UPDATE 2-5-2020: Lochland's Food and Spirits will open on February 6.
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Lake Highlands is getting the kind of bar that Dallas loves the most: an Irish pub. And it's from a couple that many would agree are masters of the craft.
Peter and Cheryl Kenny, who own The Dubliner on Greenville Avenue and Capitol Pub on Henderson Avenue, will open a third pub at the intersection of Lake Highlands Drive and Northwest Highway.
Called Lochland's, it will open in January 2020.
"Yes, we are opening a new spot in Lake Highlands in January," Cheryl confirms. "We live in East Dallas and it's such an underserved area — we’re just hoping to make a contribution to this gem of an area in Dallas."
Peter Kenny is a native of Dublin who opened the Dubliner in 1994. It's become a staple of Greenville Avenue and a centerpiece of the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade. It also serves as a headquarters of sorts for Dallas' community of Vespa scooter riders.
He and Cheryl opened the Capitol Pub in 2007, just as Henderson Avenue was transitioning into a buzzy area.
For Lochland's, they've snagged a really cool building at 8518 Plano Rd.
"We’ve been looking for years for a property to purchase," Cheryl says. There’s so little available for small business owners like us — but we persisted with calling on this building that had been sitting unoccupied for some time."
Previous tenants were a veterinary clinic.
"It was in horrific shape," Cheryl says. "We had to completely gut the building & remove part of the rear portion of it for parking. It’s been a long, difficult road, but I think it will be a hit in the long run."
While Capitol Pub and the Dubliner have similar pub DNA, they also both have their own particular DNA, with the Dubliner functioning as a classic Irish pub with a focus on beer, and Capitol Pub serving as a neighborhood hangout with good food and a legendary brunch — a tradition they'll recreate in Lake Highlands.
"We're trying to take favorite bits from every place we've had — The Dubliner, The Gin Mill, & Capitol Pub — and bring them together at Lochland's," Cheryl says. (The Gin Mill was a restaurant-pub they opened on Henderson Avenue which was noted for its great food, but it closed in 2015.)
"Again, so little options in this area, so we feel our Irish Pub hospitality might be a welcome addition to East Dallas," she says.
