Great catch

Austin hotspot Neighborhood Sushi makes Dallas debut in Highland Park

Neighborhood Sushi has opened at the Shops at Highland Park.

Photo by Justin Cook

A popular sushi restaurant from Austin's South Congress Avenue has landed in Dallas: Called Neighborhood Sushi, it opened June 30 at 4216 Oak Lawn Ave., in The Shops of Highland Park.

Neighborhood Sushi comes from MML Hospitality, one of Austin's biggest and most acclaimed restaurant groups, helmed by acclaimed chefs Larry McGuire and Tom Moorman and hotelier Liz Lambert.

The Dallas location is the restaurant's first outpost outside of Austin. Go Dallas!

Neighborhood Sushi debuted in Austin in 2020 on buzzy South Congress Avenue, where it built a following for its approachable take on high-quality sushi. In fact, it will be moving from that cozy location into a larger building, at 1417 S. First St., later this year, a release says.

Neighborhood Sushi The Dallas restaurant will introduce some menu items not available at the original Austin location.Photo by Justin Cook

"Known for its elevated yet approachable take on traditional sushi bar dining, Neighborhood Sushi is an 'everyday' sushi restaurant with exceptional quality, recasting the classic sushi experience through a lens of modernity, seasonality, and laid back Texan hospitality," the release says.

Neighborhood Sushi's menu features sushi bar staples including nigiri, sashimi, hand rolls, specialty rolls, and tempura. Signature items include the spicy tuna roll, shrimp tempura, and fluke roll.

The Dallas location also features a few menu items not available in Austin, including a yakitori program with skewers such as Wagyu beef, king trumpet mushrooms, asparagus, and chicken thighs. Lunch service includes chef-selected bento boxes.

Neighborhood Sushi The design features warm wood tones and minimalist Japanese-inspired interior elements.Photo by Justin Cook

The Highland Park space follows the same design style as the Austin original, with warm wood tones and minimalist Japanese-inspired interior elements intended to suit both casual meals and special occasions.

"In Austin, the restaurant’s intimate, stylish ambiance has made it a favorite for date nights and weekday happy hours, a spirit that the Dallas outpost will replicate," the release says.

Neighborhood Sushi in Highland Park is now open for lunch, happy hour, dinner, and weekend all-day dining with the following menu schedule:

Monday-Friday: Lunch 11:30 am-3:30 pm, snacks 3:30-4:30 pm, happy hour 3-5 pm, dinner 4:30-10 pm.
Saturday-Sunday: All-day menu 11:30 am-4:30 pm, dinner 4:30-10 pm.

highland park openings

Restaurant business

Dallas restaurant group scoops up comfort food chain Cotton Patch Cafe

Chicken fried steak, CFS, Cotton Patch Cafe

Facebook/Cotton Patch Cafe

Chicken fried steak at Cotton Patch Cafe.

The Southlake-based Cotton Patch Cafe restaurant chain, known for its Texas-style comfort food, is finding comfort in the form of a new owner from Dallas.

According to a release, Dallas-based Local Favorite Restaurants group purchased Cotton Patch Cafe from Altamont Capital Partners. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Local Favorite's growing restaurant portfolio includes 99 restaurants spanning 10 brands, including well-known names like El Fenix Mexican Restaurant, Snuffer’s Restaurant & Bar, Meso Maya, Taqueria La Ventana, Wok Star Chinese, Twisted Root Burger Company, Campuzano Mexican Food, and Village Burger Bar.

The Cotton Patch acquisition “is an important step for Local Favorite Restaurants and a natural fit for the kind of brands we want under our roof,” Local Favorite founder Mike Karns says in the release. “Cotton Patch Cafe has loyal guests, a proven track record, and a Texas identity that gives it meaningful room to grow.”

Founded in 1989 in Nacogdoches, Cotton Patch operates 46 restaurants in Texas and New Mexico. In DFW, there are locations in Arlington, Burleson, Cedar Hill, Garland, Grapevine, Irving, Lake Worth, North Richland Hills, and Watauga.

The deal also brings changes to the leadership team.

Karns will remain with the company in the role of founder and "Free-Range Creative," overseeing its creative direction and growth strategy. Cotton Patch Cafe CEO Brandon Coleman III will become CEO of Local Favorite Restaurants.

Local Favorite also owns and operates Sunrise Mexican Foods, which produces chips, tortillas and other Mexican food products for retail and foodservice operators.

Cotton Patch Cafe is known for scratch-made, comfort classics like hand-breaded chicken fried steak, along with $9.99 Texas Value Meals.

Coleman says the acquisition won’t result in changes to the “heart” of Cotton Patch.

“We will continue to bring the small-town spirit, big Texas value, and quality scratch-made food guests count on, with the same focus on hospitality and community that has always made Cotton Patch feel like home,” says Coleman.

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