Taco News
Ex-chef at Dallas' French Room opens enchilada joint up by Richardson
A new restaurant is coming to Dallas that's centered on enchiladas. Called Lada Restaurant, it's a fast-casual eatery near Richardson from chef Michael Ehlert, who was previously at The French Room and Mirador.
According to a release, it'll open at 6859 Arapaho Rd., #601, at Hillcrest Road, in mid-November.
Ehlert says in a statement that he's into enchiladas, which is a good thing since he's about to be making a lot of them, or so he surely hopes.
"The opportunity to create a new restaurant concept and build Lada's menu around a traditional Tex-Mex dish is one that I'm excited to be a part of," Ehlert says.
His enchiladas will feature distinctive and inspired ingredient combinations which it took him more than two years of experimentation to devise.
Tortillas will be made in-house from heirloom blue corn grown and milled in Texas. There will also be traditional Tex-Mex comfort food, local beers, wine, Micheladas, and "aquas frescas."
The menu has six enchilada options:
- beer-braised chicken which has a cutesy name: "Tipsy Chicken"
- mahi with queso fresco and mild chipotle sauce - don't want it too spicy
- steak with cheddar cheese and cider glaze
- a cheese enchilada with ricotta, cheddar, tomato, and avocado
- carnitas with butternut squash, Oaxaca cheese, and mustard greens
- shiitake mushroom with Swiss chard, Oaxaca cheese, arugula, and tomatillo sauce
There are three tacos, all $5:
- cod with cabbage
- shrimp with jalapeno honey
- caulifower with almond cilantro pesto and raisin salsa
The cod taco also has a cutesy name: "Hook, Line, & Tempura." Bet you an exorbitant fee that Ehlert hired a "menu consultant." If he did, he didn't get his money's worth, because the name of the restaurant is screaming for an apostrophe: 'Lada. That'll be $250.
Lada also has tortilla soup, and three entree-style salads, $11 each: kale-quinoa salad, black rice salad, and arugula-carrot salad. For the quality of the ingredients, the prices are pretty good.
The restaurant has a 2,500-square-foot interior space and a 1,000-square-foot patio, and was designed by Michael Hsu Office of Architecture and FÖDA — you can tell they're artistic because of the umlaut.
That team has created what the release calls an authentic brand experience that includes a hand-woven tapestry menu board and an earthy, home-like look and feel.
This is not the first restaurant dedicated to enchiladas to open in Dallas: Back in 2011, veteran restaurateur Monica Greene opened a place in Oak Cliff called BEE: Best Enchiladas Ever, which now that you mention it, also had a cutesy name. It lasted a year.
Chef Shirley Chung.Photo by Samantha Marie Photography
Chef Shirley Chung is known as the "Dumpling Queen of Los Angeles."Photo by Samantha Marie Photography