Greenville Avenue Moves

Final yutzy bar on Greenville Avenue makes way for crabby restaurant

Ragin Crab on Greenville Avenue will spotlight one particular dish.

Photo courtesy of Aquabest

The transformation of Lower Greenville is nearly complete as Kush, the Mediterranean restaurant and hookah lounge at 2100 Greenville Ave., is making way for a Cajun seafood restaurant called Ragin Crab, with a hoped-for opening by the end of December.

Kush was one of the last remnants of the old lower Greenville Avenue, which emphasized bar first, with food that was only so-so. But from hereon in, it's all restaurants first, with cocktails as a side note.

Ragin Crab is from Steven Sohn, who opened the cavernous Hibashi Teppan Grill Sushi Bar near Galleria Dallas in 2009. Sohn tells The Advocate he's always liked Cajun food. Manager Steven Whitear says that the signature dish will be crab because "everybody loves crab." Is that really true? I don't love crab, and Tom Hanks didn't end up liking it too much in the movie Castaway.

The focus is on boiled crab with three flavorings: lemon pepper; garlic butter; and "ragin Cajun," a Louisiana-inspired seasoning that's "a little sweet and a little heat."

Other seafood options include blue crab, Dungeness crab, crawfish, and clams. The Louisiana theme of the menu can be seen in dishes such as gumbo and "gator nuggets." Starters include fried calamari, fried oysters, shrimp cocktail, Buffalo shrimp, and wings.

There are fried baskets with catfish, shrimp, and chicken, ranging from $10.95 to $16.50. A "boiled" category offers lobster tail; shrimp; clams; scallops; green mussels; and four kinds of crab: king, Dungeness, soft-shell, and snow.

Steamed crab comes with sausage, corn, Cajun fries, and rice. Platters for two come with combinations of sausage and seafood, plus corn, fries and rice, for $19.95 to $31.95. A family special with crab, shrimp, sausage, potato, and corn is $69.95.

In addition to fries and rice, sides include hush puppies, cole slaw, and pickled radish.

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Flour power couple

Oprah-endorsed Cookie Society rolls out 3 new Dallas-area locations

Photo courtesy of Cookie Society

Stuffed banana pudding cookies are among the rotating seasonal offerings.

There are secret societies and honor societies, but the sweetest sort of society will soon boast several new Dallas-area storefronts: Cookie Society, the wife-and-husband-owned gourmet bakery, will open at 232 W. Campbell Rd. in Richardson on November 21, and at 906 W. McDermott Dr. in Allen on December 4, a spokesperson says.

An Inwood Village store will open next year at 5560 W Lovers Ln., the website says. No date has been announced.

When Jeff and Marissa Allen opened their second Cookie Society in Addison in 2022, they spoke of plans to expand across North Texas. With Addison and the original Cookie Society in Frisco — plus Mansfield, Prosper, and Southlake — the three new stores will make eight, and the Allens do not intend to stop there. In a release, they say they are preparing to announce another location inside Dallas proper, besides Inwood Village, "very soon." (It is not yet listed on the website.)

The expansion plan may seem ambitious, but there is reason for their confidence. Back in 2020, when they had just one store struggling in the face of a global pandemic, Oprah featured their cookie Gift Crate on her famous "Oprah's Favorite Things" holiday gift list, published in the December issue of O, The Oprah Magazine.

That gave them a jumpstart, and the rest ... involved no rest but relied on the couple’s hard work and consistent production of an irresistible product.

“Before there were storefronts, there were pop ups and markets and a whole lot of hustle,” Marissa says on Instagram.

cookie society Marissa and Jeff Allen, both retired athletes, began testing recipes in their home kitchen before building their doughy empire.Courtesy photo

It started small, with Marissa, a former college soccer star, baking at home. She experimented with nostalgic flavors like banana pudding, apple pie, and frosted oatmeal. Jeff — a former NFL player with a Super Bowl ring — and his teammates tested her output.

The menu includes six year-round classic cookies — chocolate chip, salted caramel, frosted oatmeal, banana pudding, snickerdoodle, sugar — and an array of featured flavors (pumpkin white chocolate, cookie butter milkshake in November) that keep things interesting. All are described as Texas-sized (big) with a crisp edge, soft chewy insides, and bold flavors.

The couple adds on their Story page that Cookie Society is the largest Black-owned cookie brand in Texas. In addition to the numerous storefronts, they offer nationwide shipping and a monthly subscription program.

"The company has grown, but the soul of the kitchen stays the same," they add, "real butter, uncompromising ingredients, and a relentless drive to make the perfect cookie."

allen dallas jeff allen marissa allen new new stores oprah favorites richardson society stores