Pizza News

New fusion pizzeria in Richardson has pizzas unlike any other in Dallas

Mmmm this pizza looks really good.

Courtesy of Far East

An innovative new pizzeria with an Indian twist has opened in Richardson. Called Far East Pizza Co., it's a takeout-only concept located at 1500 N. Greenville Ave., #110, on the ground floor of the Collins Crossing office building.

Created by owner-chef Nidhi Mittal in partnership with vegan chef Troy Gardner, Far East represents a fabulous mix-up of cuisines: American-Italian food made with Mediterranean and Indian influences. They do pizzas on a choice of naan or flatbread, plus sandwiches and desserts.

Mittal and her husband run La Cuisine Cafe, a little deli inside the building that previously serviced tenants. When traffic declined in the wake of the pandemic, Mittal reached out to Gardner (TLC Vegan Kitchen) and together they crafted a menu blending her favorite Indian recipes and American Italian dishes.

"It combines the bold Chandigarh flavors of cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon found in chef Nidhi's Indian home cooking, combined with the roasted tomatoes and basil you find in Italian cuisine," Gardner says.

Pizzas run from halal beef pepperoni to chicken tikka masala pizza; there are also pastas with ancient Indian spices, and sandwiches served on fluffy naan bread with house-made plantain chips.

Pizzas comes in two sizes in varieties such as:

Butter Chicken Pizza with chicken, creamy yellow sauce, Indian spices, mozzarella, and Thai basil
Butter Paneer Pizza like a veggie version of the chicken with roasted paneer, creamy yellow sauce, Indian spices, mozzarella, and Thai basil
Tikka Tikka Time Pizza, with chicken, mild southeast Indian curry, mozzarella, red onion, and Thai Basil
Far East Veggie spectacular, with Far East Pesto, paneer, cauliflower, red onion, cremini mushrooms, pear tomatoes, Far East pesto, and Thai basil
Kozy Kofta Comfort Pizza, with house-made kofta (Indian falafel), tomato sauce, mozzarella, pear tomatoes, and Thai basil
Sausage & Pepperoni, with beef sausage, beef pepperoni, tomato sauce, mozzarella, & Thai basil

There's also a build-your-own pizza option with choice of naan or flat bread.

Sandwiches come in full and half sizes and also feature a fun Indian twist, such as the Chicken Seekh Meatball Sandwich with Far East tomato sauce, chicken meatballs, plus mozzarella and asiago cheese; and The Grilled Cheesiest, a refreshing twist on a grilled cheese with mozzarella, asiago, spinach, and tomatoes, grilled inside naan bread.

The Ultimate Delhi Sandwich has beef pepperoni, shaved turkey, turkey bacon, olive tapenade, pesto, tomatoes, and mozzarella.

There are salads in two sizes, regular and family:

Hello Dahli has Romaine, lentils, pickled onions, chicken, pear tomatoes, and paneer in pesto dressing
Auntie Pasta Salad with penne pasta, beef pepperoni, mozzarella, pickled onions, pear tomatoes, baby spinach, Thai basil, and asiago cheese in turmeric vinaigrette
Far East Caesar Salad, with Romaine, asiago, and naan croutons in a house-made Caesar dressing with a hint of turmeric

Pastas pull from some of the same ingredients as the pizzas, such as the Butter Paneer Pasta with rigatoni in a yellow curry Alfredo sauce. There's also a veggie-centric Pasta Primadonna with rigatoni, red bell peppers, baby spinach, garlic, red onion, cremini mushrooms, pear tomatoes, Thai basil, and asiago cheese.

Desserts include a Indian rice custard, lightly sweet, with a hint of saffron, topped with sliced almonds; you can also get that custard layered with a fudge brownie in a dessert called the Fudge Brownie Kashmir Cup.

Far East is a delivery and pick-up only location, available through their website at www.fareastpizza.com or via third party delivery services like DoorDash and UberEats. Food can be ordered online at any day and time and then scheduled for pick-up for another day or time during their business hours.

pizza

Uptown News

Canadian upscale restaurant Joey to open location in Uptown Dallas

Joey Dallas

Steak and sushi at Joey Dallas

An upscale restaurant chain from Canada is coming to Uptown Dallas. Joey, the chain known for its global food and art-lined walls, is opening a location at 2508 Maple Ave., next door to the Old Warsaw.

According to a spokesperson, the restaurant will open in September. If all goes according to plan, they will soft-open with limited hours over Labor Day weekend, then celebrate a grand opening on September 10.

"Joey Maple will offer a unique culinary journey and exceptional mixology, led by Executive Chef and Top Chef Canada winner Matthew Stowe; Bar Development Leader Jay Jones, a Restaurant Hall of Fame inductee; and Group Sommelier Jason Yamasaki," their statement says.

Joey Restaurants is a "premium casual" restaurant group founded in 1992 in Calgary by Jeff Fuller, who came from a restaurant family. He started Joey out as a pasta place but the concept has since evolved into a globally-themed concept with fusion dishes such as truffle udon carbonara.

There are now 36 locations in various Canadian cities plus Seattle, California, Miami, and Houston, where it opened at the Galleria in 2021. Joey Restaurant Group also encompasses a sports bar-gastropub concept called Local Public Eatery, which opened a location in Dallas at 2323 Henderson Ave. in 2024.

Food
The menu at Joey features "a fusion of flavors," including fire-torched sushi, steak, bowls, tacos, and burgers. Signature dishes include top sirloin steak with their "famous" fully loaded crispy mashed potatoes (which are actually mashed potatoes with garlic, cheese, and green onions wrapped in a spring roll and fried); plus hummus, seared salmon sushi, and sake-glazed sea bass.

Joey crispy mashed potatoes Crispy mashed potatoes at Joey.Photo courtesy of Joey

There are: Japanese pork dumplings, Korean fried cauliflower, fajitas, and lobster spaghetti with prawns, shallots, and cherry tomatoes in a lobster-lemon butter sauce. There's a tuna poke bowl and a tofu bowl with Korean chili spiced tofu, wontons, coconut jasmine rice, and green papaya slaw in carrot miso dressing. There's sushi including a sushi cone with tempura shrimp.

The bar menu has beer on tap and a wine list featuring notable by-the-glass selections such as Taittinger Champagne and Pahlmeyer Chardonnay from Napa Valley ($50 per glass, but it's an iconic wine). Cocktails include not one but three spritzes — Aperol, Rosé, and Hugo with St. Germain — plus martinis, margaritas, and slush cocktails like frozen Irish coffee.

Location
This will be the second Joey in Dallas and will be a stand-alone location; the first opened at NorthPark Center, in the former Seasons 52 space, in January 2024. According to their statement, the warm reception they've received in Dallas convinced them to expand.

Every Joey is custom built to match its surroundings, often from the ground up, and no two restaurants are alike. The restaurant is going into a space that was previously home to a restaurant called Crab House, and before that Sisu, a bar with the pool, and before that, Matthew Trent Jewelry. It'll feature a "thoughtfully curated" art collection — a Joey trademark — as well as a private dining space. Other details on the space are still to come.

Is it deliberate or merely kismet that they landed on Maple Avenue, given the fact that the maple is Canada's national tree, and that Canada is frequently called "The Land of Maple," and the maple leaf is their national symbol as well as the central image on their national flag?

It'll be neighbors with another Canadian import: Moxie's, the casual concept founded in Canada and co-owned by Dallas Stars proprietor Tom Gaglardi, which opened across the street at 100 Crescent Court in 2016.

Maple Avenue is becoming Dallas' buzziest street, with openings such as Elephanté, the Italian restaurant opening at the 23Springs office tower in September, joining already-buzzy restaurants such as Catch Dallas, the Houston seafood chain which opened at the Maple Terrace development in 2024, and Uchi Dallas, a Maple Avenue pioneer that opened in 2015 — all teed up to feed the traders at The New York Stock Exchange Texas opening at 3819 Maple Ave. just a mile down the road.

uptown openings