Gather Around

Unique new downtown Dallas restaurant caters to every kind of diner

Gather, opening in downtown Dallas, will be healthy and good.

Downtown Dallas gets a healthy new indie restaurant in Gather Kitchen, a new fast casual spot slated to open at Thanksgiving Tower in early 2017. This is the first location for Gather Kitchen, which will serve healthy comfort food, including trendy bowls.

Gather was conceptualized by Nicki Hamilton, who joined forces with seasoned restaurateur Soraya Spencer, who has opened eight restaurants across the world.

The two bonded over a common need for a quick comfort-food option. There are bowls for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Customers choose from a Chipotle-style assembly line with a variety of base proteins, vegetables, and sauces.

According to Spencer, whose background includes working at restaurants in Hong Kong, the menu extends across many cuisines, including Asian, Italian, European, American, and Mexican. She says the ingredients are "interesting and unique."

Bases include include zucchini noodles, sweet potato noodles, cauliflower "rice," quinoa, and brown rice. For proteins, Gather Kitchen offers crumbled beef, marinated chicken, pork, and falafel.

Spencer says the food is "humble but good."

"We're here for everyone," she says. "These days, you have more gluten-free and vegan diners, and we're offering options for everyone. You can be a carnivore or a super vegan and eat together here."

The 2,400-square-foot restaurant will also feature a bakery corner with original recipes, including gluten-free and vegan options, an outdoor seating area, and floor-to-ceiling windows with views of downtown Dallas.

Gather Kitchen is part of the renovation of the iconic downtown building. “They are going to be a big hit with our tenants and a great amenity for the Main Street District," says Billy Prewitt of Thanksgiving Tower landlord Woods Capital Management.

downtown openings

McDonald's News

McDonald's closes 2 CosMc's beverage spinoffs in Dallas-Fort Worth

Photo courtesy of CosMc's

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After less than a year, McDonald's is cutting back on its CosMc's beverage spinoff, and that includes shutting down locations in Dallas-Fort Worth.

McDonald's introduced the beverage led concept in December 2023, when it opened the first location in Bolingbrook, Illinois. The concept — which seemed to be competing with Swig, the drive-through drink chain from Utah — features coffee, lemonade, slushies, and energy drinks, plus bites such as the Egg McMuffin, hashbrowns, and McPops — like doughnut holes.

They went on to open six more locations, all in Texas: two in San Antonio and four in DFW. Both San Antonio locations still show up on the website as open but two have closed in DFW so far, as follows:

Watauga at 7304 Denton Hwy.
Arlington at Abram's Alley, 300 E. Abram St. #150

Their website currently shows the Dallas location at Campbell Road, which was the original location, as still open, as well as a location in Fort Worth on McPherson Boulevard.

Despite the closures, McDonald's still plans to continue the test in the US for the foreseeable future, a spokesperson says, including opening two new smaller format stores in Texas in 2025.

That includes a location in Allen at 861 W. Stacy Rd.

The plan is to close three of the larger locations that were remodeled into CosMc’s locations — meaning that one of the locations currently still open is due to close.

"Since opening CosMc’s, we have had the benefit of testing out different location sizes and setups – from revamping larger restaurant spaces to building smaller prototype locations that focus more on the drive-thru and digital experience," their statement says. "We learned that the smaller format stores allow us to test new, unique circumstances that are reflective of our customer base. As a result, we will open two new smaller format stores in Texas in 2025, and close three of the larger locations that were remodeled into CosMc’s locations."