Fried Chicken Out?

One of Dallas' most elegant Southern restaurants has closed for now

This fried chicken is, for now, unavailable to you and me.

Photo courtesy of Sissy's

One of Dallas' most elegant Southern restaurants, Sissy's Southern Kitchen and Bar, has closed possibly temporarily, maybe for good. Owner Lisa Garza-Selcer confirms that the restaurant is closed for now due to a variety of issues, some of which may make the closure permanent.

The restaurant shut down in early September, due to what Garza-Selcer says are issues with the building.

"Unfortunately, there are major infrastructure issues with the building, and I am having to close while we work with the landlord to address them," she says. "At the same time, our lease is up for renewal, and we're trying to decide with our landlord how to best move forward."

Sissy's opened in 2012 on Henderson Avenue as a welcome newcomer to the diminishing field of grand old Southern-themed restaurants. That combined with Garza-Selcer's fame as a contestant on Food Network's The Next Food Network Star helped draw big crowds. Its Southern-mansion atmosphere, with fine china and servers in cute uniforms, has made it a favorite place to take your mom and a popular destination for brunch.

Sissy's was ahead of the pack on fried chicken, with a unique rendition in which the chicken is brined, then fried in a pressure fryer. A dozen fried chicken restaurants have opened since, in a trend that peaked in 2016. That includes the arrival of Houston-based chain Max's Wine Dive, which opened branches in Uptown Dallas and Fort Worth; the Uptown branch closed in August.

Other signature dishes at Sissy's include curry deviled eggs with tobiko caviar, gumbo, Texas quail, lobster étouffée, and squash fritters. The beverage program was also early on trends such as barrel-aged bourbons and house punches.

Garza-Selcer had a setback in 2015 when a restaurant she was supposed to open in the LTV Tower in downtown Dallas called Shelby Hall fell through. Just as the building was ready to open, HRI Properties decided to run the restaurant themselves and sent Garza-Selcer a notice to vacate. A well-known player in the commercial real estate business told SideDish that, "Lisa got so screwed," calling it "the biggest screw job I've seen my whole career."

"I'm just taking one day at a time right now," she says.

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Steakhouse News

High-profile Palladino's Steak & Seafood heads to Preston-Royal Dallas

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Filet Mignon will be on the menu.

A high-profile new steakhouse is coming to North Dallas: Palladino’s Steak & Seafood, an eponymous concept from Dallas restaurateur Joseph Palladino, will open at 5959 Royal Ln., in the former Spec's space.

Palladino is the larger-than-life ex-NYPD police officer-turned-restaurateur known for concepts such as Nick & Sam's Steakhouse and the Coal Vines pizza chain.

Palladino first landed on the Dallas restaurant scene in 1998 to partner up with the equally larger-than-life restaurateur Phil Romano, and went on to have a hand in the creation of Nick & Sam’s, the glitzy steakhouse on Maple Avenue (now run by Sam Romano, son of co-founder Phil Romano), Nick & Sam's Grill, Dos Jefes, and more. He created Coal Vines as an homage to the casual neighborhood restaurants reminiscent of his upbringing in New York.

Palladino's Steak & Seafood is a newly created concept, which will combine steakhouse, Italian dishes, and seafood, particularly sushi. The first location is already penciled in for New York, opening in the former Michael Jordan Steakhouse at Grand Central Terminal, which closed in 2018. It's being designed by the international design firm Rockwell Group and is slated to open in early summer.

Joseph Palladino and Troy AikmanInstagram

Palladino was approached by the landlords to open a restaurant in the center. Given Palladino's local following and personal ties, as well as the large local appetite for steakhouses, Dallas made sense as a second location, particularly in that highly desirable location at Preston and Royal.

On the culinary side, Palladino is partnered with veteran chef Sam Hazen, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America as well as an instructor there. His star-studded resume includes La Côte Basque, the Quilted Giraffe, Quatorze, Michelin three-star Le Gavroche, Terrace in the Sky, Cascabel, and Tavern on the Green. He was most recently at Tao, the glitzy Asian concept from Tao Hospitality, where he worked for a decade, giving him sushi expertise.

Palladino is busy getting the New York location open first, with a target date of "soon", and the menu has yet to be revealed, although Hazen previewed a dish on Linked In.

"But it'll have high-quality steaks and seafood, along with some of my trademark specials and Italian dishes," Palladino says.

The hospitality will match the cuisine and ambience. “I intend to bring a very special steakhouse to the city, one that the locals can embrace," Palladino says. "They’re going to receive a good experience — that’s important to me.”

Palladino's dish shared by chef Sam Hazen.Sam Hazen

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