Pizza News

Fireside Pies pizza chain closes location at northeast Dallas center

Fireside Pies pizza and salad.

Fireside Pies/Facebook

Dallas pizza chain Fireside Pies has closed a location in the Lake Highlands neighborhood, in the Creekside Shopping Center at 6750 Abrams Rd.

The restaurant, which had been there since 2019, closed on October 2.

A statement from Golden Tree Restaurants, which owns the chain, blamed the closure on the pandemic.

“It’s with a heavy heart that we have decided to close the doors to our beloved Lake Highlands Fireside Pies restaurant. Not all stories surrounding restaurants following the pandemic are good ones–unfortunately, this location did not bounce back after COVID-19 closures. The decision to close was a tough one, but solely based upon business needs. We hope to re-open with another location in the future supporting the awesome Lake Highlands community!”

The closure leaves the chain with three locations: the original on Henderson Avenue, plus Grapevine and Fort Worth, which opened in March 2023.

Fireside Pies, originally founded by chef Nick Badovinus in 2004, was acquired by Golden Tree in 2018, purchased from Dallas-based Chalak Mitra Group who'd owned them since 2014. Golden Tree also owns the Golden Chick chain.

The Lake Highlands location opened in October 2019, which puts them at exactly three years. Customers who tried to visit the restaurant found a For Lease sign on the front door.

>Anchored by an Alamo Drafthouse Cinema movie theater, the Creekside Shopping Center has experienced some turnover with closures that include Surefire BBQ, which closed at the end of 2022; and Yogi's Home Plate, which closed in 2021 and was replaced by a location of seafood chain Shell Shack.

closings

Ice Cream News

Global gourmet ice cream chain debuts in U.S. with 2 Dallas-area shops

Dumont Ice Cream

An ice cream concept from India has made its U.S. debut, right here in Texas: Called Dumont Creamery & Cafe, it's a ice cream chain founded in Hyderabad that now has two locations in the Dallas area.

Their first location was Frisco, which opened at 1951 FM 423 at the end of 2023; a second location opened in late October in Coppell at 1535 S. Belt Line Rd. #160.

Dumont was founded in 1999 by brothers Vivek and Bhashkaar, and currently has 23 locations in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Vijayawada listed on their website.

Bringing the concept to Texas are local franchisees and friends Sai Sashank and Tarang Tirumala, who moved to the U.S. in 2005 to attend college.

Both have successful consulting careers, but craved a taste of home.

Ice cream is the centerpiece at Dumont with more than two dozen flavors, ranging from gourmet to classics to flavors boasting global influences: from Italian-inspired sorbet to a New Zealand-inspired honey ice cream called "hokey pokey."

There is vanilla, chocolate, and mint chocolate chip — but also unique options such as cake and jam, an ice cream with a vanilla base, bites of cake, and spiced jam; and kheer, a coconut ice cream studded with dried fruits and nuts — a nod to the kheer rice pudding that's one of India's favorite desserts.

A single scoop is $4. They have cups and a cute version of waffle cones: shorter and fatter than usual, to provide a greater ratio of ice cream-to-cone.

In addition to ice cream, they have a beverage program with coffee and espresso drinks such as lattes, plus boba tea. There are also special drinks like falooda — an exotic Indian milkshake with rose syrup and vermicelli — as well as limited-edition drinks like iced kheer, a cool beverage version of that same popular rice pudding dessert.

Both locations are spacious, bright, and clean, with pale green banquettes at Frisco, and pale blue chairs and tables at Coppell. Both feature an astronaut theme with statues and framed photos and cartoons on the wall. The Coppell location also has a mural dedicated to great moments in Coppell history.