Chicken News

Guy Fieri chicken restaurant to open first Texas location in Dallas

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Chicken Guy!

Chicken a la Guy Fieri is coming to Dallas: Chicken Guy!, the fast casual restaurant chain from celebrity chef and Emmy Award-winning TV host Guy Fieri, is opening its first ever Texas location in Preston Hollow Village at 7859 Walnut Hill Ln. #190.

According to a release, it'll open on February 6.

Chicken Guy! is a collaboration between Fieri and restaurateur Robert Earl, former CEO of Hard Rock Cafe and current chairman of Earl Enterprises (Buca di Beppo, Bertucci's, Brio Italian Grille, Bravo Italian Kitchen).

They debuted Chicken Guy! in 2018, when they opened the first location at Walt Disney World in Florida. The concept is primarly about tenders: solo, or in sandwiches and salads, accompanied by an abundance of sauces including Fieri's famous Donkey sauce.

The chicken gets brined, which keeps it moist; Fieri adds pickle juice to the brine along with lemon and buttermilk.The tenders are available solo or stacked in a small assortment of sandwiches such as the BLAT with bacon, lettuce, avocado crema, tomato, and buttermilk ranch. Sandwiches start at $7.

Earl and his son Robbie have been on the vanguard of virtual kitchens and delivery-only concepts, and have already teamed with Fieri on Guy Fieri's Flavortown Kitchen, a delivery-only concept featuring wings and burgers, which operates out of Brio Italian Grille and Buca di Beppo locations.

Fieri also has Guy Fieri's Taco Joint, a restaurant at Texas Live, the entertainment district in Arlington.

Chicken Guy! Dallas is locally owned and operated by Kris and Ram Daswani, who each have over a decade of experience in franchise management, hospitality and food service. The brothers plan to bring multiple Chicken Guy! locations to the metroplex over the next years.

“As fans of Guy Fieri, Robert Earl and Chicken Guy!, we think local diners will welcome the bold new flavors and high energy vibes that the brand brings to Texas and the Dallas food scene,” says Kris Daswani. “The central Preston Hollow Village location is a popular shopping and dining destination, making it the perfect spot a to introduce the brand to a host of new Chicken Guy! fans.”

Fieri has been no stranger to Dallas lately: He came to town in December, officially to do a meet & greet for his Santo Spirits tequila brand, but unofficially to do a series of tapings at seven Dallas-area restaueants for his perennially popular Food Network show Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. One of those tapings — at East Dallas restaurant Hello Dumpling — is already scheduled to air in mid-February.

A grand opening event at Chicken Guy! will take place on February 6 at 4:30 pm. Guests who show up dressed like Guy Fieri will have a chance to win prizes, signed books, framed photos, and wine bottles from Hunt & Ryde Winery autographed by Guy Fieri.

Dallas is not the only city to welcome a new new Chicken Guy!: A location has just opened in New York's Times Square, and another opened in December in California’s Napa Valley.

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All You Can Eat News

Eki Sushi will bring buzzy sushi experience to southwest Dallas 'burb

A sushi restaurant with a little something extra is coming to Cedar Hill, on the southwest corner of Dallas: Called Eki Sushi, it'll open at 649 Uptown Blvd., where it will bring two buzzy options to a neighborhood eager to have them.

The restaurant is opening in a former Applebee’s, and is from a team that includes Meng Yang and Ben Zhu, who've operated other Asian restaurants in Texas. A spokesperson says they chose Cedar Hill, which is 18 miles southwest of downtown Dallas and just below Duncanville, because it's an up-and-coming area without many sushi restaurants so far.

They'll open in mid- to late-September.

Eki Sushi will offer:

a "revolving sushi" experience, in which pre-plated sushi is placed on a conveyor belt that circulates past tables, allowing diners to pluck them as they pass
"AYCE" all-you-can-eat sushi, in which diners pay a set price and order as much as they want

Both of these options have proven to be highly appealing to diners. The revolving sushi experience, for example, is a novelty with a sense of "fun" that takes it beyond the usual restaurant meal; entire chains are dedicated to the experience such as Kura Revolving Sushi Bar, which has numerous locations in the DFW area.

AYCE sushi places, also plentiful around DFW, are a lure for those seeking variety and instant gratification. And like a buffet, they allow diners unfamiliar with a cuisine to try a variety of dishes at a low-risk low price.

That said, Eki will follow the lead of many AYCE places that monitor your consumption to avoid waste; if you don't finish the food you order, you get charged regular price. There's also a 90-minute limit — no all-day gluttony — and it's priced differently depending on time of day: $20 at lunch, $30 at dinner, and $31 on weekends.

Eki has a massive menu with sashimi, sushi rolls, 25 specialty rolls from the prototypical Rainbow Roll with crab, cucumber, and avocado, draped with tuna and salmon, to the Sweetheart Roll with spicy tuna, cucumber, and avocado, wrapped in soy paper as well as seaweed and artfully fashioned into a heart-shaped roll.

In addition to sushi, the menu also offers Asian appetizers like edamame, spring rolls, egg rolls, tempura, and gyoza, plus wings and French fries, which are surely welcome in any restaurant, regardless of cuisine.

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