Dallas brunch favorite Encina, the Oak Cliff restaurant from husband-and-wife restaurant team Matt Balke and Corey McCombs, is spawning a spinoff. Called Isbella, it's named for Balke's mom, and it's opening this summer in Duncanville at 200 N. Main St. in a '50s building that was originally Duncanville's first volunteer fire station.
This is the first expansion for the couple, who've owned Encina since 2020.
"Opening a second restaurant seemed like the logical next step," McCombs says. "Some of our customers at Encina come from Duncanville and other cities in the surrounding area, and are excited that we'll be closer."
The restaurant comes via a partnership with the Duncanville Economic Development Corporation and award-winning developer Monte Anderson, whose urban renewal feats include Tyler Station and the Texas Theatre. Duncanville is his hometown, where he's worked on community-building projects such as downtown Duncanville Main Street.
McCombs and Balke got to know Anderson at the Belmont Hotel, his pioneering West Dallas renovation which he brought back to life in 2005. (He sold it in 2015; it has been closed since the pandemic.)
"Matt and I both worked at Smoke, the restaurant at the Belmont, when Monty still owned the property, and we kept in touch," McCombs says. "He encouraged us to look at Duncanville and found us this space, then worked with the Duncanville Economic Development Corporation who gave us a grant to help buy the building."
Balke and McCombs opened Encina on Davis Street in Oak Cliff in the space that was previously home to Bolsa, the buzzy farm-to-table restaurant where Balke had served as chef.
Bolsa closed in 2020, and the couple took it over and transformed it into Encina, their elevated comfort food spot, carrying on Bolsa's tradition as a destination for foodies and neighborhood residents alike.
They've earned praise for their uncomplicated yet adventurous approach on dishes such as beef cheek pastrami, blue cheese-stuffed dates, pork chop with poblano cheddar grits, blackened red fish with avocado & grapefruit, and short ribs with sour cream chive mashed potatoes.
Fan favorites include their trademark blue corn pancakes, pork belly grits, and burgers including their cheeseburger made from a blend of Angus and Wagyu beef with bacon, arugula, and pickles; and their breakfast burger with bacon and sunny-side-up egg.
Fire station in Duncanville in 1956.Courtesy
Their weekend brunch is a legend and they've racked up three CultureMap Tastemakers awards including winning Best Chef in 2021, and making the list of Dallas' 10 Best Restaurants in 2023. They also won a top prize in H-E-B's annual Quest for Texas Best in 2024 for their Blue Corn Butterscotch Pancake Mix.
McCombs says that Isbella will have many similarities to Encina in menu and theme — but for Duncanville.
They've been hard at work on the renovation of the space, which they anticipate will seat about 85 people, with an annex room they added for private events.
"We're going to take it all very slowly — first opening for dinner, then adding brunch and maybe lunch down the road," McCombs says.
One thing they will definitely do is offer a nod to the building's history with memorabilia such as vintage photos.
"Monte has an old Duncanville history book, and we plan to hang some old photos of firemen lined up in front of the building, as an homage to the past," she says.
"We want it to be a neighborhood-focused place like Encina is in Oak Cliff," she says. "A place where you can go for a date night, anniversary, or stop in on the way home from work and have a quick bite. A place where you don't have to get dressed up and make a production out of it, but you can if you want to."
