Opening News

The Star in Frisco reboots with 5 new restaurants and bars

Chimichurri cheeseburger at Sidecar Social in Addison

Worry not, there will be burgers. There are always burgers.

Photo courtesy of Visit Addison

The Star District — the entertainment district at the Dallas Cowboys World Headquarters and practice facility at The Star in Frisco — is debuting five new restaurants and bars that include Italian, seafood, Indian, and cocktails, opening in 2022.

The complex has not had an easy time since it unveiled its first dozen restaurants in 2016, and the pandemic has not helped.

This newest batch includes an Italian restaurant from the Lombardi family and an outdoor venue, plus new concepts and cocktail lounges from local restaurateurs.

Lombardi Cucina Italiana - 6655 Winning Drive #605
Well here's some florid press release wordage: "The atmosphere at Lombardi Cucina Italiana will remind you of an open-air villa in Italy surrounded by olive trees, Italian marble, and Venetian chandeliers."

The menu will be "authentic Italian cuisine with a modern touch," led by culinary director Alfio Longo and chef Ty Thaxton, with pastas be produced daily in an open style ‘pasta laboratorio’ — how much you wanna bet that translates into "pasta laboratory"? — plus nonpasta categories such as fish, meat, and produce.

The Glen & Monarch Stag - 6655 Winning Drive, #600
Derek and Sheree Simms of Simms Hospitality Group, which owns J. Theodore and Rare Books Bar, are debuting not one but two new concepts: a restaurant called The Glen and an adjacent scotch bar called the Monarch Stag.

The inspiration is pretty arcane: They say that it's from The Monarch of the Glen, a British painting originally commissioned in 1851 for the Palace of Westminster.

The Glen will feature "hand-pressed" craft cocktails, wine, scotch, and seafood. It will also offer "experiential layers," including aerial performing artists and entertainers. Wow-wee.

Monarch Stag will have food, live music, cigar lounge, and scotch whisky and bourbon selections from around the world.

Sidecar Social - 6770 Winning Drive
Sidecar Social is the fun outdoor concept from On Deck Concepts, founded by Brent Tipps, founder of BoomerJack’s sports bar. The first Sidecar Social debuted in Addison in August 2019. This will be the second location.

Set to open in fall 2022, it'll be a massive 15,000-square-foot space featuring craft cocktails and bites, games, karaoke, live music, TVs, and an all-season patio.

Snowbird Cocktail Lounge & Kitchen - 6765 Winning Drive, #800
Bar and hospitality experts David Nguyen and Sobe Ahmed are partnering to debut a new concept, Snowbird Cocktail Lounge and Kitchen.

They describe it as an upscale Art Deco-inspired lounge with a "tantalizing array of mixology cocktails," small bites, and music.

It is surely not named for the flock of retirees who escape the cold in the Northeast every winter and head for Florida.

Roti Grill - 3675 Gaylord Parkway, #1105
Fresh Indian food restaurant is relocating from its original location in The Star District on Winning Drive and will reopen in early 2022 on Gaylord Parkway with an updated menu and enhanced interior including a new bar, and a large storefront patio for outdoor dining.

openings

Burger News

Fun family-owned Big Mike's Bar and Grill from TV star debuts in Plano

Tommy LeBeouf

Big burger from Big Mike's in Plano

A charming family-owned restaurant with TV star ties has debuted in Plano. Called Big Mike’s Bar and Grill, it's an elevated sports bar that just opened at 3200 Alma Dr., in a former Pancho's Mexican Buffet where it's serving tasty Angus burgers and beer-battered onion rings, hand-battered in-house.

Big Mike's is from husband-and-wife Mike Cancelmi and Jennie Marie; she gained fame as the star of the 2018 TLC show Mama Medium. The couple is from Rochester, New York, but fell in love with the Dallas area with their four sons after visiting a friend in 2021.

Their signature Big Mike's burger is a biggie: a half-pound patty with cheddar, bacon, lettuce, tomato, and a fried egg on a brioche bun, served with choice of hand-cut fries, tater tots, or sweet potato fries, for $18.

They bring their Northeast influence with dishes such as a Reuben sandwich with corned beef on marble rye, and their own version of poutine, the Canadian specialty, which they make with fries, cheese curds, brown gravy, and thick-cut crumbled bacon.

One dish reflects their hometown roots: Called the Trash Plate, it's inspired by the Garbage Plate, a sloppy comfort food dish that's the unofficial signature dish of the city of Rochester.

Big Mike's version, called the Trash Plate, combines macaroni salad, home fries, and choice of hot dogs from Rochester-based Zweigle’s (which they fly in from New York), or two smash burger patties with hot sauce, mustard, and onions.

Their menu also features a few entree items like NY strip steak, their priciest item at $35, served with garlic mashed potatoes and Brussels sprouts; and chicken-fried steak with mashed potatoes and green beans for $24. Portions are abundant.

Big Mike'sBig Mike's

“I created the menu based on things I like to eat," Mike says. "Everything we make is made from scratch, the way I would do it if I was cooking for my friends."

They host weekend brunch on Saturday and Sunday until 2 pm with a cinnamon roll skillet, frittatas, avocado toast, and a hash version of the Garbage Plate with home fries, mac salad, onions, diced Zweigle's hot dogs, eggs, and meat hot sauce. There are mimosas — they have a full bar — and they also do a daily happy hour from 3-6 pm with appetizer specials and domestic beers for $3.50.

Mike's background as a former contractor can be seen in the restaurant's spiffy remodel. The space sits 270, with enough room to host events that include karaoke every Wednesday, live music during brunch, and a ticketed group psychic event where Jennie Marie draws from her TV show days, performing readings and mediumship, with food and drink.

The restaurant has a wonderful family-oriented atmosphere. Many of their employees are friends of their sons from school or ice hockey, giving the restaurant a comfortable, homey vibe.

“We try to visit every table — that personal touch is important to us," Jennie Marie says. "We want that hometown feel, get people what they want so they come back."

openings burgers

Opening News

The Star in Frisco reboots with 5 new restaurants and bars

Dallas bar High Fives will close on Henderson Avenue after 10 years

Dallas diner & music venue will open in former Ferris Wheeler space

Revered family-owned Mediterranean restaurant debuts in North Dallas

Burger News

Fun family-owned Big Mike's Bar and Grill from TV star debuts in Plano