Wings News

Dallas wing expert opens new chicken wing place Aviators in The Colony

Aviators chicken wings

Aviators

A new wing spot has landed in The Colony: Aviators, an upscale wing house with craft cocktails from Kelcher Entertainment Group and operating partner Jason Quiroga, has opened at 2851 Plano Pkwy #270, in a space that has already had a surprising degree of turnover given its brief lifespan, starting out as a Dough Bro's, then becoming a Bourbon Street, and now wings.

Aviators does bone-in jumbo wings and chicken tenders with choice of dry rub or sauces, ranging from mild Garlic Parmesan rub to Top Gun sauce, the hottest.

Appetizers include Chicken Sliders, Beer Battered Cheese Curds, and Tempura Battered Afterburners. Plus sandwiches, salads, sides, and kids meals.

Cocktails include The Amelia, named for aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, with Ketel One Botanical Grapefruit and Rose Vodka, peach liqueur, pineapple, hibiscus, Champagne and a Strawberry Pop-Rock rim.

Aviators brines its chicken in-house, and wings and tenders are cooked to order. Sauces, rubs, and dipping sauces are house-made, as are the bitters and syrups for cocktails.

The restaurant seats 60 indoors, plus additional seating on a patio just outside a garage door. Decor has an aviation theme, which makes sense since Kelcher Entertainment Group also own Delta Charlie's, a restaurant at the Grand Prairie Municipal Airport.

Quiroga spent six years as operating partner at Wing Bucket, helping to open seven locations. He’s not just a wings guy – he's worked in the Dallas restaurant industry for nearly 30 years, having started out in his father’s restaurant washing dishes at age 14.

“I’ve always loved flying, and have a passion for wings and mixology, so that’s how the concept of Aviators came about,” he says. “We want Aviators to be a family-first restaurant. We believe in serving our customers amazing food and drinks with great service.”

Kelcher Entertainment Group's restaurant portfolio includes Barrel & Bones, Black Agave, Dough Bro’s, and Bourbon Street. Wait a minute, this space was a Dough Bro's and a Bourbon Street. Duh.

The restaurant is currently open for dinner only, with lunch coming in mid-February.

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Ice Cream News

Global gourmet ice cream chain debuts in U.S. with 2 Dallas-area shops

Dumont Ice Cream

An ice cream concept from India has made its Texas debut: Called Dumont Creamery & Cafe, it's a ice cream chain founded in Hyderabad that now has two locations in the Dallas area.

Their first location was Frisco, which opened at 1951 FM 423 at the end of 2023; a second location opened in late October in Coppell at 1535 S. Belt Line Rd. #160.

Dumont was founded in 1999 by brothers Vivek and Bhashkaar, and currently has 23 locations in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Vijayawada listed on their website.

Bringing the concept to Texas are local franchisees and friends Sai Sashank and Tarang Tirumala, who moved to the U.S. in 2005 to attend college.

Both have successful consulting careers, but craved a taste of home.

Ice cream is the centerpiece at Dumont with more than two dozen flavors, ranging from gourmet to classics to flavors boasting global influences: from Italian-inspired sorbet to a New Zealand-inspired honey ice cream called "hokey pokey."

There is vanilla, chocolate, and mint chocolate chip — but also unique options such as cake and jam, an ice cream with a vanilla base, bites of cake, and spiced jam; and kheer, a coconut ice cream studded with dried fruits and nuts — a nod to the kheer rice pudding that's one of India's favorite desserts.

A single scoop is $4. They have cups and a cute version of waffle cones: shorter and fatter than usual, to provide a greater ratio of ice cream-to-cone.

In addition to ice cream, they have a beverage program with coffee and espresso drinks such as lattes, plus boba tea. There are also special drinks like falooda — an exotic Indian milkshake with rose syrup and vermicelli — as well as limited-edition drinks like iced kheer, a cool beverage version of that same popular rice pudding dessert.

Both locations are spacious, bright, and clean, with pale green banquettes at Frisco, and pale blue chairs and tables at Coppell. Both feature an astronaut theme with statues and framed photos and cartoons on the wall. The Coppell location also has a mural dedicated to great moments in Coppell history.