Buh-bye Black Eyed Pea

Dallas home-cooking classic shuts down restaurants across Texas

Chicken-fried steak fans have about a dozen less places to find it.

Iconic home-cooking chain Black-Eyed Pea has closed nearly all of its restaurants, leaving only the branch in Arlington Highlands, and possibly two others.

On September 27, numerous branches — including North Dallas, Hurst, Fort Worth, and Houston's Bellaire neighborhood — posted "temporarily closed" signs on their doors, stating, "We will let you know when we are able to reopen."

Restaurants Acquisition, which owns the locations around Texas, did not answer calls. An employee at the Arlington Highlands branch said that they were definitely still open, and that possibly one other branch would remain open as well, but that the rest of the chain was "in limbo."

According to WFAA, landlords for the locations in Mesquite and Hurst locked out the restaurants for failure to pay rent.

Restaurants Acquisition filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in December 2015. It had since closed half of its 30 stores, including the Dixie House in Lakewood, leaving 14 branches in Texas, including seven around Dallas-Fort Worth.

The chain was founded by restaurateur Gene Street in 1975, and it was cherished for its simple, affordable home cooking, with signature chicken-fried steak, copious vegetables sides, and complimentary basket of warm wheat rolls and cornbread. He sold it in 1986, and it changed ownership more than once.

Street still owns the building at the site of the original on Cedar Springs Road, which he closed in January 2016. It is now the inaugural branch of his family's fried chicken concept, Street's Fine Chicken.

There's a Black-Eyed Pea in Tennessee that is still open; an employee at that store said she had heard that three locations total were to remain open. There are also nine branches in Colorado, owned by a separate entity, which are still open.

closings

Escargot News

New all-day French bistro in downtown Rockwall is all from scratch

Facebook

Belle View Bistro Rockwall

An all-day French bistro has made its debut in Rockwall: Called Belle Vie Bistro, it’s a new mom-and-pop in the charming historic downtown district, at 112 E. Rusk St., the former home of The Fatted Calf restaurant, where it opened its doors on November 12.

Belle Vie is from Luis and Iliana Marquez, a hard-working couple who also own Los Marquez, a popular taco--themed food-truck-turned-restaurant in Rockwall they first debuted in 2019. In May, the couple took over the former Fat Chicken space to open a brick and mortar location of Los Marquez, where they serve well-made Mexican food like tacos, burritos, and quesadillas, but also burgers & fries. They open for breakfast with breakfast tacos, and run a daily lunch special, often creative, always popular, such as birria ramen with choice of beef or lamb for $11.

But the couple had a bigger vision of creating a place where chef Luis could stretch and showcase his skills.

"Luis has a lot of culinary experience, and it’s something that he’s been putting aside,” Iliana says. “We were just waiting on the perfect time to bring this to life.”

"This is something exciting and new for us, it’s something that we always wanted to make,” Luis says.

Like Los Marquez, Belle Vie is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, serving classics like French onion soup, moules frites, escargot, and duck confit. There are also comforting and American dishes like spinach-artichoke dip, crab cakes, and fish & chips.

Lunch features Cobb salad, a French dip, and chicken & Brie panini, while an extended breakfast -- which runs from 7 am to 4 pm — includes pancakes, waffles, eggs benedict, beignets French toast, and crepes, plus pastries and breads made from scratch.

Mural on the wall at Belle Vie Bistro RockwallFacebook

The bakery counter is a delight, with eclairs, croissants, scones, fruit tarts, and cake slices in flavors like carrot cake and white chocolate raspberry. There's also a serious coffee program with espresso drinks such as lattes.

"We pride ourselves on making everything from scratch," the duo says. "Our bread—whether for sandwiches, paninis, hamburgers or anything listed on our menu is made fresh just for us by our incredibly talented pastry chef and baker. The same care goes into our pastries and desserts ensuring every bite is special and crafted with love."

The dining room is warm and cozy with dark wood chairs and plush booths and a full-wall mural depicting a street in Paris. They also have a full bar, with cocktails and beer on tap. Prices are reasonable, ranging from $9 for a Belgian waffle during breakfast to $45 for prime ribeye at dinner.

For now, they're not taking reservations — it's first come, first serve.

openings