaurant in Deep Ellum famous for its burgers and ice cold beer, just celebrated its 32nd anniversary.

Ex-Blue Bell CEO Paul Kruse got a mistrial in a criminal case filed against him over the listeria outbreak in 2015. A Texas federal jury was unable to agree whether he committed wire fraud or conspiracy by allegedly concealing positive listeria tests from customers.

news-you-can-eat

Eco Warrior News

Dallas restaurants doing amazing little things for the environment

Southwest Airlines

Cute bamboo cup from Southwest Airlines

One unfortunate legacy left by the pandemic has been a huge increase in the use of plastics — setting back progress that was being made pre-pandemic.

Plastics are bad. They harm everything they touch: the environment, health, food security, and economies. But they're convenient, subsidized, and in some cases necessary.

Before the pandemic, a growing awareness had started to snowball regarding the negative impact of plastics, particularly plastic straws and single-use plastic containers — and it was significant enough to make the plastics industry very nervous.

"In the two years leading up to the pandemic, the public backlash against plastic was a major concern for industry leaders," says a story about plastics and the pandemic in The Guardian. "As a corporate executive remarked during an industry event early in 2019: 'We need to get the image of plastic in oceans out of the public’s mind. Otherwise, we could lose our social license to operate.'"

But then the pandemic came along, igniting mass hysteria about contagion, and suddenly, bans on single-use plastics that had been in the works were reversed in countries around the world: North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.

“Overnight, plastics went from public enemy No. 1 to consumers asking for everything to have as much packaging as possible and to be single use," said one gleeful analyst for Shell Oil, who are a major plastics player.

The urgency of the plastics situation remains invisible to most people, lined up at the drive-thru for their coffee or Chick-Fil-A, piling up nearly 250 pounds of plastic waste every year. (That's what the average American amasses — more than any other country.)

But there are brave, pro-environment efforts being made by Dallas companies and organizations, big and small.

La Casita Bakeshop cup Revolutionary compostable cup at La Casita Bakeshop.Facebook

Dallas efforts
The Dallas restaurants and organizations listed below have taken steps to fight waste, even though it costs them money.

Plastic Free Lunch Day is November 22
Dallas ISD’s Food and Child Nutrition Services will participate in Plastic Free Lunch Day on November 22, to help reduce the amount of single-use plastic in school cafeterias.

Plastic Free Lunch Day was started by middle school students in Brooklyn. The initiative was such a success that it was adopted by all New York City public schools in 2022. The concept has since spread to public schools across the country — including Dallas ISD, which was the first in Texas to participate, when it joined up in 2022.

It creates an opportunity to educate students and the community on ways to positively impact the environment, including skipping plastic. Dallas school cafeterias will replace the plastic items they regularly use during lunch with biodegradable alternatives. (Plastic cutlery, cups, and straws will be available upon request for the crybabies.)

Southwest Airlines bamboo cup
Southwest Airlines Co., the Dallas-based airline, has introduced a new bamboo cup for inflight cold beverages, and a wood stir stick in place of a plastic stick. The airline expects the new items to reduce its inflight single-use plastics by more than 1.5 million pounds annually.

In July 2024, Southwest transitioned to a paper overwrap for its napkins made from 100 percent post-consumer recycled materials — fully eliminating plastic from this service item. The airline is making an effort to eliminate single-use plastics from inflight service by 2030.

La Casita Bakeshop compostable cups
La Casita Bakeshop, the award-winning bakery and cafe operation, recently debuted fabulous new cups that are 100 percent compostable, soil- and marine-biodegradable, breaking down naturally after 90 days. and are made from natural materials.

"We are always trying to find ways to be more environmentally friendly and this is a big way we can," they said in their post announcing the new cups. "We just want to be proud of our paper trail and being a restaurant it's hard to do that."

Smoothie King biodegrable cups
Smoothie King, the Dallas-based smoothie chain, previously used styrofoam cups, but began testing a biodegradable cup in 2019. They now offer it as the default choice. They're using Vio Foam, specially made cups that biodegrade 92 percent in four years. They'll still accommodate whiny selfish customers who insist on getting a plastic cup instead, but their Vio foam cup not only helps the environment, it also keeps their smoothies cold a little longer.

Kate Weiser Recycle Box Program
Kate Weiser, the Dallas chocolatier, sells its gorgeous eye-catching bon-bons in a variety of boxes, from 4 pieces all the way up to 35 pieces. (OK, they'll sell them individually, too, but who goes to a chocolate shop and buys a single chocolate?) They have a program where you can bring your empty box to the store and get a refill and get 5 percent off. (Weiser amusingly calls it a "secret hack.")

Dude Sweet Chocolate freezer packaging
Dude Sweet Chocolate, the Oak Cliff chocolatier, has a next-level campaign in which they will accept cold-ship packaging you've received in the mail and re-use it. Say, for example, that you ordered an 8-pack of ice cream pints from Double Rainbow in San Francisco, and it arrived in a box with freezer packs and a foil liner. You can drop that packaging off at Dude Sweet's factory location at 1340 Inwood Rd., and they'll re-use it in one way or another when they're doing shipments of their chocolate.

Note: Whether you're putting it in the blue bin or the gray bin, your plastic is not being recycled. The best course when it comes to plastic, especially single-use plastic, is to not use it at all.

sustainability