Coronavirus News

These Dallas restaurant openings bring something positive to the table

Get a view of these special spring rolls.

LaVui

While the coronavirus still casts its pall, there's a whole other part of life still plodding along, and that includes Dallas restaurants and bars that are moving forward with plans for the future.

These restaurants listed below represent not only reopenings of restaurants previously shuttered by COVID-19, but also brand new places, looking optimistically ahead.

Georgie by Curtis Stone
Restaurant in the Knox District with ties to celebrity chef Curtis Stone reopened on September 1 since closing due to the coronavirus, and will now be serving dinner and brunch.

The restaurant has menus developed by new executive chef Jason Rohan and executive pastry chef Alexis Rohan. The couple previously worked together at Gwen Butcher Shop & Restaurant and Maude, and join executive chef Christian Dortch, who was part of the opening team at Georgie.

Brunch includes lobster roll, steak & eggs, a spinach omelet, chicken & waffles, a burger melt, pancakes, and vegan chorizo tacos with potatoes and blue corn.

Dinner includes a variety of steaks including a 32-ounce tomahawk ribeye, a boneless ribeye by Rosewood, plus lamb, pork chop, and roasted chicken.

Too Thai Street Eats
Award-winning authentic Thai restaurant in Carrollton Town Center reopened in August for dine-in and takeout.

Too Thai is from Meaw and Too Chaisuwan, founders of Best Thai Signature chain. They opened Too Thai in 2017 to offer authentic street foods from Bangkok. Dishes include hot pots, fried rice, fried vegetable spring rolls, curry, and papaya salad, as well as items like marinated sirloin with sticky rice, pork ball dumplings, and crispy chicken skin.

The couple also owns Boba Tea and Treats, a shop at Belt Line and Midway Road.

LaVui Vietnamese Restaurant
New concept from Thanh Nguyen, owner of the popular sushi concept Oishii, will open on September 2 in the Medical District at 5321 Maple Ave., in a former longtime doughnut shop a few blocks from Maple & Motor.

According to the DMN, LaVui is named for Nguyen's mother and will serve Vietnamese staples including pho, rice bowls, shaking beef, pho, bowls, and banh mi; plus a menu of specialty spring rolls wrapped in rice paper, such as the Donut Store, a spring roll with shrimp, tuna, and avocado.

Nguyen and family have been busy: They opened a second location of Oishii by SMU in January.

Up On Knox
Knox District bistro has "transitioned from takeaway" which is such an elegant way to put it, and reopened on September 1 for lunch, dinner, and brunch.

The menu includes asparagus risotto, steak frites, spicy chicken Diavolo with mustard greens, salads, charcuterie, a daily ceviche, and meatballs braised in San Marzano tomatoes.

Carbone
An Italian restaurant from New York is opening in Dallas' Design District. Called Carbone, it serves "elevated" "red-sauce" Italian, which seems like a contradiction, such as spicy rigatoni and meatballs and an already chattered-about $25 Caesar salad.

According to the DMN, Carbone will open in December in the space previously occupied by Wheelhouse and Sassetta, two restaurants from Tim Headington which sadly never reopened after the virus, sadly because Sassetta was really good.

Dallas already has an Italian restaurant called Carbone's from local chef Julian Barsotti, so this will totally not be confusing at all.

This new Carbone is part of New York-based Major Food Group, which owns a number of concepts such as ZZ's Clam Bar, Dirty French, Santina, Parm, and Sadelle's, and also seems ill-acquainted with Dallas' attitude towards big fancy expensive Eyetalian restaurants from New York. Who could forget Il Mulino, and RIP Circo. Godspeed! See you in December, Carbone.

openings

Coffee News

Italian brand Lavazza Coffee opens training facility in Dallas

Lavazza

Lavazza Coffee

A coffee brand from Italy has planted a stake in Dallas: Lavazza, founded in the northern Italian city of Turin in 1895, has opened a state-of-the-art training center in Dallas, at 1722 Routh St. #960, where it will serve as a hub for coffee enthusiasts throughout the Southwest.

Dallas is the newest outlet in Lavazza's coffee training network, joining locations in New York, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, West Chester Pennsylvania, and Toronto — part of their expansion across high-growth markets in the U.S., and its mission to elevate coffee culture globally. (They're also doling out endorsement dollars in commercials featuring Steve Carell and John Krasinski.)

The facility is equipped with espresso, brewing, and coffee innovation equipment, and will serve Lavazza partners, industry professionals, baristas, and distributors. They'll offer hands-on training, SCA certification, menu development, and emerging coffee trends.

Lavazza already partners with many respected hospitality groups and culinary destinations in Dallas including Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, Coury Hospitality Group, Al Biernat's Steakhouse, and Vandelay Hospitality.

In October 2025, Lavazza also began serving coffee on flights by Fort Worth-based American Airlines — further strengthening their connection to the North Texas market. The facility will enable Lavazza to provide closer, more consistent support to these partners and help elevate their coffee programs through continued training and collaboration.

Lavazza has been owned by the Lavazza family for four generations. Today they're one of the leading players on the global coffee scene, with a portfolio of top brands that lead their respective markets, such as Lavazza, Carte Noire, Merrild, and Kicking Horse.

In a statement, Lavazza North America president Hossam Ashraf says that "Dallas has an incredible energy and an ever evolving coffee scene," while Lavazza North America Marketing VP Daniele Foti says that Dallas is great, and we must concur.

"As one of the fastest growing hospitality and culinary markets in the country, Dallas represents a tremendous opportunity for Lavazza," Foti says. "Our investment in this new Training Center demonstrates our commitment to the region and to the partners who bring the Lavazza experience to life every day. Dallas is a city of innovation and high standards, and we are excited to deepen our roots here."

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