Uptown News

Cult-favorite salad chain opens first Dallas outpost in West Village

They do great salads in a fast-food setting.

Sweetgreen

A healthy California-based restaurant concept is finally coming to town: Called Sweetgreen, it's a chain that does healthy food on a large scale, and it will open its first Dallas restaurant on November 23 in what is becoming the healthiest new destination: West Village.

According to a release, the restaurant will be located at 3636 McKinney Ave., #100, in the former Brooks Brothers space right on the corner, and continues a winning streak for West Village, which will also be home to a new location of Mendocino Farms, opening in early summer 2022.

Sweetgreen's philosophy is that "real food" should be convenient and accessible to everyone in a fast-food setting, making sustainable decisions and never sacrificing quality for convenience.

The company was founded in 2007 by three students at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, before relocating to Los Angeles in 2016. They currently have more than 140 locations across the U.S.

They source high-quality ingredients, with fresh produce delivered each morning for their rotating seasonal menus.

The Dallas store will use locally sourced products including bread from Empire Baking Co., Romaine from Fredericksburg Peach Co. in Fredericksburg, and tomatoes from Village Harvest in Marfa, which is sort of local.

Favorites from the menu include:

Kale Caesar with roasted chicken, tomatoes, parmesan crisps, shaved parmesan, shredded kale, chopped romaine, lime squeeze and caesar dressing
Harvest Bowl with roasted chicken, roasted sweet potatoes, apples, goat cheese, roasted almonds, warm wild rice, shredded kale and balsamic vinaigrette
Guacamole Greens with roasted chicken, avocado, tomatoes, red onion, shredded cabbage, tortilla chips, spring mix, chopped romaine, lime squeeze and lime cilantro jalapeno vinaigrette.

The Dallas restaurant will also feature a dish that's exclusive to Texas: Garlic Chili Shrimp Bowl, featuring Cajun shrimp, wild rice, shredded kale, shredded cabbage, red onions, raw carrots, apples, raw pecans, fresh herbs, a lime squeeze, and nuoc cham dressing.

The space accommodates 32 indoor diners with additional seating for 26 on its outdoor patio.

"With each new market we enter, we become students to make sure that it’s a fit for both the locals who live there and our restaurants,'' says Sweetgreen co-founder and Chief Concept Officer Nicolas Jammet in a statement. "Dallas felt like a natural next step for us -- the community is active, its home to great music and arts, and of course, has a thriving culinary scene. We couldn’t be more excited to finally open our doors in this amazing city."

To celebrate the opening, Sweetgreen will offer free delivery for the first two weeks when guests order through their mobile app. For every meal sold on Monday, November 29, Sweetgreen will donate a meal to Brighter Bites, a food nonprofit.

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Dumpling News

Asian soup dumpling chain Ugly Dumpling to open location in Allen

Ugly Dumpling

Colorful dumplings from Ugly Dumpling

A new dumpling concept is coming to Dallas-Fort Worth: Called Ugly Dumpling, it's a chain specializing in Chinese soup dumplings, and it's opening its first DFW location in Allen, at 213 N. Central Expy., near the intersection of McDermott Road, where it will debut in early fall.

Ugly Dumpling is from Vertex Hospitality Group, a national restaurant franchise organization whose portfolio includes two other Asian chains, KPOT Hot Pot & Korean BBQ (which has a location in Arlington and another coming to Fort Worth), and Kinya Ramen.

Buoyed by the success of those two brands, Vertex launched Ugly Dumpling in 2023, opening the first location in Edison, New Jersey. They now list 26 locations on their website, in Virginia, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware, Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, and Texas, although 14 are "coming soon," including one in Austin that's been in the works since 2024.

Soup dumplings — official name, xiao long bao — are a dish of Shanghai origin that are popular due to their unique combination of a delicate dough wrapper enclosing a tender filling and savory broth, which releases when you take a bite — making for an indelible comfort food experience.

Ugly Dumpling's menu includes six varieties of dumplings, accompanied by a savory soup broth, as follows:

chicken
pork
pork & crab
pork & truffle
pork, shrimp, & spinach
Szechuan pork

Porky! They can be ordered in a dumpling sampler, one of each variety, for about $14. No vegetarian options, although they do have a couple of vegan dishes such as vegan wonton soup.

There are also Chinese classics like spring rolls, cream cheese wontons, hot & sour soup, salt & pepper popcorn chicken, garlic green beans, orange chicken, beef & broccoli, Mongolian beef, Kung pao chicken, and fried rice; plus tempting Asian favorites like edamame and bao buns, and even chicken wings.

They also serve boba tea and other beverages.

Bringing the concept to DFW is Grace Zhao, who previously owned Zhao Star Chinese Bistro in Frisco, which she sold. She's all in on Ugly Dumpling — "we're hoping to open more than one location, but Allen comes first," she says.

A statement from marketing head Margaret Farrell says that "when we created Ugly Dumpling, we wanted to tap into the historical Shanghai street food movement but do so in a way that caters to the modern palette. [Surely she means 'palate'?] Our menu respects Shanghai's centuries-old cooking techniques while cultivating an exciting experience for today's restaurant goer."

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