Vegan News

Dallas chef bites into gourmet vegan burgers with new VSpot ghost kitchen

Take a bite out of that.

Photo courtesy of VSpot Grille

A Dallas chef is doing her take on vegan food with a newly opened ghost kitchen: Called VSpot Grille, it's basically burgers and fries, but done with a dose of culinary flair and polish.

VSpot is from chef Lori Moore, who has worked in the restaurant industry for more than a decade with chefs such as Kent Rathbun as well as operating her own catering company, called Plated Love Kitchen.

She knew she wanted to do a vegan concept but wasn't ready to go full brick-and-mortar. She's operating out of Commerce Fork Food Company, at 921 W. Commerce St. and is open Wednesdays-Saturdays from 4-9 pm.

"Pre-pandemic, I had been thinking about getting a food truck," Moore says. "The concept of ghost kitchen is ideal for people like myself who are starting a business, for whom a brick & mortar is out of reach. The overhead is lower, and you aren't required to commit to a permanent space."

The vegan restaurant field has been growing in Dallas, but Moore had a specific idea, to do a concise menu of classic sandwiches — almost her version of a fast-food place.

Burger options include:

classic burger with lettuce, tomato, mayo, and pickle on a Hawaiian bun
bakun cheezeburger with bakun and American cheeze on a Hawaiian bun
"Jalapeño Popper," with a burger topped with lettuce, tomato, pickle, pepper Jack cheese bacon, and jalapeno cream-chz with diced jalapeños on a Hawaiian bun

She also does fried chicken sandwiches including a chicken club with lettuce, tomato, mayo, and bakun on grilled sourdough.

Other sandwiches include:

"Shroomz," a sandwich with sautéed baby bellas, smoked Gouda, thyme aioli, arugula, and red onion on a pretzel bun
The "French Onion Patty Melt," with caramelized onions, smoked Provolone, and thousand island on grilled sourdough
The "Cali Wranch Sandwich" has lettuce, tomato, smashed avocado, sprouts, and avocado lime ranch on a Hawaiian bun, and the "Kale Ceezar Sandwich" has Parmesan, kale slaw, andCeezar dressing on a Hawaiian bun

Beyond the creativity of her dishes, a major factor in the quality of her concept is her ingredients. Her choice of breads is inspired, including the Hawaiian bun, whose softness makes it a great choice for burgers, as well as the use of a pretzel bun and grilled sourdough.

For burgers, she uses the Impossible burger, one of the best plant-based burgers available; for chicken, she uses Gardein chicken fillets; and her bacon is by All Vegetarian Inc., which is one of the best, if not the best, vegan bacons on the market.

"I hadn't seen this kind of concept, at least not here in Dallas," she says. "I knew I wanted to do some burgers, fried chicken, and fries. I love burgers but I like to go in a different direction than what you usually see. I follow that voice in my head."

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Wings News

New chicken wing joint sells 'em by the pound in Dallas' Deep Ellum

Wings By the Pound

A no-nonsense wing spot has debuted in Dallas' Deep Ellum: Called Wings By the Pound, it sells exactly that, at a shop at 2707 Main St., in the former home of the Slutty Vegan burger joint, which closed in 2024.

Wings by the Pound states proudly that it "isn't a combo joint" but is instead "a counter built on one idea — call your weight, watch it hit the scale, and take it off the scale." Then presumably you take it home, you eat it, end of story.

It presents itself as an alternative to typical wing spots which sell wings by the number. Numbers are complicated.

"We sell you weight. Pick wings or tenders, call your poundage from a half-pound to four, and we weigh it up in front of you," they say.

From there it's the standard wing-joint set of choices: wings or tenders, level of heat, sauces, and sides. "No combos, no guessing," they brag, although is there a lot of guessing with wings?

Here's some very specific numbers:

One pound of wings, which they approximate at 12 pieces, is $15.05. Two pounds, or 24 pieces, is $27.11.
One pound of tenders, which they approximate at 8 pieces, is $17.02. Two pounds, or 16 pieces, is $25.06.

They also sell french fries — crinkle cut — in choice of plain, cheese sauce, or "pound sauce" for $8 to $15. Pound sauce is their version of the prototypical secret sauce, which generally boils down to Russian-ish dressing, i.e., mayonnaise and ketchup with various add-ins, spicy and otherwise; the version at Wings By the Pound incorporates hot sauce.

There are wet sauces, including Thai, chipotle, hot honey, and garlic Parm; dry rubs, including suya (peanut) and jalapeño-lemon; and five dips: cheese sauce, ranch, bleu cheese, honey mustard, and pound sauce.

Some might recall that there was a Wings By the Pound concept that first debuted in 2020 at Trinity Groves, the restaurant incubator in West Dallas, but that closed in 2022.

This Wings By the Pound is a new concept from ArkDal Hospitality Group, headed by Cary Thompson, Royce Colley, and Mo Wells, which also operates Velour Restaurant in Victory Park.

The location in Deep Ellum has no seating on premise and functions as a take-out spot only. A spokesperson said that the location opened in mid-June.

chicken deep ellum openings