East Dock, a former ice storage and manufacturing building from 1915 being revived into a mixed-use complex in Dallas' Oak Cliff, is adding two new restaurants, opening in early spring. Bite, a sushi restaurant, and Lola’s Cantina and Snacks, will be neighbors to Barro, the new Latin-American concept, which is approaching its final stage of construction. Here's a closer look at the forthcoming restaurants:

Bite
Owned by Mason Ho, who was most recently head chef at Nori Handroll Bar in Deep Ellum, and Ikki Wu, from Yama Izakaya and Sushi and Uchi, this new sushi concept aims to bring affordable, high-quality sushi to the area.

"When you think of sushi, you think of dressing up, paying a lot of money, super fancy," Ho says. "We want to strip it back down. At the end of the day, you can have really good food without being pretentious."

Bite (stylized "BITE"), will offer maki rolls ranging from $6-$14, nigiri from $6-$8, and sashimi from $12-$22. They will also serve flights of three items based on customers' fish preferences, including a tuna sashimi flight for $35.

The space will feature an open kitchen, sushi bar, tables and outdoor area seating, with a casual dining feel, open for lunch and dinner.

Lola’s Cantina and Snacks
This novel concept has a cute history: Owner Elias Pollo Corral, a residential builder, stumbled into the food industry when his daughter Ayleen suggested he open a snack shop across from her school, Yvonne A. Ewell Townview Center. His "Snackateria" opened in 2022, just a few blocks away from East Dock. Sadly, the building flooded in December.

Lola’s Cantina and Snacks, named after their llama mascot Lola, will capture the spirit of Snackateria, with quick bites, and the addition of beer, wine and cocktails.

Snacks will include elote in a cup, mangonada, queso crush tots, nachos, cochi-chips (popular Mexican chips with elote on top) and a “Bonus Item” Lola Palooza, a champagne bottle paired with a shareable elote bucket. They plan to serve lunch specials for $10 bite-and-drink combos.

The space will be "curvy," as Corral describes it, with plenty of seating options, including a curved bench, a curved bar seating area and a few outdoor seats as well, all in an industrial setting with bright pink and purple neon lights.

“We are doing basic things with product that people already love,” the owner says.

Other tenants
In addition to Bite and Lola’s, East Dock has secured new tenants that will add to the versatility of the development.

• The Lucky Claw, an arcade for kids and adults, with machines, plush dolls, available also for private events.
• Oak Cliff Revival, a vintage furniture and goods, connected to Kuluntu Bakery via an arched door that will allow for a fluid circulation of traffic between the two shops.
• Rough Draft, a creative makerspace and membership hub designed to make creativity accessible for all through workshops and events supporting artisans.

Abdias Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Archon Weightlifting are existing workout options, and Halperin Park, the 5-acre park developing around I-35E between Marsalis and Ewing St., is already officing at East Dock.

The East Dock project, at 900 E. Clarendon Dr.. is being led by Proxy Properties, an Oak Cliff real estate group famous for breathing new life into vacant and often historical buildings. The project is supported by the City of Dallas through their Tax Increment Financing program (TIF), which reinvests property tax revenues on under-performing real estate.

The developers are taking great care to prioritize local tenants, they say.

“We have been working on the community aspect for over 18 months, and it’s great to see it coming together with local entrepreneurs. We don’t have a single big box," says AJ Rambler, head of Proxy Properties, leading the development. "We tried to be very thoughtful with the kind of people we attract, looking for tenants that complement each other to cater for the 18-hour campus,"

On April 11, they'll host a "walking dinner" to let restaurants show their offerings to the public. An official grand opening is scheduled for May.