Celebrity Chef News

Celebrity chefs keep gambling on Dallas and diners hit the jackpot

Chicken Guy! chicken sandwiches

Chicken Guy!

It's a heady week for Dallas with two well-known names in the restaurant world making local debuts at practically the same time.

At one end is Cafe Dior by Dominique Crenn, a lunch and tea spot opening in mid-February inside the luxe new Dior boutique at Highland Park Village.

At the other: Chicken Guy!, a fried-chicken joint from irrepressible chef Guy Fieri, host of Food Network show Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives.

But these are only two of the latest in a series of celebrity chef forays into Dallas — one that reaps tasty rewards for local diners.

Crenn is a native of France and the first female chef in the U.S. to achieve three Michelin stars. Dallas diners will soon be able to peck at her artfully composed chicken surrounded by Tuscan kale, a dish she created as an homage to a Dior dress from the '70s.

Those same Dallas diners can now chow down on a Fieri-created fried chicken sandwich featuring panko-crusted chicken topped with bacon, buffalo sauce, and mac & cheese on a soft bun.

Isn't life grand?

Cafe Dior pastry chef Juan Contreras and chef Dominique Crenn dallas.culturemap.com

Dallas has a love-hate relationship with celebrity chefs (and celebrities in general) — basking in the affirmation a celebrity endorsement brings yet also nursing a good old Texas-style suspicion towards anything not born and raised here.

And it's not like DFW does not have its own stable of home-grown celebrity chefs: from Dean Fearing to Tiffany Derry to John Tesar to Stephan Pyles to Tim Love — chefs whose combination of food chops and charisma have forged them into nationally-known name brands.

But as every other real estate survey has noted, Dallas-Fort Worth is the growing-est metroplex in the U.S. Demographers are now projecting that DFW will reach 10 million people in the 2030s — surpassing Chicago to become America's third-largest metro area, and surpassing New York by 2100.

That population boom not only brings in more out-of-towners that are open to new things, it represents an irresistible opportunity for business-savvy restaurateurs with an eye towards expansion.

Celebrity chefs in Dallas are not entirely a new phenomenon. But some came too early. Examples include Craft, the restaurant at the W Hotel in Victory Park starring chef Tom Colicchio, which opened in 2006 (the space is now Villa Azur); and Charlie Palmer at the Joule, opened in 2008, closed in 2013 (and now home to Sassetta).

But that was then and this is now, and despite prior losses, Dallas is more dazzling than ever. The "correct" mantra is to support local, but outside chefs can bring a perspective that elevates the local conversation, not to mention upping the skills by training and employing chefs and kitchen staff. (There are still staffers from Craft who nostalgically recall what an inspirational experience it was to work there.)

Plus: Dallas now gets to taste Guy Fieri's famed donkey sauce any time it wants.

Crenn and Fieri are only the two latest celebrity chefs to come to Dallas-Fort Worth. Within the past few years, we've enjoyed a major infusion of brand names willing to give DFW a crack. In good news, most are thriving. Here's some of the recent players — some still open, others closed — and a great dish they've brought to town.

INCOMING

Kim Canteenwalla & Elizabeth Blau. Husband-and-wife team whose portfolio includes Las Vegas restaurants Honey Salt and Buddy V's Ristorante at the Venetian, opened high-end steak & seafood spot Crown Block atop Dallas' signature Reunion Tower, the blinking ball on the downtown skyline, in April 2023. Unlike some other celebuchef concepts where the chef is MIA, the couple has ties to Dallas thanks to a daughter who attends SMU, and can frequently be found on-site. Dish: Branzino with preserved lemon, thyme, arugula, fennel, and pine nut salad

Chef Joey MaggioreChef Joey Maggiore

Joey Maggiore. Colorful chef from Arizona has big designs on DFW: He's already opened one location of his uber-buzzy Italian restaurant The Sicilian Butcher in Fort Worth, with a second set to open in North Dallas in mid-2025. In addition, he opened the first DFW location of his big-popular and highly-regarded brunch concept Hash Kitchen in Fort Worth in spring 2024. Dish: Meatball Ferris wheel with Tomaso’s meatball, sausage meatball with arrabiatta, eggplant meatball withmarinara, steak meatball with truffle mushroom, chicken parm meatball with Parmigiano cream, and turkey meatball with basil pesto

Graham Elliot. Former cooking show judge who built a national following on MasterChef, MasterChef Junior, and Top Chef is all-in on DFW. He's partnered with Fort Worth chef-restaurateur Felipe Armenta and his Far Out Hospitality Group to open restaurants in the area that include Cowboy Prime steakhouse, French restaurant Le Margot, and upscale BBQ spot F1 Smokehouse. And none of that drive-by stuff: He's so all-in, he's moved here. Dish: Le Margot's lavender-glazed chicken with sauteed spinach and sundried tomato

Danny Grant. Charismastic Chicago-based chef and entrepreneur is bullish on Dallas, with two hotspots both located at The National, the residence-hotel combo in downtown Dallas: Monarch, his opulent Italian steakhouse with incomparable skyline views; and Kessaku, the glam sushi restaurant and nightlife spot. Dish: Whole Maine lobster spaghetti, featuring a lobster broken into pieces over spaghetti with oloroso sherry & basil

Shaquille O'Neal. The basketball Hall of Famer is known for his fun-loving presence on the basketball court, not for being a chef. But in 2018, he founded Big Chicken, featuring a menu inspired by childhood favorites including fried chicken sandwiches and tenders with a pale, peppery battered crust. It now has more than 30 loations including Fort Worth, the first in DFW, which opened in September 2024. Dish: Shaq Attack fried chicken sandwich with chipotle BBQ, pepperjack cheese, jalapeño slaw

2 Chainz. The Grammy Award-winning rapper and TV host (Most Expensivest) co-founded Esco Restaurant & Tapas in Atlanta in 2016 with Southern dishes like red velvet chicken & waffles and shrimp & grits. Thanks to franchisee Apiphany Fuller, Dallas now has a location in a vintage downtown building at 1300 Jackson St. with good food, drinks, atmosphere, and hookahs. Dish: Fried chicken wings with scrambled eggs, grits, hash browns, and a biscuit

Ne-Yo and Crystal Renay. R&B singer Ne-Yo and reality star Renay are no longer a couple but are still partnered on Johnny's Chicken & Waffles, their music-themed breakfast-brunch concept founded in Atlanta which opened a crazy-popular location in Dallas on Botham Jean Boulevard in mid-2024. Sunday brunches are SRO. Dish: Royal Treatment Mac N’ Cheese, topped with choice of fried shrimp, chicken tenders, or fried lobster tail

Major Food Group. This is not a chef but is instead the New York hospitality firm which has taken Dallas by storm with three openings in 2022: Sadelle’s, the all-day concept at Highland Park Village; and two restaurants in the Design District: Carbone, the company's ode to Italian American fine dining, and Carbone Vino, a more casual wine-focused sibling to Carbone.

Carla Pellegrino. She starred on TV cooking shows such as Top Chef and Throwdown with Bobby Flay, before settling in DFW where she plans to open a casual Italian concept in Victory Park, Urban Italia, in the former WFAA studio.

OUTGOING

David Chang. Founder of the Momofuku restaurant empire in New York opened an outlet of Fuku, his fried chicken sandwich ghost kitchen concept, in Dallas in 2021, in the very thick of the pandemic. In fact, it was a pandemic concept at heart, servicing the sudden surge of to-go food. It closed in 2024, due not to Dallas but to Chang's business partner Reef Technology, which has shifted out of the declining ghost kitchen realm and into airports and stadiums.

Fabio Viviani Fabio Viviani

Pinky Cole. Atlanta entrepreneur opened a location of her Slutty Vegan burger chain in Dallas in May 2023, an opening met with the long lines and fanfare that accompany her openings. But whoever sold Cole on that location in Deep Ellum, with no dining room on-site and no parking, did her no favors. It closed — "temporarily" — in September 2024.

Salt Bae. Nusret "Salt Bae" Gökçe, the Istanbul chef and media sensation, opened a location of his international Nusr-Et Steakhouse in Dallas in March 2021. The restaurant was known for theatrical dishes like steak encrusted in gold leaf, as well as Salt Bae's dramatic display of sprinkling salt down his forearm. Alas, it closed in late January 2025.

Fabio Viviani. In 2024, the popular Top Chef contestant opened Jars by Fabio Viviani, his fast-casual dessert brand serving popular desserts in jars, in Dallas and Fort Worth. Unfortunately, it closed in January 2025.

"Marky" Mark and Paul Wahlberg. The famed brothers of Boston opened a location of their well-regarded Wahlburgers burger chain at The Star in Frisco in October 2019 — which as it turned out was the absolute worst time to open a restaurant as it was right on the brink of COVID-19. They bravely held on pretty long but finally threw in the towel in September 2023.

chefs trends openings

Where to Eat

Where to eat in Dallas right now: 10 new restaurants to try in July

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It used to be that summer was a sleepy time for restaurants to open, but those days are gone in Dallas, where the openings keep coming fast and furious. The July 2026 edition of Where to Eat, CultureMap's monthly column offering advice on places to try, includes long-awaited sushi from Austin, an elevated Mexican restaurant in Snider Plaza, and a glitzy high-profile steakhouse with New York ties.

Here's where to eat in Dallas for July 2026:

Cheese Lab
New grilled cheese stand just opened at Legacy Hall food hall in Plano, where it does grilled cheese sandwiches with creative fillings such brisket, pulled pork, Brie with fig, smashburger, and birria with Monterey Jack, onions, cilantro, and consommé. There's even a vegan option featuring vegan cheese, pico de gallo, and grilled artichoke on multigrain bread. The menu also includes loaded mac & cheese, Cheetos Balls, tater tots, boudin balls, and breakfast items such as biscuits, burritos, and bagel sandwiches. This is the second location, following the original which debuted at Assembly Food Hall in Nashville, which, like Legacy Hall, is owned by FB Society.

D-Spot Dessert Café
Dessert chain from Canada just opened its first-ever location in the U.S. in Carrollton, at 3432 E. Hebron Pkwy., where it's serving Belgian waffles, crepes, milkshakes, cakes, croffles, skillet cookies, and globally inspired desserts. Their most over-the-top offering are their giant Belgian waffles topped with photo-friendly items like a syringe of caramel and Belgian milk chocolate, or a doughnut perched on top of ice cream on top of the waffle. They also serve burgers, pizza, wings, and sandwiches, such as brisket & pesto paninis. Founded in 2014, D-Spot now has more than 55 locations across the country and plans to continue expanding in the U.S.

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

Field & Vine
Restaurant at the Clara Hotel is part of a $4 million transformation of the former NYLO Dallas/Plano Hotel at 8201 Preston Rd. on the Plano-Frisco border. It's still part of Hilton's Tapestry Collection but has been overhauled by Dallas-based investment firm NewcrestImage, which acquired the property in 2025. The menu by executive chef Daniel Armand blends French technique, Haitian influences, and Texas ingredients, including an on-site herb garden. Highlights include ceviche, harissa wings, steak frites, and chicken with roasted root vegetable purée. In addition to F&V, the hotel also is home to Archer, a cocktail lounge.

Neighborhood Sushi
Sushi restaurant long in the works from Austin-based MML Hospitality (Clark's Oyster Bar, Sammie's, Pecan Square Cafe) is now open at The Shops of Highland Park, positioned as an "everyday" sushi restaurant. The menu features sushi bar staples including nigiri, sashimi, hand rolls, miso soup, seaweed salad. There's an impressively big selection of veggie tempura including corn, Japanese eggplant, yam, broccolini, Kabocha squash, truffled beech mushroom, and asparagus; and an equally impressive selection of veggie nigiri that includes fried bean curd, sweet corn, sweet & sour eggplant with crispy garlic. Exotic offerings include squid tentacles, beet-cured salmon, Barnegat light scallop, and reserve Wagyu.

Ollie's Azul House
New restaurant in Rowlett recently opened inside the historic Oliver House at 3410 Main St., taking over the space most recently occupied by Brick & Bones, where it's doing "elevated tacos" and "curated tequila." Ollie's is from some of Rowlett's finest, including former Mayor Pro Tem Michael Gallops. Tacos can be ordered on soft corn, hard corn, or flour tortillas, and include ground beef; chimichurri steak with onions & peppers, elotes chicken, and mushroom. They also sell breakfast tacos with eggs, chorizo, potatoes, and more, from the back window, taken to-go or enjoyed on their expansive patio. Gallops is a bonafide tequila connoisseur and the bar is stocked with 100 kinds, many of which come from high-end boutique distilleries.

Olōyō
Highly anticipated restaurant from chef Olivia López and partner Jonathan Percival, opened in East Dallas in May, in the space previously occupied by the restaurant Cry Wolf. This is the brick-and-mortar version of the masa-obsessed pop-up concept that's built a cult-following. Their focus is on heirloom corn masa, featured in tacos, sopes, and tamales such as tamales con Pipian Verde with pork in green sauce. With only 23 seats, expect a wait for reservations, and their opening is very much a work in progress.

Palladino's Steak & Seafood
High-profile steakhouse from restaurateur Joseph Palladino is now open at Preston Royal, in the former Spec's space at 5959 Royal Ln., where it's channeling New York style in Preston Hollow. This is the second location, following N.Y., which opened with much fanfare in September 2025. The menu is a high-roller greatest hits with big-impression dishes like caviar, prime rib with duck fat popovers, a shellfish bar, sushi, Prime steaks, Wagyu steaks, steak tartare, baked clams, and a big meatball. A separate menu of desserts includes beignets, a sundae, and a cinnamon bun "stack." The opening marks a return to Dallas for Palladino, an ex-NYPD police officer-turned-restaurateur known for concepts such as Nick & Sam's Steakhouse and the Coal Vines pizza chain.

Sueño
Elevated Mexican restaurant just opened at 6600 Snider Plaza — the second, more ambitious location of a concept first founded by cousins and hospitality veterans Julio Pineda and Cristian Lujano in Richardson in 2021 where it quickly earned a following for its refined Mexican food and cocktails. They're now partnered with the Bellomy Hospitality Group (S&D Oyster Co., Rex’s Seafood). At the center of Sueño's cuisine is its in-house masa operation, which uses heirloom blue and yellow corn to make nixtamal daily for tortillas, tetelas, and tlayudas. Menu highlights include Enchiladas Suizas with chicken, cheese, and poblano sauce; and carne asada with Rosewood Ranch New York strip and chorizo enfrijolada. There's also a dedicated tequila lounge called Alma Agave.

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Wabi Sushi
Japanese restaurant recently opened in Flower Mound serves sushi rolls, nigiri, rice bowls, and dumplings. But the must-get is the inari sushi, AKA sushi pockets, a cross between sushi and an open-faced dumpling that's made with a paper-thin slice of tofu fashioned into an edible pouch, then stuffed with sushi rice and choice of topping such as spicy salmon, tuna, seared salmon, or spicy pork. They're available in samplers such as three pockets for $10, or four pockets for $13. Wabi Sushi — which is no relation to Wabi House, a small local chain — is from Dongwhun Lee, a creative chef who learned the ropes of sushi while living in Los Angeles, and has worked at a variety of restaurants such as Avocado Roll Sushi.

Walkers'
Restaurant-market-wine bar is open in a cute neighborhood shop center at 3016 Greenville Ave., where it's serving sandwiches during the day, then switching to full-service restaurant and wine bar at night. Sandwiches served on thick focaccia-style bread include an Italian with salumi, mortadella, & provolone, and a turkey with Green Goddess, cheddar, & avocado. At night they roll out dishes like anchovy toast, beef tongue, agnolotti with peas, and lamb with labneh & mint. The concept is from Rosemary Walker-Green, a sommelier, and her brother Russell Walker. There are cocktails and a wine list focused on small-production producers from around the world, with a rotating retail selection also available for purchase, along with premier foodstuffs.

bests lists openings where-to-eat

Celebrity Chef News

Celebrity chefs keep gambling on Dallas and diners hit the jackpot

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Where to Eat

Where to eat in Dallas right now: 10 new restaurants to try in July