New restaurants for fall warm up this slab of Dallas restaurant news

On the menu for this round of Dallas dining news is a slew of new restaurants, new menus, new hours, and our favorite, new limited-edition menu items.

Here's what's happening in Dallas restaurant news this week:

Kai, a new concept from Lombardi Family Concepts, has opened at Legacy West Plano. Kai is an Asian restaurant with French influence, with what it claims is the largest robata charcoal grill in DFW, and the most extensive robata menu in Texas. If a large robata grill is what you want, Kai is your place. They have some unusual menu items such as tuna pizza, bone marrow teriyaki, foie gras nigiri, black cod miso, and Chilean sea bass. Chef is King Dey, who began his 20-plus year career in Bangkok and Toyko. This is the third Lombardi restaurant to open in Legacy West — the most of any restaurant group in the development, so take that, other restaurant groups. Taverna opened in November 2017, and Toulouse opened March 2018.

One Sette is a new nightclub that opened in Uptown Dallas in the former Idle Rich space. The club comes from a trio of brothers, Brandon, Christopher, and Adam Nugent, plus their father Warren, plus friends Matthew Shuch and former Texas Rangers player Mike Napoli. The space may be replaced by a high-rise building so the lease is for three years.

Rodeo Goat Ice House, the beer and burger joint from Shannon Wynne and company, is open in Plano at the new Heritage Creekside development from Rosewood Properties. This is the fourth Rodeo Goat. The first opened in Fort Worth in 2012, followed by Dallas Design District in 2015, and Houston in 2018. The menu has 20-plus burgers, including the popular Chaca Oaxaca (beef and chorizo, avocado, pico de gallo, fried egg, queso fresco and Tabasco mayo), and tribute burgers named for local personalities such as "Voice of the Cowboys" Brad Sham, plus beer, wine, and cocktails. Rodeo Goat is located at 641 Powell Ln. near Plano Parkway and Alma. Heritage Creekside is a 156-acre-mixed-use development near US 75 and George Bush Turnpike. The Rosewood Property Company development will include up to 1,300 multi-family units, several hundred single-family homes, retail, restaurants and 2.5 million square feet of office space.

Roti Dallas, the Mediterranean chain from Chicago, has opened a second location in the Dallas area in Preston Center, at 8301 Westchester Dr., in what was previously a Chipotle. In a Chipotle-esque manner, customers build their own bowls, wraps, and entrees choosing ingredients such as steak, chicken, lamb meatballs, or falafel, then top it with couscous, hummus, olives, vegetables, and sauce. Roti's first Dallas location opened in Uptown in 2017.

Mesero, the Mexican restaurant concept founded by Mico Rodriguez, has opened its location at Victory Park. It's located in a new mixed-used building at Victory Park Lane and High Market Street, which is also home to Cinépolis Luxury Cinemas – Victory Park.

Edith's French Bistro opened a location at Granite Park, the development near the Dallas North Tollway and SH-121. It does French pastries, custom cakes, high tea, classic French dishes, and all-day breakfast. This location also has a massive 2,782-square-food patio. The original is located at Mockingbird Station in Dallas.

Genghis Grill, the chain, has expanded its menu with new Southwestern-inspired recipes that include fajita steak, chicken bowls, and build-your-own shrimp tacos. Signature margaritas are $5.

Truluck's welcomes its Florida stone crab season. Truluck's emphasizes that it does not serve frozen Florida stone crab claws. Apparently some people do. Disapproving sniff. At Truluck's, they are only served at the height of freshness during season. But "season" seems to be half the year: It runs from October 15 to May 15.

Luna Grill, the newish healthy chain from Southern California with eight locations in DFW and another coming soon to McKinney, is killing it on the veggie burger front. In April, they added the Beyond Burger to their menu in response to a growing demand for plant-based meats, including demand from meat eaters, so it's not just vegetarians, okay. Since its debut, the Beyond Burger has outperformed Luna Grill's grass-fed burger in sales by 40 percent.

Poke O, at Mockingbird Station, now serves poké wraps, hand-roll style in the restaurant or burrito-style to go. The wraps are designed for guests on-the-go and those looking for a comforting option in cooler months. Each wrap features tuna, salmon, shrimp and other proteins, rice, vegetables, and sauce, wrapped in choice of seaweed or soy paper.

Bonefish Grill, the casual seafood chain which has locations in Allen and Southlake, has a limited-edition fall menu that includes kung pao monkfish with Asian vegetables and peanuts over jasmine rice. Swordfish and pumpkin ravioli has grilled swordfish, crispy onions, crumbled feta, pumpkin ravioli, and French green beans. New cocktails have a fall-inspired spin such as spiced pear mule with Grey Goose La Poire Vodka, lime, ginger syrup, and ginger beer over crushed ice. A pumpkin spice martini has vodka, Bailey’s Irish Cream, RumChata, and pumpkin puree.

Applebee's has new pastas and a new signature breadstick, available through November 11. Breadstick first: It has garlic and parsley butter. Pastas include rigatoni stuffed with ricotta and romano cheese in a tomato-basil ground beef sauce with bruschetta tomatoes. Creamy penne pasta has sliced prime rib tossed in a Parmesan cream mushroom sauce with sundried tomato. Cajun pasta comes with blackened chicken or shrimp with roasted poblano pepper, red bell pepper, and sautéed mushrooms.

Shake Shack has re-launched the hot chick'n sandwich in all Texas Shacks on a limited-edition basis. It's said to be hotter than ever, with the option to select spice level from Hot or Extra Hot. As an FYI, "chick'n" is often a code used in vegan terminology to indicate that it's not "real" chicken, but Shake Shack's is in fact "chicken." It's a chicken breast, battered and fried, dusted with a guajillo and cayenne pepper blend, topped with Louisiana hot slaw, everything hot. You can also ask for spice to be added to your fries - ask for spicy fries or spicy cheese fries. So hot.

Pie Five Pizza Co. has a new specialty spinach alfredo pizza consisting of alfredo sauce with mozzarella, parmesan cheese, spinach, bacon, chicken, caramelized onions, and sundried tomatoes, finished with "Magic Dust" and feta cheese. Available as a personal pie or large pizza, the Spinach Alfredo Pizza is available through November 18.

Del Frisco's Grille has launched a seasonal, three-course $35 prix-fixe menu features fall-inspired dishes like butternut squash bisque topped with maple mascarpone, mushroom gnocchi, and cider-braised pork chop. A wine pairing for each of the three fall-inspired courses is available for $18.

Maple Leaf Diner, the poutine-serving cafe in North Dallas, has a notable new fall addition to their menu: the Thanksgiving Wrap, a twist on the Thanksgiving sandwich from dinner leftovers, in which a pumpkin pancake serves as a wrap, enclosing turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce. It's available through November 22.

Namo, the sushi spot at the West Village, has launched a to-go service of hand-cut rolls. You get a selection of three, prix-fixe options, each with 16 pieces of hand-cut rolls, all under $20, by choosing their choice of eight-piece cut rolls in varieties such as yellowtail, blue crab, albacore, shrimp and more, with options to add either salmon or tuna sashimi. A BYOB (build your own box) option is available as well. You can order here.

Hutchins BBQ is extending the hours at their Frisco location to 11 am-9 pm Wednesday through Sunday. The extended hours will allow diners to enjoy not only lunch but also dinner at both of their locations.

The Rustic is hosting a weekly event called Taco & Tequila Tuesdays through October 30. Which is really only like for two weeks. For $20, you get a flight featuring three Joe Leo Tacos and three samples of Cazadores Tequila – blanco, reposado, and añejo. The tacos include brisket, chicken tinga, and carnitas slow-cooked pork shoulder with orange peel, garlic, and chile de arbol.

Whataburger has brought back a burger called the A.1. Thick & Hearty Burger. It was first added to the menu in 1998. Whataburger says it is one of Whataburger's most popular menu items ever. Why do they ever take it off, then? And it's only available for a limited time.

SusieCakes, the California-born upscale bakery chain with locations in Dallas, Plano and Fort Worth, has some fall desserts, including apple crumble pie and pumpkin pie. There are pumpkin maple cupcakes frosted with maple buttercream, a pumpkin spice cake with four layers, pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin bread pudding, and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. SusieCakes will also feature spooky treats for Halloween such as the trick-or-treat blondie bar studded with candies, and frosted sugar cookies available through October 31. The cakes and pies are available through the end of 2018.

Houndstooth Coffee, the Texas coffeehouse chain with locations at Henderson Avenue, Sylvan Thirty, and The Hill at Walnut Hill, has fall-themed specialty drinks including the Thanks-O-Latte, which is 75 percent Houndstooth latte and 25 percent actual pumpkin pie batter. It can also be made iced. The Ginger Oh Snap is made with cold brew, maple syrup, extra spicy ginger beer, and lime juice. These drinks will be through the winter holidays.

Razzoo's Cajun Café, famed home of the Hurry-Cane, has a new line of non-alcoholic options with the same ingredients and flavors they bring to their cocktails. There is watermelon mint fresca, the passionate palmer, peach thyme spritzer, blackberry lemonade, and a tableside Abita root beer float. You can get them at lunch and dinner at all 21 locations in Texas and North Carolina, and they're $5.

Coevál Studio, the Dallas branding and design firm, has appointed Pierre Trevino as food and beverage innovation chef. He'll oversee menu development and kitchen training for Coevál Studio food & beverage projects.

Cedars Social, the Mexican restaurant on the Southside, lost its chef Anastacia Quinones. Monica Greene, currently in charge of the place, is going in a new direction. "AQ" is now doing a series of popups at indie restaurants and bars such as Las Almas Rotas in Expo Park, where she'll roll out a menu of tacos on October 19.

Chef Graham Dodds has left the Statler Dallas hotel. A statement from Epic F&B calls Dodds "an integral part of our opening team, and we are incredibly grateful to him for leading the culinary helm of our six concepts at The Statler over the past year."