Greenville Ave News

Brash young team births cute new restaurant on Dallas' Greenville Ave.

They are the lollipop kids.

Rye

Dallas gets a fine new restaurant with the imminent opening of Rye, a seasonal, small-plates restaurant and cocktail bar founded in McKinney that will spin off a second location on Greenville Avenue this week.

The restaurant will go into the former Laurel Tavern space at 1920 Greenville Ave. According to a release, it'll open on Wednesday August 25.

Rye is from a young team headed by Tanner Agar, a TCU grad and whizkid who scored success on the first try when he opened Rye in McKinney in 2017. He and his equally youthful partners, including tech guy Nic Cain and chef Taylor Rause, set the stage in Dallas mere weeks ago in July when they opened a companion cocktail lounge called Apothecary next door in the former Wah Wah Room space at 1922 Greenville Ave.

Rause previously worked at Empire Eats in North Carolina, and before that, the Fleming's steakhouse chain.

Food
Rye eschews large entreés in favor of small plates, perhaps inspired by Agar's short stint working at a restaurant in Spain. They plan to change food and drink menus throughout the year.

Opening highlights include:

Nopales, made with molasses glazed nopales, bocoles masa cake, verde sauce, chili crème fraiche, panko fried artichoke hearts, cotija cheese and micro rainbows
Cornucopia with cabrito, green corn tamale, huitlacoche, Bloody Butcher red corn grits, sweet yellow corn ice cream and blue corn tortilla strips
Churrotes, which are corn churros made with elote spice, tequila-lime burre blanc, jalapeño aioli, cotija cheese, salted popcorn and micro cilantro

Desserts include Mexican chili chocolate cake, a flourless chocolate cake with chili, cucumber-aloe diplomat cream, prickly pear sorbet, and cilantro; and Chicago Style, a popcorn crème brulee made with cheddar fritters, caramel popcorn, cheddar sponge cake, and caramel sauce.

Drink
Cocktails by bar manager Heather Cox include:

All Tai’d Up made with bourbon, orange, lime, curacao and house maple-pecan falernum
N₂OLA Espresso Martini, Rye’s take on an Espresso Martini made with St. George NOLA style nitro cold brew, chicory coffee liqueur, and vodka and cinnamon demerara
Welcome to the Jungle, with housemade butterscotch rum and pyrolyzed banana

Guests can purchase a bottle of the housemade butterscotch rum to go.

"We've always wanted to expand to Dallas as we believe our food fits well there while also being unique," Agar says. "We only cook what excites us, and that means none of the traditional restaurant dishes — no salad, no soup, no chicken breast, no steaks."

"We also design our dishes for sharing so that you can try several at a time even if you aren’t doing a tasting menu," he says. "This expansion allows us to share our food and vision with more people while also better connecting us to our peers, who can help us reach even greater heights."

Rye seats 60 guests in their indoor dining room and 40 guests on the patio, which also features an intricate plant wall.

Another notable decorative element is the preponderance of mirrors: The interior 22 overlapping antique mirrors, with custom woodwork throughout.

They're open for walk-ins and reservations from 5-10 pm weeknights and 5-11 pm weekends; they're closed on Mondays.

greenville-avenue openings

Hummus News

Revered family-owned Mediterranean restaurant debuts in North Dallas

Samantha Marie Photography

Zon Zon food spread

An upscale Mediterranean restaurant is coming to North Dallas from a trusted name: Called Zon Zon, it'll open at 5455 Belt Line Rd. #130, in the Work/Shop center, and it's hospitality group Yela Concepts led by Yaser Khalaf (Darna, Baboush), together with his son Mak Khalef in their first collaboration.

According to a release, it'll open on December 22.

Named for Mak's sister Zaina (“Zon Zon”), the restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner with a refined take on Mediterranean dining, rooted in tradition but with modern influences.

"We tried to merge what embodies Mediterranean cuisine with dishes that people in Dallas love," Mak says. "A lot of the dishes we have on menu are Mediterranean but have American and Texan influences."

Mezze favorites include hummus topped with green shatta and extra-virgin olive oil; baba ghanoush with charred eggplant, tahini, dukka, and pomegranate; crispy cauliflower with saffron labneh; tuna neya with tahini, mixed pickles, and Aleppo pepper; and kibbeh with ground lamb, onions, pine nuts, and dill labneh.

Salads include seared tuna salad with freekeh and golden beets; Tahini Caesar with tahini–Caesar dressing and za’atar croutons; and roasted beets with burrata, oranges, and pistachios.

Entrées include roasted chicken with garlic-batata and pomegranate jus; chicken shish kebab over saffron rice with almonds and raisins; hanger steak shawarma frites — a clever twist on steak frites with hand-cut fries; ZZ’s Wagyu cheeseburger with smoked provolone and house pickles; Prime ribeye with za’atar chimichurri and heirloom carrots; and apricot lamb couscous.

The beverage program complements the menu with a Mediterranean-focused wine list and creative cocktails such as the coffee-kissed Midnight Istanbul and ZZ’s Margarita, with burnt pineapple and ras el hanout.

Designed in collaboration with Dallas-based Coeval Studios, the restaurant features a 2,130-square-foot interior with an expansive 735-square-foot patio that seats 76, for a total occupancy near 100.

The restaurant boasts an open kitchen, while decorative finishes include modern woodwork, rich textures, and Middle Eastern-inspired details — stylish yet inviting, with a setting that feels like home.

“The inspiration behind Zon Zon came from wanting to create the kind of place we’ve always wished existed — a neighborhood Mediterranean spot that feels both familiar and exciting - we wanted to create a comfortable space where guests can meet up with friends or neighbors on a regular basis,” says Yaser in a statement.

Mak went to college to sudy biomedical engineering, but says he couldn't resist the lure of the restaurant world in which he grew up.

"Zon Zon is a reflection of everything we love about food," Mak says. "What makes this especially meaningful is building it with my dad — bringing our family’s story and passion to the table."

openings