Oak Cliff Eats
New Oak Cliff restaurant brags on best burgers and Bloody Marys in town
A space in Oak Cliff that has seen a number of concepts come and go has a new hopeful ready to serve up classic American food with a modern twist. Called Jed's Grill, it's a family collaboration between Jon Kovens and his mother, Estella Gallegos, and it will hold a grand opening in December.
Jed's is going into the space at 1001 W. Jefferson Blvd. that was the short-lived Fish restaurant, and previously home to Mexican restaurants such as Los Herrera Cafe. It'll serve breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner using fresh ingredients, not frozen, with from-scratch recipes.
The duo has been involved with restaurants with combined experience of more than 30 years — but always working for someone else. "This is something we both love and always wanted to do, and our dream is turning into a reality, to make good food," Kovens says.
"We're going to do some neat items that people haven't had before," he says. "One personal favorite is our cheeseburger with Muenster cheese and house-made garlic aioli on a Hawaiian roll. I'm excited about our burger patties, because they're three-fourths ground chuck and one-quarter short rib.
"We'll be using different rolls, not just Hawaiian, but since I was a little kid, I always loved Hawaiian rolls. I love the idea of incorporating sweetness into a burger."
They'll have a full bar with 99 cent mimosas on weekends and what Kovens claims will be the best Bloody Mary recipe in town, served with jalapeño-stuffed olives.
They did a full remodel on the space, which included maximizing workflow.
"The set-up before wasn't efficient, and I think that may have contributed to why there's been a revolving door here," he says. "We gutted the place and did a total restoration, so that it's new and modern but a classic side.
"When you walk in, you see the roof has old-style tin ceiling tiles. It was built in 1927, so it has this vintage feeling, but modernized, which fits with what we're trying to do."
