Hotel News

Dallas chef Stephan Pyles to concept restaurant for MCM motel in Stephenville

They call it The Seeker.

Courtesy rendering

A motel in the works in Stephenville, Texas, has drafted the services of a well known Dallas chef: The Interstate Inn, which will debut in summer 2024, will make that debut with a restaurant called The Seeker, to be conceptualized by chef Stephan Pyles.

The Interstate Inn will open in the former Caravan Inn, a historic property in Stephenville that's being renovated by Mod Motels, the lodging company from Texas entrepreneurs Lisa Lennox and Kirk and Cathy Bonner, into a boutique, luxury, mid-century modern, 33-room motel, with a full-service restaurant, the abovementioned The Seeker.

Lisa Lennox, the visionary behind the motel's transformation and the restaurant's concept, says in a statement that they're thrilled to introduce The Seeker with Chef Stephan Pyles to the growing community of Stephenville.

"Our goal is to share the love of food and create an experience where guests can savor the ambiance of the motel while enjoying innovative and delectable dishes that showcase the best of Modern Texan Cuisine," Lennox says.

They hope the project will revitalize the spirit of American motoring and revolutionize the dining scene in Stephenville, 105 miles from Dallas and 78 miles from Fort Worth. Maybe they can convince Stephenville to change its name to Stephanville, to match the unusual spelling of Pyles' first name. Just a thought.

Pyles has been an indomitable force in the world of Southwestern cooking earning him the esteemed reputation of pioneer and gamechanger.

He'll bring his signature Modern Texas Cuisine steeped with influences from his upbringing in Big Spring, as well as flavors and heritage from cultures around the world.

“Working with Mod Motels and Lisa Lennox’s family perfectly intertwines my past with the present," Pyles says in a statement. "Its destinations are right on trend in a market where Americans are moving beyond the big cities and enjoying small town life again as locals, vacation homeowners, nature lovers, or travelers preferring the open road."

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RIP Mico

Restaurateur Mico Rodriguez, 'Godfather of Dallas Tex-Mex,' dies at 68

Courtesy photo

Mico

A Dallas restaurant legend has died: Michael "Mico" Rodriguez, dubbed the "Godfather of Dallas Tex-Mex," died on October 1; he was 68. According to a friend of the family, Rodriguez exhibited symptoms of a heart attack and died late Thursday night.

Rodriguez co-founded a number of successful Tex-Mex restaurant chains, most famously Mi Cocina, which debuted in 1991 at Preston Forest Village. Its combination of gringo-friendly Tex-Mex, as well as its signature Mambo Taxi frozen margarita-sangria swirl, was an instant hit.

But it was the buzzy celebrity-packed location at Highland Park Village, which opened in 1993, that sent the concept into the stratosphere, launching an entire chain. Under the M Crowd umbrella name, he helped launched a number of other concepts, including the pioneering Taco Diner chain.

Rodriguez was born on October 30, 1957 and entered the restaurant industry not long thereafter: busing tables when he was only 6 years old at El Chico, where his parents worked, until he went to work at Mia's Tex-Mex, the restaurant his mother opened in 1980.

He also experienced personal challenges, and was eventually ousted from Mi Cocina due to alleged financial improprieties.

Driven and ambitious, he went on to found other similar concepts, beginning in 2011 with Mr. Mesero (later shortened to Mesero), which he opened at 4444 McKinney Ave.

Mr. Mesero served as a template for the Mesero chain, which currently has seven locations across DFW and two outside Texas.

But in 2018, Rodriguez and Mesero Restaurant Group parted ways. He kept the original Mr. Mesero, now named Doce Mesas, and opened more locations before being ousted in 2025.

Most recently, he became involved in the Maple Street Food Hall, a food hall launched by entrepreneur Ray Quintanilla in 2022.

Rodriguez can be seen sharing some of his memories on a podcast with Jeff Crilley. He's survived by his daughter, Bianca, and his ex-wife, Caroline. Services have not been announced.

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