News You Can Eat

Restaurants buff up winter menus and more Dallas dining bites

Two new bakeries are on the way, while two new chefs are making their mark in local kitchens. There are new restaurants in Oak Lawn and Oak Cliff, and new menus all over.

Here's our summary of the top Dallas dining news:

A San Antonio bakery and lunch spot called Bird Bakery is expanding to Dallas. It will open its second location in Highland Park Village in spring 2016, with a lineup of goods that is reminiscent of Celebrity, which is leaving in early 2016 for the Shops of Highland Park. Bird does sandwiches, quiche, coffee, tea, hot chocolate, pies, cupcakes, lemon squares, muffins, seasonal decorated cookies, gingerbread men, Mexican hot chocolate brownies, and gluten-free treats as well.

Kitchen LTO, the incubator restaurant concept at Trinity Groves, is soliciting chef and artist applications for its sixth-round pop-up restaurant. This marks the third year of permanent pop-ups at Kitchen LTO. The rotation will last six months. Applications must be received by December 31. Finalists will be introduced at a voting party on January 31. Voting ends on February 3, and the winners announced by February 5. Current chef Anastacia Quinones' last day is February 28. The new concept re-opens on March 2. To download an application, visit KitchenLTO.com or email contact@kitchenlto.com.

Sundown at Granada has a new executive chef: Jason West, the former executive chef at Steel, who has 17 years of culinary experience. He's introducing a menu featuring 15 new and original items such as brisket and pork meatballs with marinara and toast points; flatbread with brisket, cheddar, and barbecue sauce; and shrimp and grits with cheddar, bacon, and kale. New desserts include a vegan chocolate brownie with house-made vegan dulce de leche ice cream and salted coconut caramel swirl; and apple crumble with toasted granola and vegan ice cream.

R Taco has opened its new location in Dallas at 3604 Oak Lawn Ave., in the former Snookie's Bar & Grill, which closed in May after 26 years. R Taco is the new name for Rusty Taco, named for Rusty Fenton, who founded the chain in 2010. Guests who stop by on December 14 receive one free taco if they are a fan or follower of R Taco on social media.

Society Bakery will open a third location in March 2016 at Preston-Royal Shopping Center in what used to be the Creme de la Cookie space. They'll serve their most popular sweets and a selection of savory items, including pimento cheese, available to go or on a sandwich or toast. They've also launched a select savory menu of $5 to $6 sandwiches at their Medical City location: pimento cheese slider, pimento cheese croissant, cranberry chicken almond slider, cranberry chicken almond croissant, and a spinach Swiss quiche.

Jed's Grill in Oak Cliff is now open. This is the restaurant at 1001 W. Jefferson Blvd. from Jonathan Kovens and his mother Esther Gallegos in the short-lived Fish restaurant, and previously home to Mexican restaurants such as Los Herrera Cafe. They're doing classic American dishes with a twist, such as meatballs, tater tots with Shiner cheese sauce, and a battered chicken sandwich. They'll be open 8 am-9 pm every day.

PDQ, a fast casual chicken chain from Florida, opened its third restaurant in the Dallas area in Plano, at 1151 Preston Rd., at the intersection of Plano Parkway; the other two branches are in Frisco and Murphy. PDQ does chicken tenders, fries, and milkshakes. This is their 50th branch.

Hooters remodeled its Irving location at 2522 North Beltline Rd. with revamped high back chairs and booths, sleek finishes, and top-of-the-line AV packages. A centrally located bar area offers a wider selection of cocktails and craft beers.

Max's Wine Dive Dallas has a new chef with new dishes and cocktails. Chef Sean Hill grew up on a family farm in Arkansas and has worked in Dallas, Las Vegas, Minneapolis, and Kansas City. Dishes include pork belly, catfish ponchartrain, vegetarian jambalaya with crab hush puppy, and smoked salmon fettuccini with salmon smoked on site and house-made pasta. Drinks include the Puppet Master with whiskey, Drambuie, and bitters.

Ruth's Chris Steak House has a new menu with dishes such as bone-in 40-ounce tomahawk rib eye; a 16-ounce filet; 19-ounce New York strip; seafood tower with lobster, crab, and shrimp cocktail; lobster mac and cheese; and white chocolate bread pudding.

Dugg Burger is doing a "special topping week" from December 14-20, with a different comfort food topping each day. Those include mac and cheese, chili, Frito pie, mashed potatoes with gravy, and creamed corn. Those sound pretty sloppy for a burger topping, but maybe that doesn't matter.

Paul Martin's American Grill has new menu items, available until January 3, as follows: crab legs, filet mignon with mashed potatoes and spinach, lamb with mushroom farro, and egg nog with Maker's Mark bourbon and Myers's dark rum.

Cantina Laredo has new menu items including white queso with poblano peppers, spinach, and artichokes; and a chicken and tomatillo stew with red pepper, mushroom, asparagus, and queso fresco. New dinner options include pork chop and bone-in ribeye. New lunch options include tacos with spicy chicken or seasoned taco beef; chicken flautas; and mushroom relleno with cremini mushrooms, Oaxaca cheese, corn, spinach, and zucchini.

Sweet Arleen's in Plano has added two holiday items for December: a peppermint hot cocoa cupcake and candy cane bread pudding, with thin layers of candy canes baked on top, and a mint-white chocolate sauce.

Midnight Rambler has a new winter cocktail menu featuring some very precious names and ingredients. The Bobby Keys contains whiskey, cold smoked Italian vermouth with bitter, Benedictine, Amaro Dell'Erborista, and lemon zest. The Asbury Park Swizzle has white Applejack, mint, lemon, orange blossom honey, and an aromatic bitters blend. That last drink is a collaboration between Christy Pope and Chad Solomon, which makes perfect sense because there is no way just one person could have devised such a wondrous cocktail on their own.

Parliament has Dallas' first molecular cocktail program, and not a moment too soon. A gin fizz has sweet cream and gin spherification with citrus pop rocks and orange blossom air. A molecular margarita has Patron margarita spherification, salt air, and dehydrated Cointreau powder. This molecular program is the design of Parliament partner Andrew Brimecome and bar wizard Eddie "Lucky" Campbell.

Dallas-based food blog DallasFood.org has a new expose on a national chocolate maker: Mast Brothers, a Brooklyn-based company with three retail shops. Bearded brothers Rick and Michael Mast claim they've always made their own chocolate since they launched in 2007, but the report by Dallasfood.org makes it seem otherwise. The series has two entries so far, on taste and equipment, and has already caught the eye of national publications such as Grub Street. DallasFood.org made national news in 2006 with an expose of Plano chocolate company Noka, and in 2011, did a 35-part series on gianduia.

Parliament is doing molecular-style cocktails.

Parliament

Parliament is doing molecular-style cocktails.

news-you-can-eat

Revolving Doors

11 restaurants in Dallas that have either just opened or just closed

Harumama

Harumama Noodles & Buns

In the inevitable ebb and flow of Dallas restaurants, openings and closings are part of the deal — often coming at the end of the year, when restaurateurs, like the rest of us, take stock of the future.

When there is more than one opening and closure, it becomes difficult to keep track. For this reason, there are lists.

Here's a roundup of Dallas restaurant openings and closures, with the bad news first.

CLOSURES

Terra Mediterranean
Mediterranean favorite in Plano closed on December 8, almost four years to the day they opened. When restaurateur brothers Jalal Chanaa and Adam Shanaa opened it at the The Shops at Willow Bend, it was the third location of Terra, following the original in Fort Worth and another in Irving. Both of those locations have since closed, although they're planning to reopen Fort Worth soon. Meanwhile, the brothers are advising Dallas fans to head to Ali Baba, their other restaurant in Richardson, which they say has the same menu.

Yummies
Despite the confusingly quirky name, this Allen restaurant was a fast food halal restaurant featuring halal beef patties prepared fresh in-store every day, plus pita sandwiches, shawarma, and fajitas. They'd been open for seven years including enduring the pandemic, and locals liked their burgers. But they closed at the end of November.

Whistle Britches
Fried chicken & biscuits concept from chef Omar Flores quietly closed its location at 6110 Frankford Rd. in November. Queries about the what and why are going unanswered, but a recording on the location's phone says both that #1 the closure is temporary and also #2 a new concept will go in its place. This was the location featured in Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives, so closing it seems like a shoot-yourself-in-the-foot kind of move, but there are still two remaining locations open, in Plano and Southlake.

Mixtitos Kitchen
Mexican-fusion restaurant in East Dallas finally closed after two years of chef-owner Jose Luis Rodriguez bemoaning a lack of interest in his unusual menu of American, Mexican, and French dishes. He earned oodles of idiotic media attention, but the menu was a tough sell in a space that was previously home to La Acapulqueña, which served cheap Mexican food and margaritas in that space for 33 years. Changing the menu or paying his rent apparently never crossed his mind.

Barley & Board
Denton brewpub is closing after nearly 10 years. According to a post from the owners, the lease was up and they opted not to renew. B&B brought a level of cosmopolitan cool to Denton, combined with an easygoing vibe that made it a fresh addition when it was opened by a hospitality supergroup in 2015. Alas, they got pummeled by the pandemic; one chef said that "things were never the same after COVID." In 2021, they pared down the menu, although they remained a big magnet and brought lots of patrons and revenue into the Square. Their second location which they opened at Grandscape in 2018 closed in November. Denton will close on January 6.

Taco Cabana in Murphy
The Taco Cabana location at 104 FM 544 in Murphy has permanently closed. A Taco Cabana representative said that the location was not doing enough business. People of Murphy, it's on you. Fortunately, the chain has 18 other Dallas-area locations. Support your neighborhood Taco Cabana!

Harumama cutesy bunsHarumama

OPENINGS

Rodeo Cold
Yee-haw dive bar in old east Dallas at 3826 Ross Ave., in the former Eastbound & Down space, is now open. Rodeo Cold is a sibling of Green Light Social, the Austin-born nightlife venue which opened off Good Latimer Freeway in 2021 from owners Robert Dummond and Ian Fletcher, who've partnered with Ian’s brother Eric Fletcher. Their vision is a bar with a late '70s/early '80s vibe plus a little Texas Western color thrown in. They have a basic menu designed by Green Light Social Chef Luis Ayala, with American classics such as steak fingers with gravy, Texas chili, burgers, hot dogs, and Frito pies, plus nothing-too-fancy ready-to-drink cocktails.

MiYa Chinese
New Chinese restaurant is now open in Casa Linda Plaza, in the former Pei Wei space where it's doing an elevated take on Chinese cuisine, blending traditional flavors with a modern, yet cozy atmosphere. MiYa is the brainchild of David Romano, an industry veteran with 30-plus years of food and beverage experience; and brand creator and menu visionary Jia Huang, who grew up in China immersed in her family’s restaurant and has 10-plus years of experience in restaurant operations in America. They're doing classic Chinese take-out items like beef with broccoli and orange chicken, plus hand-pulled noodle dishes such as Sichuan Dan Dan with cucumber, carrot, and sesame Dan Dan sauce ranging in price from $14 to $18.

Be Home Soon
Casa Linda is on fire right now with yet another new opening, this one a place with rock-star cred that just opened in mid-November. The restaurant is from Madison King, a onetime Dallas musician-turned-chef who envisions a warm, comfortable restaurant with a full bar and menu she describes as "home cooking, no matter where you're from." They're open for lunch and dinner with a menu that includes fun appetizers, soups, salads, and sandwiches for lunch, then roll out blue plate specials for dinner.

Harumama Noodles + Buns
Small San Diego-based chain with five locations in California is known for "cute" steamed buns decorated to look chicks, pigs, cows, pandas, etc. They've opened a location in Carrollton — their first in Texas — at 1060 W. Frankford Rd. Beyond its twee appeal and Instagram value, the restaurant has a big menu featuring ramen, poke, bao buns, crab wontons, fried rice, potstickers, eggrolls, and salads.

Russo's New York Pizzeria - Frisco
Longtime pizza chain based in Houston which serves New York-style pizza has opened a new location in Frisco at 3420 Main St. #200, in a small new center near Teal Parkway. In addition to full pies, they offer pizza by the slice.

closings lists openings