Where to Eat

Where to eat in Dallas right now: 9 very fresh new restaurants for November

Hawkers steamed pork belly buns.

Photo courtesy of Hawkers

This November edition of our monthly Where to Eat series is as fresh as it comes, with a list of restaurants so new that many have opened this week. Following a pandemic-induced logjam, Dallas is currently deluged with new restaurant openings, all at the same time. We the diners are the lucky beneficiaries, and it is our civic duty to get out there and try them all.

For this Where to Eat, these are 9 of the newest restaurants in town:

Elephant East
Latest concept from Harwood Hospitality Group, located at 2850 N. Harwood St., features a menu conceived by chef Thomas Griffin that incorporates his heritage and experience with dishes such as Korean fried chicken, served popcorn chicken-style; Singapore noodles with Chinese sausage, Napa cabbage, and snow peas; and boneless Korean short ribs with sticky rice. Their papaya salad has an unusual composition with sweet potatoes flakes, green beans, peanuts, and tomato. Don't skip desserts such as mochi-style doughnuts or a bubble waffle sundae.

Hawaiian Bros.
There's a cult following for the homey, filling Hawaiian plate lunch, a dish that combines pulled pork or teriyaki chicken with not one but two scoops of white rice and one scoop of macaroni salad — a real starchfest, nothing green on that plate at all. In recent years, DFW has seen a few independently-owned restaurants, most in the far suburbs, doing the plate lunch. But Hawaiian Bros., a growing chain founded in Kansas City, is expanding across Dallas-Fort Worth, with locations on Greenville Avenue, and in Frisco, Denton, and Fort Worth, all newly opened, with another location in Allen in the wings.

Hawkers Asian Street Fare
Pan-Asian restaurant concept founded in Florida that's all about street foods opens its first Texas location in Dallas in the former Curtain Club space at 2800 Main St. in Deep Ellum, on November 3. The menu features Malaysian, Thai, and Chinese cuisine including Korean wings, pad Thai, skewers of bulgogi chicken or satay chicken, cooked on a traditional hibachi grill. The bar will be shaking up sake and tiki-inspired cocktails, and they'll also host weekend brunch.

Hei Hei American Chinese
Appealing new restaurant in Lake Highlands is from the team behind Cedar & Vine, and it's hosting previews in the space that was most recently Atomic Pie pizza, with an opening coming this month. Hei Hei's American-Chinese dishes are familiar, but with a little twist. There’s stir-fry dishes to which you can add beef, chicken, or shrimp, such as spicy Hunan (with smoky spicy garlic sauce, mushrooms, bell peppers, onions, & carrots), and Kung Pao, with chilies, peanuts, bell pepper, onion, and celery. Noodle dishes include drunken noodles with slow-cooked beef cheek, onion, and pepper Everything on the menu is supremely shareable, and they're also good to go.

Jeni's Prestonwood Place
This is dessert, not dinner, although some could make a meal of ice cream from this growing chain founded in Columbus, Ohio in 2002. They take a wholesome approach, using simple ingredients on a spectrum of flavors that range from the chocolate and vanilla basics you need, to creative options such as goat cheese with red cherries, and mango cheesecake swirl. This location in Addison is their second in the Dallas area, after opening in Deep Ellum in February 2021. They're also selling pints at Whole Foods, Central Market, Foxtrot, Cox Farms, and Berkley's Market, but nothing beats getting a cone in a shop.

Malai Kitchen
Dallas chain known for carefully crafted modern Thai and Vietnamese cuisine just opened a fourth location at 6130 Luther Ln. on November 2. Husband-and-wife owners Braden and Yasmin Wages try to showcase a different side of Southeast Asian cuisine, inspired by their travels through Thailand and Vietnam, on signature dishes such as Vietnamese-style meatballs and "Thai tacos," with choice of shrimp or pulled pork, served in a crispy wonton. This location has not had great luck over the years with its most recent occupant, Bartaco, felled by the pandemic. But if anyone can break the spell, it's Malai, which seems like the right fit for Preston Center.

Panda Express
Fast-casual chain founded in California may not be new, but they have an innovative new dish available only at a limited number of locations: It's a plant-based twist on their signature Original Orange Chicken, made with Beyond chicken chunks which very convincingly captures the texture and tangy-citrus flavor of the original Original Orange Chicken. Beyond chicken is on fire in the vegan world right now, and according to market research company Baum+Whiteman, vegan chicken on menus is the No. 3 top trend for 2022. Panda Express initially offered this in a trial run in New York and Los Angeles, and now it's available at 70 locations across the U.S., including Allen, Coit Road in Plano, Addison at Belt Line & Montfort, Garland, and Sunnyvale.

Pizza Gianna
Pizzeria at 5219 W. Lovers Ln. may have just opened but it comes with a rich and colorful history, dating back to 1956, when Pizza by Marco was founded at the corner of Preston Road and Royal Lane by Marco Nuccio. It quickly became a neighborhood favorite, supplying top-quality thin crust pizza and pasta, during a time when Dallas didn't have a lot of great pizza. In 1993, they had to change their name to My Family's Pizza, and then they were caught up in the 2019 tornado. But a team of lifelong fans intervened, partnering with Marco's son Frank, who had the original recipes in his possession, and they're back, slinging those pies again, but with a more 2021-style approach that includes online ordering and delivery.

Written By the Seasons
New Bishop Arts restaurant is from the folks who own nearby Tribal All Day Cafe, and they're continuing their healthy streak with a restaurant focused on changing with the seasons. They've recruited famed chef Dennis Kelley (Lark on the Park), with entrees such as chicken, 44 Farms steak, kimchi fried cauliflower, mahi-mahi steamed inside a banana leaf, and seafood stew. They have a full bar with a solid wine selection and fun cocktails like the Beetrita, sort of a cross between a cocktail and a smoothie, made with tequila, beet, apple lime, and ginger.

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Revolving Doors

12 restaurants in Dallas that have either just opened or just closed

Harumama

Harumama Noodles & Buns

In the inevitable ebb and flow of Dallas restaurants, openings and closings are part of the deal — often coming at the end of the year, when restaurateurs, like the rest of us, take stock of the future.

When there is more than one opening and closure, it becomes difficult to keep track. For this reason, there are lists.

Here's a roundup of Dallas restaurant openings and closures, with the bad news first.

CLOSURES

Terra Mediterranean
Mediterranean favorite in Plano closed on December 8, almost four years to the day they opened. When restaurateur brothers Jalal Chanaa and Adam Shanaa opened it at the The Shops at Willow Bend, it was the third location of Terra, following the original in Fort Worth and another in Irving. Both of those locations have since closed, although they're planning to reopen Fort Worth soon. Meanwhile, the brothers are advising Dallas fans to head to Ali Baba, their other restaurant in Richardson, which they say has the same menu.

Yummies
Despite the confusingly quirky name, this Allen restaurant was a fast food halal restaurant featuring halal beef patties prepared fresh in-store every day, plus pita sandwiches, shawarma, and fajitas. They'd been open for seven years including enduring the pandemic, and locals liked their burgers. But they closed at the end of November.

Whistle Britches
Fried chicken & biscuits concept from chef Omar Flores quietly closed its location at 6110 Frankford Rd. in November. Queries about the what and why are going unanswered, but a recording on the location's phone says both that #1 the closure is temporary and also #2 a new concept will go in its place. This was the location featured in Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, so closing it seems like a shoot-yourself-in-the-foot kind of move, but there are still two remaining locations open, in Plano and Southlake.

Mixtitos Kitchen
Mexican-fusion restaurant in East Dallas finally closed after two years of chef-owner Jose Luis Rodriguez bemoaning a lack of interest in his unusual menu of American, Mexican, and French dishes. He earned oodles of idiotic media attention, but the menu was a tough sell in a space that was previously home to La Acapulqueña, which served cheap Mexican food and margaritas in that space for 33 years. Changing the menu or paying his rent apparently never crossed his mind.

Barley & Board
Denton brewpub is closing after nearly 10 years. According to a post from the owners, the lease was up and they opted not to renew. B&B brought a level of cosmopolitan cool to Denton, combined with an easygoing vibe that made it a fresh addition when it was opened by a hospitality supergroup in 2015. Alas, they got pummeled by the pandemic; one chef said that "things were never the same after COVID." In 2021, they pared down the menu, although they remained a big magnet and brought lots of patrons and revenue into the Square. Their second location which they opened at Grandscape in 2018 closed in November. Denton will close on January 6.

Taco Cabana in Murphy
The Taco Cabana location at 104 FM 544 in Murphy has permanently closed. A Taco Cabana representative said that the location was not doing enough business. People of Murphy, it's on you. Fortunately, the chain has 18 other Dallas-area locations. Support your neighborhood Taco Cabana!

Harumama cutesy bunsHarumama

OPENINGS

Rodeo Cold
Yee-haw dive bar in old east Dallas at 3826 Ross Ave., in the former Eastbound & Down space, is now open. Rodeo Cold is a sibling of Green Light Social, the Austin-born nightlife venue which opened off Good Latimer Freeway in 2021 from owners Robert Dummond and Ian Fletcher, who've partnered with Ian’s brother Eric Fletcher. Their vision is a bar with a late '70s/early '80s vibe plus a little Texas Western color thrown in. They have a basic menu designed by Green Light Social Chef Luis Ayala, with American classics such as steak fingers with gravy, Texas chili, burgers, hot dogs, and Frito pies, plus nothing-too-fancy ready-to-drink cocktails.

MiYa Chinese
New Chinese restaurant is now open in Casa Linda Plaza, in the former Pei Wei space where it's doing an elevated take on Chinese cuisine, blending traditional flavors with a modern, yet cozy atmosphere. MiYa is the brainchild of David Romano, an industry veteran with 30-plus years of food and beverage experience; and brand creator and menu visionary Jia Huang, who grew up in China immersed in her family’s restaurant and has 10-plus years of experience in restaurant operations in America. They're doing classic Chinese take-out items like beef with broccoli and orange chicken, plus hand-pulled noodle dishes such as Sichuan Dan Dan with cucumber, carrot, and sesame Dan Dan sauce ranging in price from $14 to $18.

Be Home Soon
Casa Linda is on fire right now with yet another new opening, this one a place with rock-star cred that just opened in mid-November. The restaurant is from Madison King, a onetime Dallas musician-turned-chef who envisions a warm, comfortable restaurant with a full bar and menu she describes as "home cooking, no matter where you're from." They're open for lunch and dinner with a menu that includes fun appetizers, soups, salads, and sandwiches for lunch, then roll out blue plate specials for dinner.

Kafi BBQ
This one jumps the gun a little because it isn't quite open yet but it's days away. This unusual BBQ restaurant specializing in halal Wagyu beef, will open at 8140 N. MacArthur Blvd. #100 in Valley Ranch on December 14. It's from Salahodeen Abdul-Kafi, a Missouri-born tech engineer and amateur chef who started bringing his BBQ to events at his mosque, where he would sell out very quickly. The menu will include $15 Wagyu brisket sandwiches, brisket on a stick, Iraqi kebab-inspired sausage, and combo plates.

Harumama Noodles + Buns
Small San Diego-based chain with five locations in California is known for "cute" steamed buns decorated to look chicks, pigs, cows, pandas, etc. They've opened a location in Carrollton — their first in Texas — at 1060 W. Frankford Rd. Beyond its twee appeal and Instagram value, the restaurant has a big menu featuring ramen, poke, bao buns, crab wontons, fried rice, potstickers, eggrolls, and salads.

Russo's New York Pizzeria - Frisco
Longtime pizza chain based in Houston which serves New York-style pizza has opened a new location in Frisco at 3420 Main St. #200, in a small new center near Teal Parkway. In addition to full pies, they offer pizza by the slice.

closings lists openings