Opening News

Fun Indian restaurant chain to debut in Texas at The Colony's Grandscape

Check out the waffle fries with the hot & sweet tomato sauce.

Photo courtesy of CUN

An Indian restaurant concept is headed for Texas: Called Curry Up Now, it's an Indian fast-casual concept from San Francisco and will open its first Texas location at the Grandscape in The Colony.

According to a release, the restaurant is slated to open in March 2021 at 5752 Grandscape Blvd. #310.

Curry Up Now was founded in 2009 as a food truck by husband-and-wife Akash and Rana Kapoor. They've since expanded to three food trucks, plus 13 brick-and-mortar restaurants in Northern and Southern California, Utah, New Jersey, and Georgia.

Their little motto is "not your average Indian fare," and the menu shows it, with items such as a tandoori fried chicken sandwich, sweet potato waffle fries with hot & sweet tomato dipping sauce, and fried cheese ravioli with tikka masala dip. Intriguing.

Signature dishes include:

Tikka Masala Burritos
Deconstructed Samosas
Indian-style tacos
Naughty Naan

There is also a section of Indian street food snacks and more traditional dishes like Thali Platters, Kathi Rolls, and Bhel Puri.

In addition to the restaurant, they have an accompanying craft cocktail bar concept called Mortar & Pestle, with cocktails and bar bites. There are currently Mortar & Pestle outlets at three locations, and The Colony will get one, too.

Local franchisees are Ankita & Dharmesh Mehta, Kamlesh & Jagruti Modi, Ratnakar & Lila Mody, and Aryan Vig, who run the MMV Corporation and have Cold Stone Creamery locations throughout Texas and two locations of the World of Beer fanchise under construction.

Three other locations are penciled in for DFW, plus an additional two in Austin.

openings

Relo News

Oak Cliff Dallas address says bye Swank and hello Indian restaurant

Elephant Indian Bar and Grill

A location in Oak Cliff Dallas that has seen some turnover in recent years is about to see some more: It starts with Swank, the ambitious restaurant from chef Luke Rogers, which is leaving its address at 1115 N. Beckley Ave. after a year and relocating to a new space still to be determined. The restaurant's final day at its current location will be Saturday, July 26.

"We want to give guests one last chance to toast the place that started it all," Rogers says in a statement.

But 1115 N. Beckley Ave. won't be empty for too long: The space will soon be home to Elephant Indian Bar and Grill, an Indian restaurant from chef Praveen Prasannan, an industry veteran with international experience working in the kitchens of hotels and on cruise ships.

This will be a second location of Elephant Indian Bar and Grill following the original that opened in the original Buzzbrews location at 4154 N. Central Expwy. in 2024.

Prasannan says he wants to expand his customer base by bringing Indian food to areas currently lacking in Indian options. He's also opening an Elephant to-go spinoff in the Park Cities, at 5601 W. Lovers Ln. #110.

He also owns Shivas Bar and Grill, an elevated Indian concept, with his brother Prinu, which has locations in downtown Dallas and Allen.

The menu at Elephant Indian features Indian classics such as chicken tikka masala, butter masala, tandoori, and a variety of biryani, the comforting rice dish.

There are also Indo-Chinese fusion dishes, such as veggie fried rice, chilli paneer, and hakka noodles; plus wraps, hummus with naan bread, and thali, a selection of different dishes served in small bowls on a round tray, served with choices of steamed rice or naan.

Prasannan is a forward-thinking chef who has also created a number of vegan items and meatless versions of their signature dishes, including a rare vegan version of butter chicken and Kadai vegetables, a mix of stir-fried vegetables. Prices are affordable, ranging from $6 for a soup or salad to $26 for lamb biryani.

Prior to Swank, 1115 N. Beckley Ave. was home to some big-name restaurants over the years, most recently Beckley 1115, and before that VH, and before that Outpost, and before that, Campo featuring chef Matt McAllister, and before that an Argentinian place called La Carreta Argentina.

openings oak cliff