New Eats

5 new high-profile Dallas restaurant openings happening right now

Meet Dallas' Best New Restaurant, Georgie by Curtis Stone.

Photo courtesy of Georgie by Curtis Stone

Stories about restaurant openings are our bread and butter at CultureMap. We post them all the time.

But sometimes a restaurant emerges as something more bold-faced than the usual debut. When five emerge simultaneously, that can only mean one thing: roundup.

For a variety of reasons, these restaurants all seem destined to blaze brightly as 2019 comes to a close, and give our local dining scene a little pop.

If you like to keep up with buzzy eateries, then this is your list:

The Biscuit Bar
This is the third location of this local biscuit chain, and in any other circumstance, a third location of anything would not make a vaunted list like this. However, the address makes this Biscuit Bar list-worthy: It's opening in Deep Ellum at 2550 Pacific Ave., part of The Epic, the mixed-use project combining office, residential, and boutique hotel. (Which will also, as of now anyway, serve as regional headquarters for Uber.)

All Biscuit Bars serve breakfast, lunch, dinner, and late night, but the Deep Ellum location will have even later late-night hours. Another good reason this is on the list is timeliness: They're hosting a Grand Opening party on Thursday, November 21 from 8-11 pm. Go for the biscuits and tots, stay for the special-event discounted $3 cocktails.

Commons Club
The date draws near for the opening of this new restaurant at the Virgin Hotels Dallas. It's the hotel's "all-day" eatery, open for breakfast-lunch-and-dinner, with a concept/menu/what-have-you called The Kitchen by Matt McCallister.

It has a French-meets-Texan theme, with large-format dishes cooked via live fire in a charcoal-burning oven or wood-fired rotisserie. Dishes include grouper, rotisserie chicken, scallops, tuna & beet crudo, and A Bar N Ranch black pepper-crusted Wagyu ribeye roast, served family-style with pumpernickel rolls.

The opening date is currently targeted as December 15, and with McCallister on board, it'll only be a matter of weeks after that before the predictably gushing review from the Dallas Morning News comes along.

Desert Racer
Chef Nick Badovinus likes to keep things close to the vest and on the down-low, but it's pretty much any day now for this casual cantina, opening in the former Haymaker space on Lower Greenville.

Badovinus, whose other restaurants include Neighborhood Services, Town Hearth, Montlake Cut, Off Site Kitchen, and Perfect Union Pizza, draws his inspiration for Desert Racer from the Baja 1000, the rogue desert racing event held on Mexico's Baja California peninsula since 1967. Think beer, seafood, margaritas, Southwestern- and Baja-inspired cuisine, featuring a live-fire/smoke method of cooking.

The restaurant has a phone number. Help wanted ads have been up for a few weeks. Tick tick tick.

Georgie By Curtis Stone
New restaurant in the Knox District, in the former Villa-O space, comes with the surprise participation of celebrity chef Curtis Stone, as a kind of spinoff of Gwen, a Hollywood butcher shop and restaurant he opened with his brother Luke in 2016.

The menu features Australian Blackmore wagyu, caviar with red wheat blini and crème fraiche, hot smoked salmon, and black cod. A separate bar menu will serve snacks such as beer-braised chicken and fish & chips.

The restaurant is a collaboration between the two brothers and Stephan Courseau, their Dallas-based partner and owner of nearby restaurants Le Bilboquet and Up on Knox. Their website still says "coming soon" but they've already hosted "friends and family" events before opening on November 18, and they're open for Thanksgiving.

Terry Black's Barbecue
BBQ restaurant newly opened in Deep Ellum comes with sterling Central Texas BBQ cred: Brothers Mark and Michael Black have family ties to Terry Black's Barbecue in Austin, Black's Barbecue in Lockhart, and famed Smitty's Market.

They're doing all of the BBQ basics: brisket, chopped beef, pork ribs, sausage, turkey, and their signature beef ribs. In true Central Texas style, the meat is sold by the pound, although you can also get your meat in a sandwich form.

Sides include potato salad, coleslaw, beans, green beans, Mexican rice, mac & cheese, and creamed corn. And like any barbecue restaurant post-BBQ Snob, they have his favorite dessert, banana pudding. Must have pudding for Daniel.

The restaurant opened on November 21 at 3025 Main St., in the former Comedy House space (who were forced to move) and they're also practically across the street from Pecan Lodge. Brass ones!

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What Just Opened

Crazy wave of Dallas restaurants and bars have all just opened

Courtesy

1519 Main St.

The Dallas hospitality scene almost never sleeps and right now it's pulling an all-nighter, with a big slate of fresh openings, all of which have debuted within the past days, give or take.

Everyone's hustling to get their doors open in time for the holidays, and these establishments have all made it happen: From a cosmopolitan new lounge in downtown Dallas to a modern Asian restaurant in Plano to a bountiful AYCE Chinese seafood spot in Richardson, there's something here to pique everyone's interest and appetite.

1519 Main
Spectacular lounge is now open in downtown Dallas at 1519 Main St., in a nearly century-old building across from the Joule Dallas hotel where it's serving up stellar drinks in a space that's both cosmopolitan and low-key. The bar is from Hospitality Alliance, the company led by restaurant wunderkind Kevin Lillis, who helped create the original AT&T Discovery District. It's a stunning space with many original features like rose-and-cream marble floors from the 1920s and brick walls with signage from prior businesses in the space, dating back decades. The menu has cocktails from Brian Van Flandern, who oversaw the program at Per Se, The Carlyle Hotel, The Plaza Hotel, and Palm Court restaurant, and also has a homage menu featuring recipes from some of the most impactful but now closed cocktail lounges in the country. They're open Thursday-Saturday from 5 pm-12 am.

Centrale Italia
New concept from veteran restaurateur Patrick Colombo (Cru Wine Bar, Princi Italia) opened in November at Preston Hollow Village at Walnut Hill Lane and US-75 with Neapolitan style pizza, pastas, and gelato made in-house. They're debuting brunch on Sunday December 7 and lunch on Monday December 8, with a menu that includes spicy meatball sub, chicken parm on toasted ciabatta, and a parmesan garlic cheeseburger with Wagyu beef and arugula. Salads include Little Gem Caesar, chopped salad with salami, prosciutto, and soppressata, and an Italian Cobb salad with chicken, Romaine, radicchio, avocado, beets, prosciutto, eggs, and Campari tomato in a creamy gorgonzola.

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon
Restaurant in Richardson which just opened in the former Maxim's space is an all-you-can-eat sushi/seafood buffet featuring a daily rotating menu with 300-plus items from various Asian cuisines. There are oysters, crab legs, lobster, sushi bar, ramen bar, dumplings bar, skewers bar, noodles, stir-fries, and Chinese dishes both Cantonese and Sichuan, such as spicy boiled beef and kung pao chicken. Plus dim sum and desserts such as precision-cut layer cakes and a chocolate fondue station where you can dip strawberries and other fruit. The price is $20 at lunch, $30 at dinner on weeknighs, and $35 all weekend long. (The lobster and crab are available at dinner and weekends only, not at lunch.)

Jashan
Ambitious new Indian restaurant with a one-of-a-kind menu offering has opened at Plano's Legacy North with a chef team who are bringing flavors from cities and regions across India, from Dehli's fried potato tikkis to pepper chicken from the south. For those seeking something truly unique, they offer a Dil Se menu — an omakase-style tasting, available in 7- or 13-course versions, featuring a procession of these flavors, letting guests discover the stories of these cities in one visit.

La Stella Italian Steakhouse
Stupendous Italian restaurant just opened at a storied North Dallas address at 14655 Dallas Pkwy. in the former Lawry's space, where it stands as a bigger, grander spinoff of its sibling La Stella Cucina, the Italian restaurant in Dallas' Design District. The menu is an expanded version of the original: combining Italian seafood and a chophouse, plus an accompanying music lounge for live entertainment.

LuLu Modern Chinese
Glamorous new Asian restaurant just opened in Plano at 3310 Dallas Pkwy. #121, with a goal is to bring an authentic and modern Chinese American dining experience. The menu features classics like Peking duck, xiao long bao (soup dumplings), and seafood executed with spices and recipes from various regions of China — from Shanghai to the Pan Asian continent. The 4,300-square-foot space features a subtle lounge theme — a place you can dine or grab tequila shots over a soundtrack of '90s hip-hop and pop, plus craft cocktails, and a serious collection of sake and wine — not what you'd typically find at a Chinese restaurant.

Mendocino Farms
California chain known for creative sandwiches, salads, soups, and other healthy fare, has opened its newest DFW-area location — the sixth — at NorthPark Center, joining Addison, downtown Dallas, Plano, Preston Hollow, and Dallas' West Village. With its casual but upscale menu, featuring staples such as the Chicken & Hummus Crunch Wrap — as well as seasonal offerings like the November to Remember sandwich with turkey, mozzarella, mushroom & turkey sausage stuffing, spicy cranberry chutney, and Romaine on toasted cranberry walnut wheat bread — NorthPark seems like a perfect fit.

Old Ferry Donut
Doughnut shop chain from Korea entered the U.S. in 2023, with five locations in California. Now they've made their Texas debut in Carrollton at 2225 Old Denton Rd. #215, Their doughnuts are unique with a slightly chewier, more bready texture than the fluffy texture of a Krispy Kreme, and not as sweet as traditional American doughnuts. Many have fillings, made from premium ingredients. The menu includes old-school flavors such as Boston Cream, Original Glaze, and Cinnamon Sugar — but also new-school flavors like White Chocolate Sesame, Earl Gray, and Matcha Cream.

Roots Chicken Shak
Fried chicken restaurant concept from celebrity chef Tiffany Derry just opened a location at 3748 Belt Line Rd. #118, in a former Einstein's Bagels on the southeast corner of Marsh Lane. There are chicken wings, tenders, nuggets, and sandwiches on sweet potato buns. Derry opened the first Roots Chicken Shack at Plano's Legacy Food Hall in 2017, but this Addison location is owned by franchisees.

Yearby’s Barbecue & Waterice
Halal BBQ spot which originated in Pilot Point is in soft opening mode at a new second location in Plano at 3201 Alma Dr., just west of US-75, where they'll be open from 11 am–3 pm or sell out. There's likely to be a line, because BBQ places like to have a line, but also because the Yearby's in Pilot Point made Texas Monthly's 50 Best BBQ list for 2025.

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