It's fall and all of the hallmarks are here in this roundup of Dallas dining news: butternut squash soup, autumn salads, hearty grain bowls, pumpkin cookies, did we already say butternut squash? Because there's a lot of it.
There's also news of brandy, CBD seltzer, and yet another pickle-flavored beverage from a famous Texas brewer.
Here's what's happening in Dallas restaurant news:
Mi Cocina on the Park will open its location at Klyde Warren Park on Monday, October 18, in the former Savor space, following a renovation by Droese Raney. In addition to patio, dining area, and bar, there will also be an outdoor walk-up service window. This is Mi Cocina's 22nd location. It'll be open daily for lunch and dinner, with brunch on weekends.
Asador, the restaurant at the Renaissance Hotel, has a new seasonal fall menu from executive chef Joe Graffeo which include dishes such as butternut squash soup with pepitas, bison burger with arugula & goat cheese, roasted pumpkin with kale & pepitas, and 44 Farms ribeye with chipotle sweet potato wedges & coffee-infused mezcal cream.
Haywire and The Ranch at Las Colinas have new autumn-inspired menu items including a Duroc bacon board, fall shrimp salad, 11-ounce flat iron steak, bison coffee-rubbed filet with whipped potatoes & asparagus, jalapeño creamed corn, roasted sweet potatoes, and Brussels sprouts with bacon & pecans.
Chimichurri Bishop Arts is now open for lunch on Fridays 11 am-3 pm, featuring a creative and chef-like menu. Dishes include potato chips topped with buttermilk blue cheese dressing, black beans, & corn relish; chicken chipotle empanadas; tuna salad; wedge salad with bacon & walnuts; grilled snapper with sautéed zucchini & yellow squash; burger with provolone cheese & house fries; pesto shrimp with veggies; and huevos rancheros tostada with refried black beans, sliced avocado, fried eggs, & tomato salsa.
Dog Haus has introduced The Hot Chick, a fried chicken sandwich with two chicken tenders, sauce, pickles, and slaw, on grilled King's Hawaiian rolls, plus wings and tenders, including a chicken tenders kids meal. They also have an Impossible Chicken Nuggets Kids Meal, with four Impossible Chicken Nuggets, side, and drink. Dog Haus was one of the first to offer Beyond Meat's plant-based chicken product Beyond Chicken Tenders, which can be swapped in for any chicken sandwich. They first added chicken to the menu in 2017.
Dillas Quesadillas, the North-Texas-based quesadilla restaurant, is bringing back Frito Pie Dilla, with chili cheese Fritos, ground beef, hatch queso drizzle, and red onions, available through November 2.
Torchy's Tacos has a new Kingpin Taco of the Month for October, featuring green chile pork carnitas, black beans, fried plantains, sour cream, cotija cheese, pickled onions, cilantro, and avocado sauce on a flour tortilla for $5.50. A new cocktail is The Shakedown Margarita, made with Agave Reposado Tequila by Exotico, Triple Sec, and lime juice flavored with ginger.
Newk's Eatery launched a revamped menu with new items, including Cheesesteak Sandwich, Portabella Veggie Sandwich, Salmon Caesar Salad, Supreme Pizza with pepperoni, sausage, bell peppers, red onions, olives, BBQ Steak Sandwich, and Portabella Veggie Pizza. For kids, there's a Cheeseburger Pizza and Cheeseburger Mac & Cheese.
Fuzzy's Taco Shop had added a Chipotle Chicken Fajita Taco to its menu, available through November 21. It has fajita chicken, grilled peppers & onions, and honey chipotle sauce on a flour tortilla.
Genghis Grill, the create-your-own stir-fry concept, has brought back Bottomless Bowls. For the price of one large bowl, you can refill your bowl as many times as you'd like. Genghis Grill has more than 80 ingredients including new Brussels sprouts and carne asada. They're available through October 31.
Crisp & Green, the Minnesota-based fast-casual restaurant chain, has debuted two new fall items: Wild Child grain bowl contains warm wild rice, arugula, radicchio, craisins, Brussels sprouts, chicken, and goat cheese. Squash goals salad has kale, arugula, apples, white cheddar, maple glazed pecans, chicken, and maple roasted butternut squash with cider pumpkin seed vinaigrette and quinoa.
Go Easy, a retail store focused on self-care, has two new CBD chocolate bars: Grannie's Pecan Pie Chocolate bar has 100 mg of full spectrum CBD, milk chocolate, maple syrup, and bourbon pecans. Hotties Delight bar has 100 mg of full spectrum CBD, 70 percent dark chocolate, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper.
Smoothie King has a new special-edition Cowboys Smoothie, available exclusively at Dallas-Fort Worth and San Antonio Smoothie King stores through the end of the 2021 NFL season. It's made with blueberries, bananas, dates, almonds, apple-blueberry juice blend, and stevia.
Frio's Gourmet Pops is an Alabama-based frozen pop company whose locations are mobile trucks. In Dallas, Nick Reeder is the local franchisee and can be found at Main Street Garden Park, community events, and high school games. The pops come in creamy, fruity, sugar-free, gluten-free, dye free, vegan, nut-free, wheat-free, soy-free, and dairy-free. Flavors include Cookies N' Cream, Blue Raspberry, Strawberry Mango, and Birthday Cake.
J. Rae's bakery on Lovers Lane has Halloween-themed cookie decorating kits for $35. It comes with 9 cookies — 3 pumpkins, 3 ghosts, and 3 candy corns — 3 bags of icing and 3 decorative sugar packets. The cookie kits will be available October 18-30 and are available for pick-up in store. Call 214-654-0833 to reserve a box; 24 hours notice is needed.
Oh Hi Sparkling CBD Seltzers from Colorado are now available in Texas. They contain 20mg of CBD and are available in canned 12-ounce 4-packs and single cans in four flavors: Pomegranate, Lemon Lime, Ginger Basil Limeade, and Grapefruit. Oh Hi CBD seltzers are vegan, non-GMO, gluten-free, and contain cane sugar but no THC.
St Rémy, the world’s leading French brandy, is launching St-Rémy Signature brandy in Texas. A release describes it as luminous, bright and amber in color, with aromas of vanilla, coconut, and almond, round and balanced on the palate, with woody notes enriched with honey, nut, and butter flavors. OMG who needs a nap after that? A 750ml bottle will go for $30.
Shiner jumps on the pickle bandwagon with a new pickle-flavored hard seltzer called Juicy Dill Pickle Straight Shooter, made with pickles from brewmaster Jimmy Mauric's family recipe, with a blend of sweet and sour pickle, dill, coriander, and spice. The ABV is 4.5 percent and it's sold in a 6-pack of 12-ounce slim cans, for $8, for a limited time. Fort Worth's Martin House started the pickle thing in 2019 with a pickle-flavored beer, followed by a spicy pickle-flavored beer, followed by a Bloody Mary pickle-flavored beer, and Taco Cabana had a limited-edition pickle-flavored margarita, guys how about a moratorium on pickle for now.
Jeni's Ice Cream has issued Cone Coins, redeemable tokens good for one kids cone (a $4.25 value) at a Jeni's scoop shop (for children 12 and under), available now through October 31, in bundles of 20 for $35. They're designed as an alternative to candy to be handed out during trick-or-treat, and available at their Deep Ellum scoop shop or via local delivery online.
Eater Dallas is losing its longtime writer: Amy McCarthy, who covered both Dallas and Houston restaurants for Eater (along with associate editor Brittanie Shey), is moving to the national Eater site as a staff writer on the pop culture beat. In her five years on the job, McCarthy reported not only on day-to-day openings, closings, and best lists, but also larger issues such as worker salaries and harassment, with a special fondness for lawsuits involving colorful characters like Salt Bae and Instagram star Kway — bringing a valuable combination of investigative reporting and advocacy unduplicated in either city.
