Where to Eat

Where to eat in Dallas right now: 9 hottest new dessert destinations

Bread pudding is practically a meal in itself.

Photo courtesy of Edith's

There's always room for dessert. It's there if you want to go out but you don't want to splurge for a whole meal. Or maybe you have dinner at home, but you're looking for an excuse to go out. Or maybe you're just craving a magnificent dessert.

As luck would have it, Dallas has seen a big wave of new shops specializing in sweet treats, to fill all those needs and more.

Here are 9 new destinations for dessert:

Beard Papa's
Japanese chain that does cream puffs, with more than 500 locations around the world. Its cream puffs come in flavors like matcha and honey butter. It opened its first DFW location in Plano, at 2301 N. Central Expy. in mid-October, charming the locals with its adorable round cream puffs, boasting icing and fillings in luscious flavors that include creme brulee, honey and butter, green tea, and double chocolate. The idea is to buy a box and mix-and-match flavors. Another is due to open in Frisco in winter 2018.

BlackBall
International dessert chain made its DFW debut with a location in Plano at 100 Legacy Dr. One of the biggest dessert chains in Taiwan, BlackBall has a menu that's a walk on the wild side with dessert "soups" served hot or warm, and seven crushed ices in flavors such as cranberry and taro. You can choose from 18 toppings such as rice balls and kidney beans to add to your dessert. The signature is "grass jelly," or leaf jelly, a dark, sweet Jell-O like item with a slight, though not unpleasant, bitter edge. Many shaved ice options include a matcha-themed delight with matcha shaved ice, matcha jelly, and matcha syrup as a pourover, with a side of two matcha-filled mochi.

Cookie Rack
New bakery specializing in decorated and over-the-top cookies, just opened in Frisco in a new center at 2552 Stonebrook Pkwy. Their thing is decorated and "logo" cookies, but don't look for your typical chocolate chip. Their cookies have icing and other embellishments. The cookies are an over-the-top type cookie — more like a cupcake, but in cookie form. You can have a cup of coffee and work on wifi, and they'll also offer cookie-decorating classes.

Cow Tipping Creamery
Ice cream shop specializing in soft-serve has opened in Carrollton at 1309 S. Broadway St., next door to its sibling Cane Rosso. They serve ice cream and sundae "stackers" such as the Southern charm with rum-caramel sauce, pecans, Southern cracker candy, and blue sugar crystals; or the cinnamon-horchata soft serve with Snickerdoodle cookie bar bits, Snickerdoodle Ritz crumb, and hot fudge. It's open 4-9 pm Thursday, 12-10 pm Friday-Saturday, and 12-9 pm Sunday.

Edith's French Bistro
The original Edith's is located at Mockingbird Station in Dallas, but they recently opened a location at Granite Park, the development near the Dallas North Tollway and SH-121. They do French pastries, custom cakes, high tea, classic French dishes, and all-day breakfast. This location boasts an over-the top decor that includes a wild flower-themed chandelier and walls covered in faux greenery to evoke a garden vibe. It also has a massive 2,782-square-food patio.

Grandmas Bakery
As the name might imply, this North Dallas sweet shop is owned by a couple of grandmas: Ashraf Hosseini is a master cake decorator and baker, and her partner Sherry Ghafar makes unique baklava and cream puffs. They're selling decorated cakes, cupcakes, unique Persian cookies, and a Persian twist on the classic baklava recipe, which features rosewater and saffron.

Philly Pretzel Factory
Pennsylvania-based chain that's colonizing North Texas, including a location newly opened at 5601 W. Lovers Ln. in Dallas, with a branch also in Mansfield and another coming soon to Coit Road in Richardson. Philly Pretzel Factory is "home of the real soft pretzel," as well as the world's largest Philly-style pretzel bakery, with more than 100 franchised locations, clustered mostly in the Northeast. There are bite-sized pretzel nuggets and cinnamon pretzel twists, dusted with cinnamon-sugar and served with a sweet cream cheese dip.

Popbar
Chain famous for its gelato, sorbetto, and yogurt on a stick, has opened a location in Victory Park at 2420 Victory Park Ln. They make small batches, 26 popbars at a time, in 40 rotating flavors, with dippings and toppings, plus unique treats like the newly launched gelatoshake. There are also vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free, and soy-free options. Popbar currently has 19 stores in the U.S., and 11 stores internationally. Popbar Victory Park is the fifth location to open in 2018.

Tulla Patisserie & Cafe
Frisco bakery is doing first-rate baked goods including croissants and cutting-edge sourdough breads. There are butter croissants, chocolate almond croissants, pistachio raspberry croissants, and croissants with ham and Gruyere cheese. There are cinnamon pull-aparts, French turnovers, chocolate muffins, lemon poundcake, and bacon-cheddar scones. There are macarons, cakes, and pies.

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Spring Arrival

West Dallas gets new Spanish-Peruvian restaurant with big-name chef

Photo courtesy of Ulloa's

Paella will be on the menu.

A new restaurant with a high-profile culinary director will bring Spanish and Peruvian flavors to West Dallas: Called Ulloa’s, it is coming to 727 Fort Worth Ave., with a projected opening in March 2027.

The concept is from philanthropists Susan and Woodrow Gandy, who were previously investors in the historic Belmont Hotel just around the corner. They've teamed up with Dallas celebrity chef Kent Rathbun as culinary director, along with Christopher Tunnell as general manager to lead the front of the house.

Rathbun is a name Dallas diners know well, with a resume that includes The Mansion on Turtle Creek, the Landmark Restaurant at the historic Melrose Hotel, Seventeen Seventeen at the Dallas Museum of Art, Abacus, Jasper's, Rathbun’s Blue Plate Kitchen, and more. He's won numerous awards and made multiple appearances on Food Network. He was most recently behind the launch of On The Rocks, an Italian bistro in Burleson.

Chef Kent Rathbun will be the culinary director of Ulloa's. Photo courtesy of Kent Rathbun

Tunnell’s background spans both culinary direction and front-of-house operations. He worked at Los Angeles hot spots Ketchup, Geisha House, and Les Deux, as well as the Mandalay Bay and The Mirage in Las Vegas, before moving to Dallas to open The Mexican, the upscale restaurant in the Design District.

“I am truly excited to partner with Chef Kent Rathbun, whose reputation is amazing — not only in the DFW Metroplex, but in the culinary world,” Tunnell says. “He has been with this project since the beginning, helping develop it; this will be a very chef-driven, culinary-forward restaurant.”

The team's vision for Ulloa’s is both culinary and urban, with hopes of anchoring the corridor and attracting other businesses to Fort Worth Avenue — a stretch connecting downtown Dallas with Oak Cliff that remains somewhat underdeveloped despite its panoramic skyline views.

The restaurant is named for Spanish explorer, astronomer, and scientist Antonio de Ulloa, who spent extensive time in the Mexican peninsula before becoming Louisiana’s first governor. During his travels, Ulloa documented a fogbow — a circular rainbow formed when sunlight meets mist that causes silhouettes standing between the sun and fog to appear ringed in light, a phenomenon known today as “Ulloa’s Rings.”

That vibrant phenomenon inspired both the restaurant's identity and logo. The concept promises "bold, worldly flavors in a welcoming neighborhood setting inspired by exploration and discovery,” the owners say.

Ulloa's Rendering of Ulloa's.Rendering courtesy of Ulloa's

While the menu remains in development, Tunnell describes the culinary direction as “Spanish soul with a Peruvian heart.” The kitchen will merge the coastal flavors of both traditions — ranging from paellas and ceviches to crafted cocktails and signature adaptations by Rathbun.

The 200-seat, two-story space will feature a downstairs dining room, a large bar, and an outdoor patio. Upstairs, plans call for a secondary bar, a private dining room, a patio, and an expansive balcony patio, offering views of the city's skyline and of the Margaret Hunt Hill and Margaret McDermott bridges.

While the upstairs space will be available for private events, the owners intend for it to operate primarily as an organic extension of the main restaurant. The buildout will include a guest elevator along with ample parking, including both self-parking and valet options.

The team says the restaurant will have have an aesthetic that's “warm, theatrical, generous, elegant but alive, with the energy of a great Spanish tapas bar and the soul of Peruvian hospitality.”

Ulloa’s plans to launch with dinner service first, followed by lunch and weekend brunch.

restaurants bars peruvian flavors west dallas oak cliff kent rathbun

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Where to eat in Dallas right now: 9 hottest new dessert destinations

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