This rendition of dining news in Dallas-Fort Worth is cheerful, upbeat, with opening after opening after opening, and special attention for Deep Ellum and Fort Worth. Open wide for a spoonful of good restaurant news:
The third location of Wild About Harry's will open on August 21 in Deep Ellum, at 111 Hall St., at the corner of Commerce in the old Theo's Diner space. It'll serve a similar menu as the Knox original, with frozen custard, hot dogs and grilled cheese sandwiches. Wild About Harry's opened a location in Burleson in July.
Brick & Bones is open in Deep Ellum with a menu featuring fried chicken, in 3-piece, 6-piece and 10-piece bucket options, plus chicken tenders, and chicken & waffles. Homey sides include deviled eggs, poblano potato salad, jalapeno biscuits & gravy, Mexican corn and more, all priced between $3 and $5. There's a veggie pasta and two salads, a beet and a wedge.
Casa Dolores Tex-Mex opened at 4906 Maple Ave., a location that has seen much anonymous turnover including Mark & David's, Izap Thai & Sushi Bar and Rice & Wheat. "Dolores" is sister to the owner of Mia's, and the menu has a family resemblance with brisket tacos and other Tex-Mex staples.
Coffee in Fort Worth part 1: Avoca Coffee will open a second location in the West 7th area at 835 Foch St. in the fall. It will unveil its cold brew on tap, available in house or to-go in a refillable growler. They'll feature Rick Wakeman-style battling espresso machines that include a 1979 La Marzocco GS2 and a newer model La Marzocco Lines PB2 Group.
In addition to the coffee and tea drinks served at their original Magnolia Ave. location, they'll have an expanded selection of bakery treats from Boopa’s Bagels, Le Chat Noir Cupcake Bordello and Bakery, McKinley Bakery & Cafe, Stir Crazy Baked Goods and Swiss Pastry Shop, plus vegan pastries from Spiral Diner.
Coffee in Fort Worth part 2: Mudsmith will open a branch at the So7 development in the fall, serving coffee, beer and food. Mudsmith owner Brooke Humphries already has a Barcadia in that complex.
Dagwoods Grinders & Growlers will open in Fort Worth, at 1736 Mall Circle, with a menu designed by chef David Hollister of Gas Monkey Bar & Grill and Yucatan Taco Stand fame.
Industry Alley Bar opens in the Cedars District on August 20. It comes from Charlie Papaceno, formerly co-owner of the Windmill Lounge.
A bar with a golf range called Goat Ranch will open at 723 Haskell Ave. near Fair Park this fall. It's from Craig Spivey and Dillon McDermott, who own Bowlounge in the Design District. The owners claim that a goat ranch is an old term for a rough-hewn golf course, and vision it as a dive-bar TopGolf. The hitting bays will be built into shipping containers. An adjacent beer garden will feature picnic tables, retro video games and corn hole.
Noble Rey Brewing Company is open in the Design District four days a week, with 26 taps featuring beverages from other brewers such as Lakewood Brewing and Jester King from Austin, as well as Bishop Cider Co. They're releasing their own brews such as their SteamPunk Steam Lager in a gradual manner and will also do growlers to-go. 4 to 9 pm on Wednesdays and Thursdays, 4 to 10 pm on Fridays, and Saturdays from noon to 10 pm.
Pie Five Pizza opens a location in Flower Mound at 3701 Justin R. at The Shops at Highland Village on August 21. This is Pie Five's 16th location around DFW and its 58th location nationwide. The chain debuted in Fort Worth's Montgomery Plaza in 2011.
RA Sushi has summer specials including a lobster-strawberry roll, tuna guacamole and watermelon shrimp salad. Three summer drinks include watermelon-and-blueberry martini, coconut sakerita and grape crush. A branch of RA Sushi will open mid-September at Park Village in Southlake.
Paul Martin's American Grill is open for lunch daily at 11 am with $12 specials such as pork chili verde enchiladas; vegetable pasta; grilled salmon sandwich; and a BBQ pork sandwich.
Cast Iron at the Omni Fort Worth Hotel is featuring Hatch chile pepper specials through September 27, including a watermelon & Hatch chile gazpacho, brisket Hatch chile & white cheddar empanada, halibut sautéed with Hatch chile, pork chop with Hatch chile potatoes and a Hatch chile crème brulee. Those Hatch chile potatoes sound good.
The Omni Fort Worth Hotel is offering a "Broadway at the Bass" package which includes pre-theater dinner at Cast Iron, transportation to and from Bass Hall and breakfast the next morning. The pre-theater menu includes chicken tortilla soup, grilled marinated skirt steak, grilled shrimp chipotle fettuccini, Cast Iron bread pudding or artisan apple pie.
Thomas "TJ" Lengnick, Jr. is the new executive chef at Steel. He's been working there since June, and was previously at Shinsei and Whiskey Cake in Plano. New menu items include Korean BBQ short rib with glass noodles; scallops with corn-sake purée, mushrooms, five-spice popcorn and soybeans; salmon with forbidden rice and Brussels sprouts; and pork belly with steamed buns and citrus slaw.
Monkey King Noodle Company has joined the Caviar delivery service, which means noodles, dumplings and more delivered from the Deep Ellum restaurant to your door. Other recent Caviar signees include Green Door Public House, Coal Vines, and Le Taco Cantina.
Two coffee spots opening up have us buzzing.
The menu is globally inspired. Photo courtesy of Pangea