New eateries and weekend brunch fill this serving of Dallas restaurant news

Dallas dining action is at a pre-holiday peak, with important openings, new winter menus, and more restaurants jumping on the brunch bandwagon.

These are the top stories happening in Dallas restaurant news:

Bullion, the new restaurant in downtown Dallas from chef Bruno Davaillon, is now open, with dinner hours Monday-Saturday. Weekday lunch will be added in the coming weeks. The menu consists of classic and contemporary French dishes, done lightly. Davaillon is partnered with the Mackie family, who own the building, which is the former Belo high-rise at 400 Record St. "It gives us great pleasure to be partnering with Chef Bruno on this restaurant," says Thomas Hartland-Mackie. "It is a culinary destination for Dallas residents and visitors." General manager is Victor Rojas, who has worked at some of Dallas' best restaurants, most recently Flora Street Cafe. He procured partnerships with the finest companies for service and tableware, such as Christofle, Bernardaud, Garnier-Thiebaut, and The Citizenry.

Barrel & Bones Craft Bar and Smokehouse is a newly opened restaurant at Austin Ranch, in the heart of The Colony at Windhaven and Plano Parkway, which aims to be a casual hangout for the neighborhood. "We're not a big concert venue and we're not going to compete against all the hoity-toity places up around The Star," says cofounder Mark Kelcher. "We want to be the alternative to all that hustle and bustle. Where you can get good food, a great selection of drinks and a unique atmosphere — all without the fuss of things like dress codes and valet parking."

The menu includes brisket, wings, sausage, beer-can chicken dip, and poblano corn fritters. The eatery has 200-plus bourbons and whiskey from around the state (Ranger Creek, Garrison Brothers); the country (Tennessee, Vermont, Colorado); and the globe (Canada, Scotland, India, Japan). Shots are served in mini-Mason Jars. Kelcher Entertainment Group also runs or owns The Hub and Ron's Place in Addison, District 30 and Cedars Social in Dallas, Big Shots Sports Café and Ron’s Corner Tavern in Bedford, and Delta Charlie's at Dallas Executive Airport.

Haywire, a Texas-themed restaurant from Front Burner Restaurants, is now open at 5901 Winthrop St. in Plano's Legacy West development. Similar to its sibling The Ranch at Las Colinas, Haywire features heritage recipes made modern with Texas-sourced ingredients. The atmosphere is inspired by Marfa, Texas, and is spread out over three floors, each distinct: a whiskey lounge with fireplace on the first floor; an inviting dining room on the second floor; and a rooftop patio.

Houndstooth has opened its third Dallas location at The Hill Shopping Center, at 9730 N. Central Expy., next door to the TreeHouse home store. The menu includes coffee, espresso, tea, doughnuts, pastry, and breakfast tacos from Tacodeli. The cafe resides in two little houses, one of which can be reserved by private groups with service for up to 20 people.

Hide in Deep Ellum has rolled out a new winter menu with dishes that give an upscale spin to classic comfort foods, plus 11 new cocktails. There's a grilled cheese sandwich on sourdough with triple cream brie, provolone, and white American, green apples, and bacon; pimento cheese fritters; a chicken club; pretzels and queso; and nuts and popcorn. A dish called Messy Fries has hand-cut fries with chorizo, avocado aioli, cheddar, and fresnos. New cocktails include Figgy Stardust, made with bourbon, fig, chipotle, clarified lemon, aged maple-balsamic, and allspice tincture; and one served hot that has tequila, black tea, almond, coconut, dark chocolate, cayenne, piloncillo, Aztec chocolate bitters, and sarsaparilla bitters. Two new cocktails on tap include Southern tea with bourbon, peaches, honey, and angostura; and "Yass Betch," with vodka, mint, cucumber, honeydew, and clarified lime.

Street's Fine Chicken has added weekend brunch at its Cedar Springs location, Saturday-Sunday, 10 am-4 pm. The menu includes chicken and waffles, breakfast burrito stuffed with fried chicken and scrambled egg, quiche, brioche French toast, biscuits with gravy, $3 mimosas, and $5 bloody Marys.

Mirador at Forty Five Ten is doing a special Sunday brunch through the holidays, from 12-3:30 pm. Dishes include scrambled eggs with bok choy and caviar, chicken hash, pastries, sausage, bacon, and tater tots. Drinks include gin with Pimms, a spicy tequila sunrise, and a "kimchi tomato Bloody Mary."

Pinstack, the bowling entertainment destination, has a new batch of specials from executive chef Dan Bevis for the month of December. Flavors of the season include creamy roasted apple soup, BBQ chicken potato chip nachos, and chipotle coffee-rubbed tenderloin over gorgonzola polenta. Cocktails include the holiday mule with ginger beer, maple syrup, vodka, and apple cider; and apple cider margarita with apple cider, lemon juice, and tequila.

Niwa Japanese BBQ in Deep Ellum has added brunch on weekends. The menu will change weekly and will be served Saturday-Sunday, 11 am–4 pm for groups of two and four. Hmm, what if you want to brunch solo? Brunch for two is $35 and includes wafu salad, sunomono, imo bonito, butter corn, New York steak, short rib, steamed rice, and miso soup. Brunch for four is $75 and includes horenso no goma ae, wafu salad, imo bonito, chicken karaage, garlic spinach, onions and peppers, filet mignon, skirt steak, New York steak, short rib, steamed rice, and miso soup.

TGI Fridays has a new line of extreme shakes that take dessert to the next level by amplifying the traditional milkshake with cascading toppings for an indulgent holiday treat. TGI Fridays Extreme Shakes are available in two flavors, and for an extra shot of fun, guests can order a boozy version with Smirnoff Vanilla. Toasted S'mores has vanilla ice cream, Oreo cookies, marshmallows, graham cracker, Ghirardelli chocolate sauce, and whipped cream. Stocking Stuffer has vanilla ice cream, holiday cookies, holiday Peeps, sprinkles, whipped cream, and a candy cane.

Five Sixty by Wolfgang Puck at Reunion Tower has appointed a new pastry chef, Erika Lucio. She previously worked as Spoon Bar & Kitchen, Knife, and Hubbell & Hudson Bistro in The Woodlands. She will update the menu and work with corporate pastry chef Kamel Guechida to develop new season tastes. New general manager is Ian Kostrezewski, who was previously the restaurant's former wine director. He also worked at Stephan Pyles Flora Street Cafe, Relais & Châteaux, and Il Tesoro Ristorante & Bar in New York.