Seafood News

Dallas catches major new seafood spot from high-powered restaurant group

Catch a glimpse of the seafood coming to Dallas in 2024.

Catch Dallas

Dallas is catching a major new seafood restaurant: Called Catch Dallas, it's from Catch Hospitality Group and it will open at Maple Terrace, the mixed-use development under construction in Uptown Dallas from international real estate firm Hines with partners Mitsui Fudosan America and McNair Interests.

According to a release, the restaurant will open in mid-2024.

Catch Hospitality Group is from Tilman Fertitta, Mark Birnbaum, and Eugene Remm, who opened the first Catch in 2011 in New York. There are now locations in Los Angeles, Aspen, and Las Vegas at the ARIA Resort & Casino, along with sister concept Catch Steak, which debuted in New York in fall 2019 and which has since opened locations in Aspen and Los Angeles.

Catch Dallas will be Catch Hospitality Group’s eighth location. There's also a location opening in Miami in fall 2023.

Catch does modern renditions of classic dishes, marrying simple yet elegant seafood, sushi, and steak with excellent service and a lively atmosphere.

The menu at the New York original features seafood in many forms, from grilled to sushi, plus a few steaks because you always need steak. Three large-format, feast-style dishes to share include whole snapper, Cantonese-style lobster, and whole branzino with an enticing array of vegetables such as pattypan squash, baby zucchini, tomatoes, and long-stem artichokes.

Menu highlights include:

Snapper with lobster mashed potatoes
Scottish salmon with raisin-pine nut chutney
Lobster mac & cheese
Crispy chicken bao buns
A5 Japanese Miyazaki Wagyu, cooked tableside on a hot stone

Cold seafood includes a dish called truffle sashimi with tuna, hamachi, chili ponzu, caviar, and black truffle puree.

Salads and appetizers include oysters with yuzu foam & caviar, shrimp cocktail, kale salad, and a Caesar made with baby gem lettuce, sugar-snap peas, asparagus, and avocado.

There's also a crispy cauliflower with spicy vegan mayo, and pretzel bread with honey mustard butter.

How about some statements from the principals:

“We look forward to expanding our renowned brand to my hometown state,” says Tilman Fertitta, Catch Hospitality Group partner. “The Maple Terrace development is the perfect backdrop to debut our first Catch in Texas. The elevated atmosphere of Uptown Dallas combined with our superior dining experience will make this a must-visit restaurant.”

“After having the opportunity to spend some time in this market we are super excited to bring Catch’s great food, service and vibe to the Maple Terrace development,” says Catch Hospitality Group partner Eugene Remm.

“We couldn’t think of a better location to open our first Texas outpost than Maple Terrace and look forward to sharing the Catch experience with the greater DFW community," says Catch partner Mark Birnbaum.

Birnbaum's website states that Catch Hospitality Group identified a need for establishments to offer multiple experiences within the same property and have created venues with seamless transitions between dining and entertainment.

Maple Terrace’s original 1925, seven-story structure, designed as Dallas’ first luxury high-rise by famed English architect Sir Alfred Bossom, is undergoing a restoration. The iconic building will serve as the centerpiece of the mixed-use development that includes office space, a 22-story tower with luxury residential apartments, and more than 12,000 square feet of street-facing restaurant space.

Catch Dallas replaces Maple & Ash, an upscale wood-fired steakhouse from What If Syndicate (Monarch, Kessaku, and Etta) that was previously anticipated to open at Maple Terrace.

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Phone Flip

Alamo Drafthouse makes big change to ordering food in DFW theaters

Alamo Drafthouse/Facebook

Alamo Drafthouse will allow phones, but only for one reason — so far.

Despite Alamo Drafthouse’s famously strict no-phone policy, the dine-in movie theater chain soon will require customers to use smartphones to order food and beverages via QR code.

Austin-based Alamo says that beginning in mid-February, it’s ditching its longtime old-school ordering system — jotting down your order on paper, then pressing a call button that summons a server to grab your order and then deliver it.

“Yes, it means you’ll need to use your smartphone and a custom-built 'dark screen' to order food or drink during the movie,” Alamo says in an FAQ post on its website. “This doesn’t mean we’re changing our rules on talking or texting during the movie.”

Variety reports that mobile ordering has already been tested in several Alamo markets and is expanding to certain other theaters this month, with plans to roll out the system to every theater throughout the year.

Forty-four Alamo theaters operate nationwide, including five in Dallas-Fort Worth, five in Austin, one in Katy, and two in San Antonio. The chain’s 45th location is opening soon in Bentonville, Arkansas.

The theater chain says the new digital ordering system — enabling guests to use a smartphone to browse a digital menu, place an order, and pay for the order — will improve the Alamo experience. A dark-screen QR code lets you scan the code to tackle ordering tasks while keeping your phone screen extremely dark or mostly black. This prevents “screen glow,” which can annoy others in a darkened theater.

“Putting ordering control directly in our guests’ hands allows us to move faster and more efficiently, creating a smoother, more responsive experience without added distraction,” Alamo says.

According to Variety, servers will still bring food and beverage orders to guests. And the chain says if you run into a problem with your phone or order, a greeter or manager will be ready to help.

“There will be newly structured roles for hourly staff at theaters, but this switch to mobile won’t take away any jobs,” Variety reports. “Alamo isn’t implementing any layoffs, and all base wages will remain the same.”

“It’s worked great in testing so far,” according to Alamo, “and we’ve been pleased that the vast majority of guests use the system quickly and efficiently.”

Alamo stresses that the new ordering system won’t kill the chain’s firmly stated no-phone rule. Therefore, you still won’t be able to scroll social media posts, make or take a phone call, or send a text once Alamo’s no-phone-zone warning pops up on the movie screen. If an Alamo worker catches you violating the policy, you’re ejected immediately without a ticket refund. Alamo says its employees are trained “to distinguish between a dark ordering screen and disruptive phone use.”

The move to mobile ordering is one of the biggest changes at Alamo Drafthouse since Sony Pictures Entertainment bought the chain in 2024. Sony didn’t divulge the purchase price, but media outlets estimate it was anywhere from $174 million to $258 million.

Another major change happened in early 2025, when Alamo laid off 15 corporate employees and an untold number of hourly theater employees.

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