Steaks for Uptown
Longtime North Dallas steakhouse heads toward new Uptown address
A date has been targeted for Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House, opening in Uptown Dallas: fall 2016. The restaurant will open at McKinney & Olive, part of a luxury, 20-story office and retail tower designed by famed architect Cesar.
Del Frisco's will be the anchor restaurant in the building, which is now under construction. When the new location opens, the longtime North Dallas location will close after more than 20 years.
The new restaurant will be two stories with indoor dining as well as an outdoor patio. Like the current location, there will be private dining spaces and large room. This restaurant will have lots of natural light let in by large windows; the downstairs bar will be the centerpiece of the restaurant. Bill Johnson Studios is the architect and designer.
The restaurant will be right down the street from a Del Frisco's Grille, but CEO Mark Mednansky says that the two will peacefully coexist.
"We don't think it cannibalizes," he says. "Double Eagle, you'll drive 10 miles to eat there. It's a destination. The Grille is more meant for people who live work and play within a 5-mile radius."
He says that one of the reasons they built Del Frisco's Grille was to serve a need for more casual dining. "We feel like they serve two different audiences," he says. "Your main guests at white tablecloth steakhouses are baby boomers, while the Grille serves a younger crowd."
The Double Eagle is also evolving.
"This new branch in Uptown will be closer to what we're doing in the rest of the country," he says. "A sleeker atmosphere, no tablecloths, with more modern items than aren't traditional steakhouse fare.
"People are eating differently. They're more engaged, they're taking pictures of their food, sharing their meals. It's become a lifestyle. We're a foodie nation."
