News You Can Eat

Get your pizza tossed and sauced and more Dallas restaurant news

Every Dallas restaurant news roundup should come with pizza.

Tossed & Sauced

This roundup of Dallas restaurant news comes loaded with pizza, plus coffee, ice cream, and wine. There's also items fit for your New Year's resolution, including an exciting new vegan option that'll be available in January.

Here's what's happening in Dallas dining news:

Tossed and Sauced is the name of a new restaurant-within-a-restaurant, serving pizza and pasta in old downtown Plano. It's a little side project of Twisted Root Burger, which opened in November in the former Hub Streat space at 1212 E. 14th St. — a space that came with a wood-fired oven, which they decided to exploit. The menu includes pepperoni, veggie, vodka sausage, BBQ chicken jalapeno, margherita, and a blanco with garlic, arugula, and four cheeses. Prices are $15 to $17. There are three pastas including Alfredo with rosemary garlic chicken, and three salads including a Cobb.

Pizza Factory has opened its first Texas restaurant in Fate. Pizza Factory was founded more than 30 years ago in Oakhurst, California, near Yosemite National Park. There are now more than 100 locations, in California, Nevada and Arizona, although they maintain a hometown pizzeria ambience. They've opened an "Express" model at 131 E Fate Main Pl. in downtown Fate with a menu that includes hand-tossed pizza, pasta, wings, sandwiches, salads, beer, and wine.

Charleys Philly Steaks, a chain specializing in Philly cheesesteaks, loaded fries, and lemonade, has opened its first location in Plano at 2300 14th St. #30, near Jupiter Road. The chain has more than 600 locations in the U.S. including Garland, Frisco, and Grapevine.

Auntie Anne's, a pretzel shop chain, plans to open two locations at Six Flags over Texas in Arlington — the first locations within a Six Flags park.

PJ's Coffee will celebrate a grand reopening of its store in McKinney in New Orleans style with a Mardi Gras theme on Thursday January 13 from 4-6 pm. The store has a new owner: McKinney resident and franchisee Donna Bush, who was born and raised in New Orleans. "PJ's Coffee was always a local favorite," Bush says. "When I saw the opportunity to take over the location in my community, I jumped at the chance." The location originally opened December 2020 and features an indoor café and drive thru.

Roots Market & Juicery is introducing a new meal kit menu beginning in January, available at the Fitzhugh location 4164 N. Central Expy. Meals include creative vegan options like shepherd’s pie made with Beyond Meat and sweet potatoes, lentil curry Beyond Meat meatballs with rice, and plant-based alfredo pasta. You get five days of plant-based meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, plus a snack, for $175 a week. Roots is also offering Juice Cleanses in three levels tailored to your health and fitness level.

Cowboy Chicken is highlighting health-conscious options for New Year's including a Keto Green Bowl with chicken breast, broccoli, green beans, kale, chicken cracklins, and crispy fried kale mix with chipotle ranch; a Veggie Plate with three sides such as green beans, sweet potato, roasted broccoli, Mexican street corn, and garden salad; and a medley of salads such as the Monterrey with chicken and avocado, the Southwest with chicken, ranchero beans, and corn, and the Durango Bowl with chicken, ranchero beans, and Spanish rice.

Cotton Patch Cafe has brought back its New Year's Black Eyed Peas at a great deal: special offer includes Cotton Patch Cafe’s famous Black Eyed Peas and Cabbage for $1.22, a price commemorating the new year, and will be available December 31-January 2 online, dine-in or on the Cotton Patch Cafe app.

Blaze Pizza is offering Primal Kitchen's Ranch Dressing, made with avocado oil, from January 5-16, at 28 select locations in seven of the country's largest markets and that includes Dallas-Fort Worth. Also Atlanta Boston, Chicago, Orlando, Los Angeles, and New York. We are so cool to be in this select group of markets who can get ranch dressing at Blaze. The Dallas locations include Dallas, Grand Prairie, Irving, Mesquite, Richardson, and Rowlett.

Ocean Prime Dallas is highlighting its signature Berries & Bubbles cocktail for New Year's sipping. It features Belvedere Citrus Vodka, marinated blackberries, fresh lemon, Domaine Chandon Brut and dry ice smoke for that shock & awe. Berries & Bubbles is also available as a take-home cocktail kit.

Cream + Sugar, an artisanal ice cream brand from Jackson Hole, Wyoming is now being sold at Central Market stores. Pints come in six flavors: Vanilla, Mint Chocolate Chip, Salted Caramel, Chocolate, Cookies & Cream, Huckleberry. They also have adorable little ice cream sandwiches in six flavors: Vanilla, Mint Chocolate Chip, Salted Caramel, and Huckleberry, plus 2 seasonal: Pumpkin and Peppermint. A release calls the ice cream sandwiches the perfect guilt-free indulgence since they’re the size of a silver dollar. As if you're just going to eat one, LOL.

Josh Cellars, the official wine of the Dallas Cowboys, has launched a Special Edition Chardonnay, designed by Dallas Cowboys Chief Brand Officer and Executive Vice President Charlotte Jones and Josh Cellars Founder Joseph Carr. Representative of a classic California Chardonnay, the wine is described as having notes of juicy yellow peaches, caramel apples, and crème brulée, soft and silky, with a crisp, long finish.

TX Whiskey based in Fort Worth has launched TX Blended Straight Bourbon Whiskey, the third expression in its TX Experimental Series; previous releases from the series include TX Experimental Rye and TX High Rye Texas Straight Bourbon. So many TXs. This one is a 100-proof blend with a four-year Rye Bourbon finished in Cabernet Sauvignon wine barrels for an additional three years; four-year Wheated Bourbon finished in a new char oak barrel double oaked for two years; and a two-year Wheated Bourbon finished in a maple smoked, new char oak barrel. Only 1000 bottles will be available for purchase for $40 at Whiskey Ranch, limited to two per customer in a 30-day period.

news-you-can-eat lists

Eco Warrior News

Dallas restaurants doing amazing little things for the environment

Southwest Airlines

Cute bamboo cup from Southwest Airlines

One unfortunate legacy left by the pandemic has been a huge increase in the use of plastics — setting back progress that was being made pre-pandemic.

Plastics are bad. They harm everything they touch: the environment, health, food security, and economies. But they're convenient, subsidized, and in some cases necessary.

Before the pandemic, a growing awareness had started to snowball regarding the negative impact of plastics, particularly plastic straws and single-use plastic containers — and it was significant enough to make the plastics industry very nervous.

"In the two years leading up to the pandemic, the public backlash against plastic was a major concern for industry leaders," says a story about plastics and the pandemic in The Guardian. "As a corporate executive remarked during an industry event early in 2019: 'We need to get the image of plastic in oceans out of the public’s mind. Otherwise, we could lose our social license to operate.'"

But then the pandemic came along, igniting mass hysteria about contagion, and suddenly, bans on single-use plastics that had been in the works were reversed in countries around the world: North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia.

“Overnight, plastics went from public enemy No. 1 to consumers asking for everything to have as much packaging as possible and to be single use," said one gleeful analyst for Shell Oil, who are a major plastics player.

The urgency of the plastics situation remains invisible to most people, lined up at the drive-thru for their coffee or Chick-Fil-A, piling up nearly 250 pounds of plastic waste every year. (That's what the average American amasses — more than any other country.)

But there are brave, pro-environment efforts being made by Dallas companies and organizations, big and small.

La Casita Bakeshop cup Revolutionary compostable cup at La Casita Bakeshop.Facebook

Dallas efforts
The Dallas restaurants and organizations listed below have taken steps to fight waste, even though it costs them money.

Plastic Free Lunch Day is November 22
Dallas ISD’s Food and Child Nutrition Services will participate in Plastic Free Lunch Day on November 22, to help reduce the amount of single-use plastic in school cafeterias.

Plastic Free Lunch Day was started by middle school students in Brooklyn. The initiative was such a success that it was adopted by all New York City public schools in 2022. The concept has since spread to public schools across the country — including Dallas ISD, which was the first in Texas to participate, when it joined up in 2022.

It creates an opportunity to educate students and the community on ways to positively impact the environment, including skipping plastic. Dallas school cafeterias will replace the plastic items they regularly use during lunch with biodegradable alternatives. (Plastic cutlery, cups, and straws will be available upon request for the crybabies.)

Southwest Airlines bamboo cup
Southwest Airlines Co., the Dallas-based airline, has introduced a new bamboo cup for inflight cold beverages, and a wood stir stick in place of a plastic stick. The airline expects the new items to reduce its inflight single-use plastics by more than 1.5 million pounds annually.

In July 2024, Southwest transitioned to a paper overwrap for its napkins made from 100 percent post-consumer recycled materials — fully eliminating plastic from this service item. The airline is making an effort to eliminate single-use plastics from inflight service by 2030.

La Casita Bakeshop compostable cups
La Casita Bakeshop, the award-winning bakery and cafe operation, recently debuted fabulous new cups that are 100 percent compostable, soil- and marine-biodegradable, breaking down naturally after 90 days. and are made from natural materials.

"We are always trying to find ways to be more environmentally friendly and this is a big way we can," they said in their post announcing the new cups. "We just want to be proud of our paper trail and being a restaurant it's hard to do that."

Smoothie King biodegrable cups
Smoothie King, the Dallas-based smoothie chain, previously used styrofoam cups, but began testing a biodegradable cup in 2019. They now offer it as the default choice. They're using Vio Foam, specially made cups that biodegrade 92 percent in four years. They'll still accommodate whiny selfish customers who insist on getting a plastic cup instead, but their Vio foam cup not only helps the environment, it also keeps their smoothies cold a little longer.

Kate Weiser Recycle Box Program
Kate Weiser, the Dallas chocolatier, sells its gorgeous eye-catching bon-bons in a variety of boxes, from 4 pieces all the way up to 35 pieces. (OK, they'll sell them individually, too, but who goes to a chocolate shop and buys a single chocolate?) They have a program where you can bring your empty box to the store and get a refill and get 5 percent off. (Weiser amusingly calls it a "secret hack.")

Dude Sweet Chocolate freezer packaging
Dude Sweet Chocolate, the Oak Cliff chocolatier, has a next-level campaign in which they will accept cold-ship packaging you've received in the mail and re-use it. Say, for example, that you ordered an 8-pack of ice cream pints from Double Rainbow in San Francisco, and it arrived in a box with freezer packs and a foil liner. You can drop that packaging off at Dude Sweet's factory location at 1340 Inwood Rd., and they'll re-use it in one way or another when they're doing shipments of their chocolate.

Note: Whether you're putting it in the blue bin or the gray bin, your plastic is not being recycled. The best course when it comes to plastic, especially single-use plastic, is to not use it at all.

sustainability