Fatty patty
Burgers, brunch and more burgers tip the scales of Dallas restaurant news
Just when you think that the Dallas restaurant scene could not possibly accommodate another burger place, one more opens to prove you wrong. This burger madness must end sometime. But not today.
Buffalo Bluez is a new burgeria in West Plano, at 4200 Legacy Dr., with a fixation on the letter Z: brisket is "brizket," wings are "wingz," and so on. Unique-sounding dishes include mac and cheese with brizket; a burger with Fritos; and fried jalapeño strips. Chef-owner Sean Cahill worked at the Mansion on Turtle Creek, Chop House in Fort Worth and Pappas Bros. Steakhouse.
A second DFW branch of Houston-based burger outfit Beck's Prime just opened on Greenville Avenue, not far from the glitzy BLVD complex and not so far from nearby Twisted Root. The first Beck's opened last year at Preston and Forest. According to its "about us" page, the chain arose from "a simple desire to do something special in the restaurant business." Something must have gone terribly wrong, because they ended up with burgers, fries and shakes.
Start, the burger place on Greenville that's a favorite of the Highland Park housewife set, added weekend menu items such as the brunch burger, a "breakfast-sized" (smaller?) patty with chipotle mayo, spinach and egg ($6), and the Cobb frittata with bacon, chicken, blue cheese and avocado ($7.75). Mimosas are $5.50, and Start will host live music every Sunday through April 21.
Tacos and food trucks
Torchy's Tacos opens its sixth Dallas-area location at 14760 Preston Rd. on March 14. Torchy's came to Dallas in 2010 with a branch at Preston and Forest; other locations are on SMU Boulevard, Casa Linda, Allen and Fort Worth. Be in the know and order items from this Torchy's secret menu, a fairly contrived In-N-Out-like ploy with seven items created by reassembling existing ingredients.
Fare in the Square, the weekly food truck gathering in downtown Dallas' Thanks-Giving Square, has expanded its feed times. You can now get breakfast by Gandolfo's on Wednesdays from 8 to 10 am; lunch has been extended from Wednesdays and Thursdays to Fridays as well, from 11 am to 2 pm. Participants include Ruthie's Rolling Café, Gandolfo's, So Cal Taco, Nammi, The Butcher’s Son and Cup Cakin.
Senor Locos Tex-Mex Icehouse, which takes over a former Jake's at 701 W. Parker Rd. in Plano, comes from two ex-employees of the Cristina's chain. Design firm Jones Baker did the decor, which incorporates a garage door wall that opens onto a heated patio. The bar has 13 taps. The menu has a salsa sampler, ceviche, tacos, chiles rellenos and combination plates.
Boca Chica, which just opened at the rather forlorn Shops at Park Lane, is another concept from Restaurants America, whose network is sprouting like kudzu: Park Tavern, Townhouse Kitchen, Mockingbird Taproom. Boca Chica is slightly less generic than its brethren in that it has a cuisine, sort of: "reimagined" Mexican tapas paired with tequila.
Anniversaries
Greenling, the local/organic online grocer, celebrates its first year of deliveries with a party on Thursday, March 7, at Garden Cafe, for staff, farmers, customers and other foodies. Admission is free, but you need to reserve tickets online. Founded in Austin in 2005, Greenling now has locations serving Central Texas, North Texas and Houston; each outpost sources from local farmers in those areas. The party also celebrates the release of the spring issue of Edible DFW magazine.
Canary By Gorji celebrates its 10-year anniversary by pulling out some old favorites such as cod with grapefruit and horseradish over snow peas and red cabbage, and a free portion for all of his kefir cheese butterfly dessert. Gorji is currently working on a cookbook.
After 30 years, the Denny's in Plano has been remodeled and features a new design, updated features and a reinvigorated menu, with classic diner favorites such as lasagna, flatbread appetizers and a build-your-own burger.
Open-and-close
Rosemont, the breakfast-and-lunch place opened last year by Local chef Tracy Miller, is closed.
The on-again, off-again Elbow Room on Gaston Avenue is open again.
El Padrino Taqueria at 330 W. Davis St. in Bishop Arts will move to Pleasant Grove, after getting bumped from the space by Sarah Lombardi, daughter of restaurateur Alberto Lombardi, who is plotting some concept of her own.
Private Social is calling itself P|S and has its Najat Kaanache menu posted online; dying to try the rhubarb compote-foraged fruit-homemade Nutella dessert.
The Addison branch of Dream Cafe has changed locations. It's still in the Village on the Parkway complex at 5100 Belt Line Rd., but it's now in suite 732. Its former location is being redeveloped into an AMC movie theater.
Walmart will open a Neighborhood Market at 3312 Preston Rd. in Plano. It takes over a space previously occupied by Sunflower, which closed after Sprouts bought them out; before that, it was an Albertsons. Other tenants in that center include Anamia’s Tex-Mex, Horchow Finale, Legacy Bank and Jason’s Deli.
People news
Jennifer Clair has been promoted to general manager at Komali, the Uptown Dallas restaurant owned by chef Abraham Salum. She previously served as hostess/manager and has worked with Salum since 2005.
Jeff Gregoryhas been hired as GM at FT33, to replace Ryan Tedder, who was manager and sommelier. Gregory was most recently consulting for Rise No. 1.