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.

closings trends

Supermarket News

Dallas-Fort Worth bags 3 new Kroger supermarkets opening in 2024

Kroger

Kroger Marketplace

Three Dallas-Fort Worth cities are set to score new supermarkets.

According to a release, the Kroger supermarket chain is opening three new Kroger Marketplace format stores in North Texas in three cities: Plano, Melissa, and Fort Worth. Exact addresses are still TBA.

These will be the first new-build Kroger stores in North Texas since 2019 when they opened a store in McKinney at 1801 North Lake Forest Dr.

The stores will open in 2024.

Kroger's Dallas Division president Keith Shoemaker says in a statement the three areas were chosen because of their "booming growth."

Kroger currently operates more than 100 stores in North and East Texas and more than 200 stores total throughout Texas.

Marketplace format stores are multi-department stores offering full-service grocery, pharmacy, and expanded general merchandise including outdoor living products, electronics, home goods, apparel, and toys. Marketplace stores typically range in size from 100,000 to 130,000 square feet. Hello, direct shot at H-E-B.

In 2022, Kroger opened a Fulfillment Center in South Dallas to focus solely on the growing demand for grocery delivery service. With spoke facilities since constructed in Austin, San Antonio, and Oklahoma City, the company has added the capability to serve an ever-increasing digital audience and more remote communities without the need for brick-and-mortar stores.

With Boost by Kroger, digital shoppers can get next-day delivery and same-day delivery in as little as two hours. Boost members can also save up to $1,000 a year on gas, groceries, and delivery fees.

Kroger also has plans to deploy a fleet of driverless trucks from autonomous vehicle supplier Gatik, to transport goods between an automated e-commerce warehouse in Dallas and grocery stores in the market. They're using Class 3-6 vehicles that can handle items that need to be kept refrigerated or frozen as well as ambient-temperature goods, seven days a week.

supermarkets openings