Tex-Mex News

Uptown Tex-Mex takes a chance on East Dallas locale with checkered past

Manny's Tex-Mex is opening a new location in the former Rex Seafood space in Lakewood.

An address in Lakewood with a rocky history has a new suitor willing to take a chance. It's the space at the corner of Mockingbird and Abrams, which was most recently occupied by Rex's Seafood, and it will become a branch of Manny's Tex-Mex, the restaurant at Lemmon and Oak Grove avenues.

Manny's is the concept founded by Manny Rios, who opened the original location in Uptown in 2005. Rios has family connections to some of the oldest Tex-Mex in town: Ana "Mama Mia" Enriquez, the matriarch behind Mia's Tex-Mex, which spawned much Tex-Mex restaurant action in Dallas, is his sister.

A Manny's spokesperson confirmed they would be opening a branch there "soon," even despite the lack of success the previous two tenants have enjoyed. Rex's was locked out after less than a year in the space. And the previous restaurant, Genaro's, which represented an ambitious comeback for restaurant old-timer Genaro Silva, closed unceremoniously within a year.

But Rios has never been afraid to open, and then close, other branches, depending on how business goes. In 2014, he shut down a Manny's in Addison and relocated it to near-Richardson, at the corner of Coit and Campbell roads.

If it's chips and queso you want, there's are options at the intersection where Manny's will open, with a ZuZu Handmade Mexican Food and the recent opening of Meso Maya. But neither of those are old-school brisket taco Tex-Mex.

He's also planning to open a branch in Southlake at Wyndham Plaza later this year. There's another Manny's Tex-Mex in Frisco, but it has a different owner.

tex-mex openings

Soul Food News

Dallas celebs are flocking to Soul Shack, new restaurant in Cedar Hill

Soul Shack

Fried chicken, mac & cheese, collards at Soul Shack.

Dallas has a new upscale soul food restaurant that originally hails from Chicago: Called Soul Shack, it’s in the former Turkey Leg King space at 305 W. FM 1382 #502, in the Hillside Village shopping center in Cedar Hill where it opened in late January.

Soul Shack was founded by owner Erik “Rico” Nance, an entrepreneur and veteran restaurateur, and is led by his business partners Theous Griffin and Ronald Edwards III, who serves as general manager. The original was a fast-casual concept in Chicago called Soul Shack Express, which is still open.

The Dallas location is a more ambitious effort, with a full-service restaurant, full bar, and swanky nightlife atmosphere. Nance had previously opened Mikkey's Retro Grill, a hip-hop themed burger restaurant, in Cedar Hill, which closed in late 2024.

"I felt like the city needed a cocktail lounge," he says.

The space boasts a 1920's jazz club atmosphere, with marble floors, circular black booths, chandeliers, crystal bead curtains, and tables topped with a newsprint design. There's a "Soul Shack" sign in white neon, and an Insta-friendly wall with flowers and photo collage of iconic Black artists and performers like Eddie Murphy and Diahann Carroll. They also host live music and DJs at night.

The menu is mostly Southern but with fusion twists: soul rolls (fried egg rolls) filled with jerk chicken, which is their signature dish; plus gumbo, collard greens, sweet potatoes, mac & cheese, lamb chops with a parmesan crust, oxtails, and beef short ribs in gravy.

Tranelle and Ron Edwards with Shaq O'Neal Shaq O'Neal (right) drops into Soul Shack.Soul Shack

"Soul Shack has been an offspring of the things that we've learned from our other restaurants," Nance says. "We're still in soft opening mode, but we've already taken off. We'll have a beautiful nightlife and older crowd."

They've quickly earned notice from celebrities including TikTok phenomenon Keith Lee, who touted them with a review in their first week open (giving it a high rating of 8 out of 10 on his scale); and more recently celebrity Shaquille "Shaq" O'Neal, who dropped in for a surprise visit, posing for a photo with Edwards and his wife, Tranelle.

"We had no idea, he just came in, made a reservation and said he'd heard the food was amazing," Nance says. "When he came in the door, we said, 'We're turning this into Soul Shaq.' We accommodated everything he wanted. I love that man and what he stands for, his philanthropy."

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