Rounding Up The Dining News

Pumpkin cinnamon rolls return in this Dallas restaurant news roundup

Cici's pumpkin cinnamon roll, not actual size, not actual Taylor Swift engagement ring.

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This end-of-summer edition of dining news around Dallas feels transitional, even a little wistful, with early hints of fall — AKA pumpkin — in the air. There's some real firsts here: a smoothie chain expanding into food, a chocolate shop expanding into the airport, and a burger chain adding a smashburger to its permanent menu. See you in September!

Here's what's happening in Dallas restaurant news:

Smoothie King has launched “Power Eats” — its first food menu. Items include Peanut Butter Toast with bananas, strawberries, blueberries; Chocolate Hazelnut Toast with chocolate hazelnut spread, strawberries, blueberries, & granola; Avocado Toast with avocado and everything seasoning; Protein Boxes with hard-boiled eggs, cheese, & fruit, or with peanut butter & fruit; baked eggs with veggie, turkey sausage, or turkey bacon; or chicken tenders.

Dude Sweet Chocolate is opening a storefront at DFW International Airport in Terminal D, according to a Facebook post from founder Katherine Clapner.

Miznon, the fast-casual concept featuring middle-Eastern food, has closed its last Dallas location in The Colony, at 5808 Windhaven Pkwy. #100, within The Shacks Dining & Dog Park, where it opened in November 2024. The concept made its Dallas debut in Deep Ellum in early 2024, but that location closed in April 2025. Miznon was founded by Israeli chef Eyal Shani, and brought to Dallas by owner-franchisee Jude Akpunku, a native of Dallas who did not respond to queries, but there's a for lease sign on the door.

Taco Ocho, the small local taqueria chain, closed its location in Richardson on August 27; a spokesperson said the closure was due to lack of business. It had been there for 14 years. The chain's other three locations in Flower Mound, Frisco, and McKinney are all still open and taco-ing it up.

Loop 9 BBQ, which opened in Grand Prairie in 2023, has closed. The restaurant originally opened as a partnership with Larry Lavine, the founder of Chili's, but he left the company in 2024.

Mod Pizza has brought back the Pumpkin Spice No Name Cake featuring a pumpkin-spiced cake with cream filling, coated in a sweet, autumnal glaze.

Hopdoddy Burger Bar, the Austin burger chain, has added a Wagyu smash burger to its permanent menu featuring two patties with shaved onions, pickled jalapeños, and a new secret sauce. Russian dressing?

Cicis Pizza, the all-you-can-eat pizza buffet, is welcoming back is Pumpkin Spice Cinnamon Rolls, consisting of cinnamon rolls drizzled with pumpkin spice icing with cinnamon, clove, and nutmeg, available through November 9, or while supplies last.

Cerulean Blue Coffee House in Flower Mound has a September Cookie of the Month: Peanut Butter. It joins Cerulean Blue staple cookies the Chocolate Chunk and Caramel White Chocolate. New food offerings also joining the menu include crispy chicken biscuit sandwich, grilled chicken sandwich, and acai bowl.

SusieCakes, the home-style bakery chain, has debuted a seasonal Pumpkin Spice Latte Cupcake featuring spiced pumpkin cake topped with coffee buttercream and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar. Available September 2–28 at all SusieCakes locations.

Sonic has two new seasonal items starting on September 1: Salted Caramel Toffee Iced Coffee featuring cold brew with salted caramel and toffee, poured over signature Sonic ice and topped with cold foam and salted toffee pieces, $3 for a 20-ounce; and Salted Caramel Croissant Bites featuring flaky pastries dusted with a caramel sugar blend, $2 for a 4-pack.

DQ has a new Dr Pepper BBQ Patty Melt starting September 1 available through mid-October, while supplies last, at participating DQ restaurants in Texas. It consists of a beef patty, American cheese, bacon, two onion rings, jalapeno relish, and Dr Pepper BBQ Sauce on Texas toast.

Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard has a new Apple Butter concrete, with the essence of slow-cooked apples and a hint of buttery richness. Plus three limited-time Concretes: Apple Butter Concrete blending Vanilla Frozen Custard with Apple Butter, Vanilla Wafers, and Apple Pie filling; Pumpkin Pie Concrete with Frozen Custard blended with Pumpkin Crème and Vanilla Wafers; and Harvest Swirl Concrete with Apple Butter and Pumpkin Crème, blended with Vanilla Frozen Custard. Available at participating locations through October 5, while supplies last.

Evelyn, the steakhouse in the Dallas Design District, has a chef on TV: Chef Henry Johnson will be a contestant on the new season of Hell’s Kitchen: Battle of the States, airing on September 25. For the first time in Hell’s Kitchen history, every chef will be from and represent a different state. In the premiere episode, Ramsay will whittle down these 50 semi-finalists to the Top 18.

MAD Concepts Group, the parent company behind beloved Texas restaurant brands Jakes and Tacos & Avocados, has appointed spitfire up-and-comer Kendra Shier as President of both concepts, effective immediately.

news-you-can-eat lists

Spring Arrival

West Dallas gets new Spanish-Peruvian restaurant with big-name chef

Photo courtesy of Ulloa's

Paella will be on the menu.

A new restaurant with a high-profile culinary director will bring Spanish and Peruvian flavors to West Dallas: Called Ulloa’s, it is coming to 727 Fort Worth Ave., with a projected opening in March 2027.

The concept is from philanthropists Susan and Woodrow Gandy, who were previously investors in the historic Belmont Hotel just around the corner. They've teamed up with Dallas celebrity chef Kent Rathbun as culinary director, along with Christopher Tunnell as general manager to lead the front of the house.

Rathbun is a name Dallas diners know well, with a resume that includes The Mansion on Turtle Creek, the Landmark Restaurant at the historic Melrose Hotel, Seventeen Seventeen at the Dallas Museum of Art, Abacus, Jasper's, Rathbun’s Blue Plate Kitchen, and more. He's won numerous awards and made multiple appearances on Food Network. He was most recently behind the launch of On The Rocks, an Italian bistro in Burleson.

Chef Kent Rathbun will be the culinary director of Ulloa's. Photo courtesy of Kent Rathbun

Tunnell’s background spans both culinary direction and front-of-house operations. He worked at Los Angeles hot spots Ketchup, Geisha House, and Les Deux, as well as the Mandalay Bay and The Mirage in Las Vegas, before moving to Dallas to open The Mexican, the upscale restaurant in the Design District.

“I am truly excited to partner with Chef Kent Rathbun, whose reputation is amazing — not only in the DFW Metroplex, but in the culinary world,” Tunnell says. “He has been with this project since the beginning, helping develop it; this will be a very chef-driven, culinary-forward restaurant.”

The team's vision for Ulloa’s is both culinary and urban, with hopes of anchoring the corridor and attracting other businesses to Fort Worth Avenue — a stretch connecting downtown Dallas with Oak Cliff that remains somewhat underdeveloped despite its panoramic skyline views.

The restaurant is named for Spanish explorer, astronomer, and scientist Antonio de Ulloa, who spent extensive time in the Mexican peninsula before becoming Louisiana’s first governor. During his travels, Ulloa documented a fogbow — a circular rainbow formed when sunlight meets mist that causes silhouettes standing between the sun and fog to appear ringed in light, a phenomenon known today as “Ulloa’s Rings.”

That vibrant phenomenon inspired both the restaurant's identity and logo. The concept promises "bold, worldly flavors in a welcoming neighborhood setting inspired by exploration and discovery,” the owners say.

Ulloa's Rendering of Ulloa's.Rendering courtesy of Ulloa's

While the menu remains in development, Tunnell describes the culinary direction as “Spanish soul with a Peruvian heart.” The kitchen will merge the coastal flavors of both traditions — ranging from paellas and ceviches to crafted cocktails and signature adaptations by Rathbun.

The 200-seat, two-story space will feature a downstairs dining room, a large bar, and an outdoor patio. Upstairs, plans call for a secondary bar, a private dining room, a patio, and an expansive balcony patio, offering views of the city's skyline and of the Margaret Hunt Hill and Margaret McDermott bridges.

While the upstairs space will be available for private events, the owners intend for it to operate primarily as an organic extension of the main restaurant. The buildout will include a guest elevator along with ample parking, including both self-parking and valet options.

The team says the restaurant will have have an aesthetic that's “warm, theatrical, generous, elegant but alive, with the energy of a great Spanish tapas bar and the soul of Peruvian hospitality.”

Ulloa’s plans to launch with dinner service first, followed by lunch and weekend brunch.

restaurants bars peruvian flavors west dallas oak cliff kent rathbun