Brunch News
Audacious over-the-top brunch spot from the Northeast debuts in Dallas
A New England-based brunch restaurant with some crazy, over-the-top food and drink is headed for Dallas: Called The Place 2 Be, it's a small chain from Connecticut opening its first location outside of the Northeast in Dallas' Victory Park, at 2401 Victory Park Ln., the space that used to be Dibs on Victory, the massive short-lived sports bar.
According to a release, it's a ways off, with an opening sometime in 2023.
They describe "TP2B" as an audacious brand, that's a good word, popular on social media for its over-the-top plating and "content-friendly" decor, also a good word.
That includes over-the-top dishes and drinks, the most over-the-top probably being a cocktail called Drink My Bathwater with rose, sangria, and prosecco, served in a bathtub-shaped white glass, dressed up with sour gummies, colored sprinkles, and mini rubber duckies. Decor is often similarly whimsical, with neon signs, swing chairs, and a full-sized bathtub filled with plastic pearls, which many crawl into for photo ops.
There are currently four locations: three in Connecticut in West Hartford, Downtown Hartford, and the South End of Hartford, they've got all of the Hartfords covered, plus a fourth in Springfield, Massachusetts at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, plus two more in the works.
Dallas will be the seventh, and the largest yet with nearly 6,900 square feet. It'll also be their only location to date with a rooftop patio and view of American Airlines Center, how scenic.
Two Food Network Chopped alums run the culinary side: Chef Xavier Santiago, Culinary Director, and Chef Maurice "Mo" Major, Assistant Culinary Director.
The menu is different at each location, but all include breakfast foods plus burgers, salads, wraps, melts, and a big selection of coffee and espresso drinks.
For breakfast, there are omelets, benedicts, pancakes, waffles, chicken & waffles, and French toasts in varieties such as Churro French toast, featuring challah bread topped with a churro-buttercream-chocolate and dulce de leche drizzle.
Cookies 'N Cream Oreo Pancakes is an exercise in sweet excess, featuring five pancakes topped with crumble Oreos, vanilla sauce, chocolate sauce, powder sugar, Oreo cookie sandwiches, whipped cream, and maple syrup.
A Steak and Cheese Quesadilla has rib eye, onions, peppers, mushrooms, American cheese, spicy mayo, and a sunny side egg.
Cuban Ruben is a blend of two sandwiches — a Cuban and a Rueben — stacked excessively tall with three slices of thick white bread topped with ham, American cheese, pickles, pastrami, pickled onions, Swiss cheese, and spicy mustard.
The Hangry Grilled Cheese is made with Italian bread, American cheese, mozzarella, ham, bacon, cheese sauce, and a sunny side egg, with choice of French fries or curly fries.
Beverages include humongous milkshakes in flavors such as Cotton Candy and Birthday Cake, which can be spiked with alcohol. A full bar includes cocktails such as the Booty Call, a $45 sharable drink containing tequila and blue raspberry that's served in a bum-shaped vessel; and the Big Ass Mimosa, a $60 drink served in an oversized tulip glass that's bigger than your arm.
Menu categories are sassy, such as the section of waffles and pancakes labeled "WAP," or the Day Drinking category that features a drink called Go Bottomless! (refilled cautiously with an eye towards over-imbibing).
Being picture-ready for social media is a priority, but they also strive to operate differently, from staff compensation to creating a cohesive atmosphere.
The Place 2 Be is part of The Statement Group, a female-only owned restaurant group, founded in Hartford by Gina Luari who opened the first location in 2016. She says in a statement that Dallas represents a big step.
"For the first time ever, we are taking The Place 2 Be outside of New England — the first of more national locations to come," Luari says. "We couldn't be more excited to share our brand's bold and cheeky brunch experience with such an iconic city and its amazing community; a community whose passion is a defining trait, as it is for TP2B."