Fish Dinner

Dallas seafood restaurant scales up menu and mood for new location

The menu at Hookline includes scallops and country ham.

Photo courtesy of Hookline

A popular Dallas seafood joint is opening a fancy bigger brother in Plano. Called Hookline, it's a new concept from Del Sur Restaurant Group, owners of Hook Line & Sinker and Urban Taco, that will open at 5805 Granite Pkwy., in The Boardwalk at Granite Park in the fall.

Hook Line & Sinker has been open at the corner of Lemmon and McKinney Avenues in Uptown Dallas for an impressive 21 years, with well-regarded seafood served in a super-casual atmosphere that attracts an "all walks of life" crowd.

Hookline represents an evolution with full service and a chef-driven approach to the menu via executive chef Aaron Nelson. It will still offer some of the Hook Line & Sinker classics, but the menu, design, and atmosphere have been stepped up, via a collaborative effort with Del Sur and FÖDA Studio, an Austin design/branding firm responsible for South Congress Hotel, June's All Day, The Preacher's Son, and Top Knot. (You can tell they are serious because of the umlaut on the Ö, and also the all-caps, which is very serious.)

Described as "Gulf Coast low country," the menu includes shrimp and grits, scallops and country ham, low country boils, and a raw bar featuring East Coast oysters, ceviche, and peel-and-eat shrimp. Desserts include New Orleans-style bread pudding and Key lime pie, and will be made, along with everything else, from scratch daily.

Del Sur partner John E. Tuma says in a release that "a sustainable seafood program and farming partnerships for our produce are the backbone of this concept."

Beverages include longneck and draft beers and cocktails — crafted by hand, don't ya know — featuring in-house ingredients.

Originally from Fort Worth, chef Nelson earned a culinary arts degree from El Centro College in 2011, and has worked at Bird Café and RiverCrest Country Club in Fort Worth, and Nick’s Fish Dive & Oyster Bar in the Woodlands.

Hookline's design elements include locally sourced and handmade patio tables, Gullah bowls, and server aprons. The restaurant has 3,200 square feet of dining, with an additional 1,000 square feet on the patio, seating a total of 200 diners, including the bar.

Granite Park is a 90-acre mixed-use development located at Dallas North Tollway and the Sam Rayburn Tollway.

openings

Robot News

Food delivery robots are rolling into downtown Dallas

Avride

Avride robot

Self-driving robots are rolling out in Dallas: Launched by a company called Avride, they'll roll through the sidewalks of downtown Dallas carrying small food deliveries.

Avride, which has been creating self-driving vehicles and robots since 2017, formed a partnership with Uber in October 2024 to expand food delivery with both its sidewalk robots and autonomous robotaxis. So far, more than 160 robots have made over 200,000 deliveries across five countries, including the U.S. and South Korea.

All the cool cities have them including Austin, where Avride robots made their debut in mid-November, delivering food from restaurants in the Mueller district, including Colleen's Kitchen, Rebel Cheese, and Xian Sushi and Noodle.

Now that list includes Dallas, says Avride Head of Communications Yulia Shveyko in an email.

“Starting today, customers can enjoy robot deliveries from participating restaurants in the area, with more locations and restaurants to be added soon,” Shveyko says.

The way it works is that users will place an order through the Uber Eats app, but choose autonomous delivery to have a robot drop off a meal at their doorstep. Users can track the robot’s location just as they would an Uber in the app.

Once it arrives, there’s an “unlock” button in the app that opens the hatch of the robot to access the food inside. Rain or snow doesn’t interrupt service; the little robot is water resistant and designed for any weather.

The hatch that holds the food can accommodate approximately six boxes of pizza and three 1.5 liter bottles or bags of groceries.

Some of the participating restaurants so far include Salsa Limón and Bread Zeppelin. A bonus perk of the service is no tipping is required.

According to a memo from a Dallas assistant city manager, the delivery robots are 35 by 27 by 47 inches, featuring six wheels with a speed of five miles per hour, and carrying up to 44 pounds. They deliver within a two-mile radius.

To make the robots look more "friendly and approachable," they’re designed with a face on an LED screen that can "wink" and change eye expressions and neutral colors.

The next step in Avride’s Uber partnership is debuting robotaxis in Dallas by 2025.

downtown technology