Crafty Addison Restaurant

Beer-obsessed Yard House secures opening date for new Addison restaurant

At long last an opening date has been secured for Yard House, a new restaurant going into Village on the Parkway in Addison: October 29.

Yard House is the "modern public house" entry from Darden Concepts, with more than 130 beers on tap, including a rotating lineup of seasonal and limited selections on the "chalkboard series." Each beer is delivered perfectly chilled via miles of overhead steel and nylon beer lines to the central island bar. A glass-enclosed keg room is kept at a constant 34-36 degrees. The beer list will feature 24 selections from Texas breweries, including Deep Ellum, Real Ale and Lakewood.

"North Dallas is a great market for Yard House," said Yard House president Craig Carlyle, who already seems to understand the confusing black hole between Dallas and Addison that the Village on the Parkway represents. "We chose Village on the Parkway because of the strong mix of retail, dining and entertainment options. We look forward to introducing Yard House's distinctive beer and food offerings to Addison."

The heart of Yard House is the exhibition kitchen, where more than 100 items are prepared from scratch. The menu is American with globally inspired flavors, with salads, tacos, burgers, steaks, ribs and seafood. Signature items include the spicy tuna roll, which is layered with cucumber, edamame, avocado and a trio of sauces, and the overly punctuated (Mac + Cheese)2 with pulled chicken, applewood bacon and wild mushrooms.

Although the restaurant offers no shortage of meat, be it a Korean pork belly taco or a burger, the sheer breadth of its menu leaves room for non-carnivorous customers. There is a significant number of vegetarian dishes on the menu, which are marked with a discreet "V," such as angel hair pasta with tomatoes, eggplant, garlic, basil, pine nuts, feta, Parmesan and olive oil. There's also a category dedicated to "gluten-sensitive" people that highlights ways to unglutenize items on the menu (i.e., "request no croutons").

A major big deal is the restaurant's attentiveness to vegan diners with a page dedicated to items made with Gardein, the popular meat substitute; dishes include pizza, "chicken" wings and sliders.

One of the restaurant's trademarks is its continuous playlist of classic and contemporary rock. A fleet of flat-screen TVs tuned to sporting events will be strategically placed throughout the restaurant and visible from nearly every seat.

Yard House will be open daily for lunch, dinner and late-night dining, accommodating more than 300 guests inside and an additional 96 on the patio. The open floor plan features a mix of warm woods and cool stainless steel accents, as well as an original collection of abstract art commissioned by California artist Jerome Gastaldi.

Yard House Firecracker wings with one of their 130-plus beers on tap.

Photo courtesy of Yard House

Yard House Firecracker wings with one of their 130-plus beers on tap.

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Closing News

Mediterranean restaurant in Dallas' Deep Ellum to close after 11 years

Zatar

Chicken at Zatar

A restaurant in Deep Ellum will close after more than a decade: Zåtar Lebanese Tapas & Bar, which opened at 2827 Commerce St. in December 2016 as a rare Lebanese restaurant in Dallas, has decided to close.

According to the owners, they're closing due to ongoing construction and other operational challenges, and will be closing by the end of August.

"This wasn’t an easy decision," they say. "Over the last two years, we’ve fought through one challenge after another. We poured everything we had into keeping our doors open because we truly believed things would turn around. Unfortunately, despite our best efforts, the ongoing construction and other challenges have made it impossible for us to continue."

Zatar was originally opened by partners Marc Mansour and C.K. Khoury, both natives of Lebanon, with a menu that included tapas, specialty dishes, and Lebanese desserts such as the traditional knafeh. The restaurant stood out both for its authentic Lebanese cuisine and its welcoming ambiance.

Mansour and Khoury sold the restaurant in 2019 to restaurant veteran Sam Fawal, who also owns Pokeworks in Uptown Dallas and Addison. (Mansour and Khoury relocated to Atlanta where they are currently wowing diners with Bey Mediterranean, which they opened in Roswell in 2024.)

In recent years, Zatar shifted from its original focus on "authentic Lebanese" and more towards a casual destination with a nightlife component, including the addition of hookah pipes.

Meanwhile, the conversion of Commerce Street in Deep Ellum from one-way to two-way street has dragged on and on through multiple delays. Completion just got pushed back again to 2027 — which Fawal confirms was a factor.

"Yes, the continued delays with Commerce Street construction definitely played a big part in the decision," Fawal says. "It's been a frustrating situation, the project started in June, 2024 and it is still going. Unfortunately, I think we're going to see more businesses impacted by it."

His post gives thanks to the staff and to "everyone who walked through our doors, shared a meal with family and friends, celebrated special occasions, or simply made Zatar part of your life," before inviting fans to come visit before they close.

Fawal says they're finalizing the closing date, but anticipates on or around August 23.

"We still have a few weeks left, and we’d love the opportunity to see our customers one last time," he says. "Come enjoy your favorite dishes, have one more drink, smoke one more hookah, and help us celebrate the memories we’ve created together."

deep-ellum closings