Editor's note: As the year comes to a close, we look back at the 10 most popular restaurant and bar stories of 2017. These are the openings and closings that Dallas readers gobbled up, all from CultureMap dining editor Teresa Gubbins.
1. Aggie chicken restaurant chain gives the fingers to Dallas. The DFW arrival of Layne's Chicken Fingers answers Dallas' prayers for more chicken. The baby chain from College Station is opening its first area location in Allen, at 102 Central Expy., in a former Pollo Tropical space at the southwest corner of McDermott Drive.
2. Storied Dallas Tex-Mex restaurant finds new home in McKinney. A Tex-Mex restaurant that closed its only branch in Dallas began anew in McKinney. El Corazon de Tejas, late of Oak Cliff, has a new location at 1222 N. Central Expy. in a former El Chico's.
3. New dumpling restaurant in Good 2 Go Taco spot says hello East Dallas. Hello Dumpling, an Asian restaurant specializing in dumplings, with an adjoining tea salon, opened in Good 2 Go Taco's former East Dallas location. Owner June Chow is a second-generation Chinese-American who grew up in the Northeast in a family that owned restaurants.
4. Veteran Dallas restaurateur returns to Tex-Mex with new neighborhood eatery. A new Mexican restaurant in Old Lake Highlands marks a return to Tex-Mex from a well-versed vet. Called El Vecino, the restaurant comes from John McBride, great-grandson of Mike Martinez, who co-founded the El Fenix chain. It opened in the White Rock Center, formerly Lake Highlands Village, at the corner of Buckner Boulevard and Northcliff Drive.
5. Ambitious party bar from Houston flees its Dallas roost. After a somewhat tumultuous tenure, Little Woodrow's, the Houston import that opened in September 2016, closed its branch in Dallas in May.
6. Downtown Dallas finally scores the grocery store it has long craved. Downtown Dallas finally nets the grocery store it has long craved, and it's a humdinger: Austin-based Royal Blue Grocery will open not one but two stores, both inside the Central Business District. The two stores will be located at the Mercantile Place building at 1704 Main St., and at the Trammell Crow Center at 2001 Ross Ave., which is currently undergoing a multimillion-dollar makeover.
7. One of Dallas' most elegant Southern restaurants has closed for now. One of Dallas' most elegant Southern restaurants, Sissy's Southern Kitchen and Bar, has closed, possibly temporarily, maybe for good. The restaurant shut down in early September, due to what owner Lisa Garza-Selcer says are issues with the building.
8. Dallas restaurant snaps up Little Woodrow's cool Ross Avenue space. Unsurprisingly, the killer space at 3300 Ross Ave. that was vacated by Little Woodrow's was quickly snagged by a new tenant. Called Ross & Hall, it's a neighborhood restaurant and beer garden from the folks who own State & Allen, Nodding Donkey, and Social Pie.
9. Greenville Avenue seafood institution pulls up anchor. In what can only be called the end of an era, the original Daddy Jack's on Greenville Avenue closed in May. Its closure came on the heels of similar news about the Crown & the Harp next door, which also closed, due to the building being sold.
10. Luck runs out for longtime Uptown Dallas Irish pub. Longtime Irish pub that opened long before Uptown Dallas became Uptown Dallas is closing. After 13 years, The Idle Rich Pub will close in January 2018, giving pub fans just a little more time to attend the wake.
College Station chicken fingers are coming to DFW.
Vandalay Companies' Hunter Pond and Rick Dunlap flank Bob Sambol.Photo by Samantha Marie Photography 