News You Can Eat

Openings galore give this round of Dallas restaurant news a happy spin

This round of restaurant news is nothing but good. No closures this time, it's all about new places and new branches, opening all around Dallas. Put on your smiley face button and get ready to get happy:

DiMassi's, the Mediterranean/Middle Eastern buffet chain from Houston, has opened a third branch in North Texas, and the first in Dallas proper. The restaurant just opened at 5500 Greenville Ave., in what was once a location of Another Broken Egg. DiMassi's, which has branches in Las Colinas and Plano, does buffets where you serve yourself, and the price includes drinks, dessert, and coffee.

DiMassi's started out in 1994 as cafeteria-style Lebanese restaurant that charged by the item, before switching to the buffet mode in 2000. It currently has eight locations in Houston, plus branches in Austin and San Antonio.

Shake Shack, a burger joint from New York, is about to make its Dallas debut. The restaurant is going into the space at the Crescent in Uptown Dallas, with an opening tentatively scheduled for the end of August.

Super Chix is opening a location at 1551 East Renner Rd., in Richardson's CityLine development, at the end of August. In tandem with the new opening, Super Chix is also launching four new dipping sauces: Nashville hot sauce, Alabama white sauce, Mississippi come back sauce, and a cucumber dill ranch, all of which are designed to pair with chicken strips or chicken sandwiches.The opening is one of six that the company plans to launch in the next two years, including three in North Texas and three internationally in countries including the United Arab Emirates.

Halal Guys joins the lineup at Richardson Restaurant Park, the complex being built on the site of the former Continental Inn, on the west side of US Highway 75, south of Belt Line Road. The super-casual, super-popular concept from New York made its Dallas debut on Lemmon Avenue in July, generating much excitement for chicken, falafel, and pita bread. Halal Guys joins VertsKebap and Rock Wood Fired Kitchen, the Tacoma pizza chain that has three locations in Fort Worth, Arlington, and Wylie.

JOQ Cafe is a vegan restaurant serving soups, salads, sandwiches, and espresso beverages. It hopes to open on the ground floor of the Mosaic residential building in downtown Dallas. JOQ, which stands for "just outstanding quality," is part of the JOQ Wellness Center, an ambitious fitness and workout hub, with training, food prep, massage therapy, juice bar, dietary programs, dance classes, health spa, and more. The facility held a grand opening of sorts in July, although construction is still ongoing. Big plans though.

Kenny's East Coast Pizza, the new pizza concept opening in Plano from restaurateur Kenny Bowers, has an opening date: August 24 for lunch and dinner. Bowers, whose lineup of restaurants runs from burgers to barbecue, will do pizza in a style more reminiscent of New York than Naples, including baking them in a classic Bakers Pride Deck Oven. In addition to a selection of 14-inch pizzas, the menu will serve Italian-American fare inspired by his Italian restaurant, Kenny's Italian Kitchen.

Pakpao, the Thai concept from Apheleia Restaurant Group, owners of Oak, Quill, El Bolero, and Royale Magnificent Burgers, will open a third branch in Plano with a fanfare: There'll be a grand opening on September 9, featuring celebrity chef Jet Tila. The menu will boast authentic Thai delicacies influenced by the streets of Bangkok. Popular dishes include vegan pad Thai, short rib with massaman curry, Thai chicken salad, and a unique "beef jerky flight" paired with three rotating local brews. The original branch opened next to Oak in the Design District in 2013; a second branch is at Preston Hollow Village.

Piada Italian Street Food opened its third branch in North Texas on August 17, on Rennder Road, near the CityLine complex. Piada is inspired by the roadside family-run food carts and markets of Rimini, Italy, serving snacks made in a thin pizza crust. Its other two branches are at the Center at Preston Ridge in Frisco and Alliance Town Center in North Fort Worth.

Flying Fish, the casual seafood spot from restaurateur Shannon Wynne, will open in the old Purple Onion spot on Irving Boulevard. It'll be the first Flying Fish in Dallas that's south of Lemmon Avenue and is plotted to open in late October.

Hutchins BBQ is undertaking a renovation of its flagship restaurant in McKinney. It'll add 80 seats, a banquet room, and an updated patio to seat 20. Other additional features include a new drive-through, two new pits, new restrooms, dry storage, and a walk-in cooler. Construction is anticipated to start by September and will be completed before 2017.

Stirr, the Deep Ellum eatery coming soon from the owners of Citizen, has named a chef: Chad Bowden. Bowden has worked at Beau Nash, The Grape, 2900, and Culpepper Steakhouse. His menu will include foie gras with purple hull pea hash and blackberry balsamic coulis, and filet with cheddar chorizo grits, shishito peppers, cilantro cream, and melty asadero.

The Cedars Social, the cocktail den and restaurant on South Lamar Street, welcomes Justin Box as executive chef. Box has worked at Fearing's, Café Momentum, Bolsa, and Restaurant Ava. He'll introduce a new fall menu September 23.

Hutchins BBQ is getting a remodel.

Photo by John Miller

Hutchins BBQ is getting a remodel.

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Joie de vivre

New Bishop Arts bistro brings French elan to historic Oak Cliff home

Photo courtesy of Trapèze/Peter Novotny

Trapèze is serving French fare in a laid-back bohemian yet deeply thought-out atmosphere.

Transforming historic Oak Cliff homes into dining destinations is an art, and a duo known for their Deep Ellum hot spots has a new work on display: Trapèze, a French bohemian bar and bistro, that has quietly opened at 240 W. 8th St. in a repurposed bungalow on the west end of the Bishop Arts District.

Owners Peter Novotny and Dan Murry, who operate Ruins on Commerce and Armoury D.E. on Elm Street, told CultureMap in February that they envisioned Trapèze as “an old-fashioned bohemian artist’s enclave.”

Now in the soft opening phase eight months later, they say, by "drawing inspiration from the old French bohemian bars and cabarets,” they've accomplished their goal of creating "a place where people can enjoy a great meal and drinks, listen to some music, and just lose track of time a little.”

Trapèze has been welcoming guests discreetly the last couple weekends, as they complete a few finishing touches both to the building — they are excited about the near-complete patio — and to the food: “We have a limited but very solid menu available now, and should have the full menu, brunch and all, ready very soon,” Novotny says.

A grand opening date is still in the works.

Novotny has said that inspiration for Trapèze came from Oak Cliff’s historical French influence. Bishop Arts once was home to the French utopian community La Reunion, which settled in the mid 1800s. The neighborhood pays homage to these roots at its annual Bastille on Bishop celebration.

“We’re trying to do a tribute to the French history of Oak Cliff and Bishop Arts, and our goal is to capture the things we love about regional French cuisine and culture,” Novotny said earlier this year.

trapeze Designed by local artists at Decotron, the front-porch sign at Trapèze offers a taste of what's inside. Photo courtesy Trapèze/Peter Novotny

Novotny and Murry hired New York-bred chef Jeremy Spector to direct Trapèze’s culinary program. He’s worked in famous kitchens such as Balthazar and Gramercy Tavern and has owned and operated restaurants in NYC. The owners have told CultureMap that Spector's menu represents different regions of France, along with flavors inspired by France’s once-vast colonial empire, including Moroccan cuisine.

The bar menu is full of classic French and New Orleans-esque cocktails made with French spirits and liqueurs like absinthe and chartreuse; an extensive list of cognacs; French Caribbean-rooted Rhum Agricoles (or Agricole rums), and French and “French-adjacent” cider and beer.

The house that is now a restaurant underwent a massive revamp, which lasted months due in part to weather-related delays. To make matters more challenging, Trapeze is located in a conservation district, which means construction had to be done in a specific way that would preserve the home’s original look.

“It’s basically a complete renovation,” Novotny says. “They had to rebuild the entire structure. The whole exterior is all new.”

The new sign out front reads Bien Mangé, Bien Bu, which translates roughly to good food, good drink. Made by the sculptural artists at Decotron, an Elm Street-based signage fabrication company, it creates curb appeal and offers a preview of the attention to detail, whimsy, fine craftsmanship, and French flavor found inside.

Hours have been slightly fluid. At this time Trapèze is open 4 pm-"late" Wednesday-Thursday and 4 pm-2 am Friday-Sunday. Updated days and hours will be posted on Instagram along with information about live music performers, they say.

bar food drink craft cocktails french food live music bishop arts restaurants