Craft Beer News

On Rotation craft beer brewery relocates to Braniff Centre at Dallas Love Field

The taps are coming, too.

Photo courtesy of On Rotation

After five years in Lakewood, On Rotation Small Batch Brewery & Taproom is up and moving. The craft beer boutique brewery is relocating to a very cool new space by Dallas Love Field, in The Braniff Centre, the former home of Braniff Airlines.

The move represents a big step up: It will allow On Rotation to

expand its production capacity
start packaging their beers in cans
build a kitchen

On Rotation co-owner Jacob Sloan says in a statement that they've been looking for a bigger space for some time.

"While we never wanted to leave Lakewood, we spent two years looking for a location in Dallas that would offer us the chance to build On Rotation into a true brewpub experience and couldn't pass up the opportunity to stretch our legs at The Braniff Centre," Jacob says.

Construction will begin in a few weeks, and they anticipate opening the new location in early 2021.

The Braniff Centre is a $140 million restoration of the original Braniff Airlines Operations and Maintenance Base, transforming the facility into a mixed-use development that will include aviation, entertainment, and hospitality venues as well as The Planet Lincoln car dealership, which will be the largest Lincoln facility in the world.

Jacob and his wife Lindsay Sloan founded On Rotation in 2015 as a "nanobrewery," making unique and creative beers that have won them awards, including two Tastemaker Awards nominations for best brewery in Dallas. It also serves as a taproom and crowler/growler filling station, with On Rotation brews as well as a rotating slate of guest taps from Texas and beyond.

They'll keep that profile, retaining their 40 ever-rotating taps of craft beer, cider, and hard seltzer, plus wines. They'll also transplant their two fermentation tanks, plus add two more, doubling their brewing capacity.

"Our additional capacity will allow us to share more brews more often," Lindsay says.

Adding food is a big next step. At their Lakewood location, they've been beer-only, although they've always encouraged customers to bring their own food, and have had an unofficial alliance with Cane Rosso White Rock Lake, located right next door.

Their menu will spotlight fried chicken "in all its forms," with Southern-inspired sides and shareable appetizers.

"When we first started On Rotation, we wanted to be judged on the quality of our beer, not our appetizers," Lindsay says. "With five years under our belt, we have the experience to do this right and offer a stellar menu that will complement our beers."

The new location will also offer a convenient minimart for beer to go and takeout order pickup. They'll also soon offer 4-packs of 16-ounce cans.

On Rotation has been closed since March to in-house customers, but they've been open for curbside pickup of crowlers and growlers. You can call or order online at on-rotation.com/order.

craft-beer

Where to eat

Where to eat in Dallas right now: 10 best new restaurants for July

Frenchie

Natalie salad at Frenchie

The July edition of Where to eat, CultureMap Dallas' monthly column of the hottest restaurants, has an exciting range of cuisines and locations: from a new bistro in McKinney to an impressive Indian restaurant in Coppell to a downtown Dallas cafe to a mom-and-pop taqueria in Oak Cliff.

Here's where to eat in Dallas right now:

Boxed and Brewed
Downtown Dallas cafe from Boxwood Hospitality features boxed lunches, breakfast sandwiches, croissants, and breakfast tacos. They do it gourmet style with offerings such as a curried veggie goat cheese wrap, Mediterranean chicken sandwich, and Greek salad. They're open in the U.S. Post Office at 400 N. Ervay St. during classic downtown worker hours: Monday-Friday for breakfast and lunch.

Centro on the Square
Italian bistro from acclaimed restaurateurs George Stergios (Knife Steakhouse Plano) and Brian Dunne (Mexican Bar Company) has made its long-awaited debut on McKinney’s downtown square in the former Harvest space (which relocated in 2023). The menu features hearty Italian-American dishes like chicken meatballs, mussels, cacio e pepe pasta, short rib ravioli, chicken marsala, soups, and salads. They also served grilled items including salmon, red fish, and chicken.

Donde los Tacos
Small taco shop in Oak Cliff in a former gas station is a mom-and-pop from first-time restaurant owners Martin and Jennifer Reyes who are putting lots of love into this small, cozy spot. Their tacos include trompo marinated pork, chicken, chorizo, fried shrimp, a slow-simmered beef called suadero, a ribeye taco, and a vegetarian taco made with plant-based protein. Appetizers include guacamole & chips, queso, and Mexican street corn. The majority of their tacos are $3 but on Tuesdays, they offer a $2 taco deal.

Ella
American bistro in the old Chido Taco Lounge space brings elevated eats to Preston Hollow Village. The concept is from Chido Taco Lounge founder Blaine McGowan and executive chef Kyle Farr, with Michelin-awarded Julian Shaffer leading the bar program. Their menu features shrimp and masa dumplings, pork cheeks, steak frites, and sides like broccolini and truffle fries.

Flamant
European cocktail bar and bistro that cooks over an open flame is now open at the Boardwalk at Granite Park in Plano. The restaurant is from acclaimed restaurant team Tanner Agar and Taylor Rause, and is a sibling restaurant to award-winning restaurants Rye and Apothecary. The menu features flavors from Portugal, Spain, France, and Italy with dishes such as faux gras, pasta, wood fired Wagyu burger, and pepperoncini chicken. They also offer weekend brunch with frittata and cannoli French toast.

Frenchie
French concept from Travis Street Hospitality (Le PasSage, Georgie) recently opened in the former Corner Bakery at Preston Center Plaza, which closed after 23 years in 2022. The restaurant is a French brasserie, serving casual lunch and dinner. There are dishes such as crepes, quiches, oysters, steak frites, and onion soup.

Silk Road IndianSilk Road

Mas Chingon
Sports bar and restaurant with a lively atmosphere recently opened in Bishop Arts dishing out Latin vibes and a Mexican-Latin menu. Standout dishes include tacos, Mexican burger, al pastor burger with both a beef patty and al pastor, elote coated in Hot Cheetos dust, and ceviche. They also do bar food such as a burger, chicken wings, and an over-the-top $350 Cowboy steak.

The PoBoy Shop
Sandwich shop obsessed with po’boys is a spin-off of Evan’s Meat Market now open in Preston Center. Founder Evan Meagher is drawing on his Louisiana roots on po’boys and sandwiches such as fried shrimp, fried bologna, turkey, and pastrami, available in 4-inch and 8 inch sizes with Cajun sides such as dirty curly fries topped with grilled boudin or Zapp’s Potato Chips.

Ruthie's Cafe
Do-gooder cafe that started out as a food truck is bringing new life to South Dallas. They serve grilled cheese sandwiches — solo or with tomato tomato soup — including one stuffed with brisket. There's also breakfast including sandiwches, a power bowl, and a chicken sausage & bacon wrap. They just added a coffee bar, in response to customer demand, with creative espresso drinks such as Nutella latte, Horchata, and Matcha latte.

Silk Road Indian
Indian concept from a hospitality trio recently opened in Coppell. The restaurant comes from Prinu Prasannan, Sushil Kumar, and Sreekumar Madolil, who have roots in the Kerala state in India but met in Dallas. They serve a range of vegetarian dishes such as vegetable samosas and tikka masala. They also have non vegetarian and Indo Chinese dishes including biryani, butter chicken, fish curry, and egg curry.

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