Downtown News

The Hampton Social to serve coastal cuisine & rosé in downtown Dallas

Tacos and rose at Hampton Social

dallas.culturemap.com

A buzzy restaurant and bar from Chicago is set to make its downtown Dallas debut: The Hampton Social, famous for its "Rosé All Day" motif, is opening in the former Iron Cactus space at 1520 Main St., with a date set for March 20.

The Hampton Social — "The" is part of the name — is from Parker Hospitality, the Chicago-based hospitality group founded by Brad Parker, and already has multiple locations in Illinois, Colorado, Florida, and Tennessee. Dallas wiill be the 13th but the first in Texas.

The space is a magnificently sprawling 17,224 square feet with four stories that include an expansive indoor, outdoor, and rooftop dining areas, including a 360-degree bar and The Hampton Social’s signature "Rosé All Day" neon sign.

Its goal is to summon the vibe of summer vacation in the Hamptons, with a coastal-inspired design, breezy open spaces, and blue-and-white décor. They'll also host daily live music performances.

Food
The Hampton Social will serve lunch and dinner daily, featuring a coastal-inspired menu. Highlights include:

Crab & Shrimp Bruschetta ($19.95)
Lobster Roll (MKT) served two ways—warm and buttery Manhattan-style or chilled and creamy Maine-style
Honey Glazed Salmon ($29.95), topped with a sweet honey-soy glaze, with sautéed greens, asparagus, and seafood salad

There is also meat: Double Smash Burger ($19.95), Steak Frites ($36.95), Braised Short Rib Over Polenta ($32.95), plus hand-tossed pizzas and pasta.

Brunch is Saturday-Sunday from 10 am-3 pm, with coastal-inspired brunch favorites including Wild Berry French Toast ($18.95); the Sunrise Beach Bowl ($18.95) with Greek yogurt, granola, tropical fruits, and coconut flake; and Fried Chicken Stack ($18.95), their spin on chicken & waffles but with fried chicken, an egg, and sausage gravy on thick-cut French toast.

Drinks
A beverage program led by Beverage Director Carla Lorenzo features a wine list with more than 20 rosé options and specialty cocktails including the signature Hampton Frosé ($15) made with Tito’s Vodka, rose and peach puree; and The Pink Reverie ($17) with vodka, guava, Aperol, a citrus blend and a pink cocktail cloud. Guests can also enjoy a menu of coffee, tea, red and white wine, local beers and zero-proof cocktails.

Members only club
This location will be the first to introduce the Hampton House, an exclusive members-only club that will open shortly after the restaurant’s debut. Designed for high-achieving professionals and entrepreneurs, this private experience is for those seeking to immerse themselves even further in The Hampton Social lifestyle, to connect, unwind and enjoy a vibrant social scene. Membership is by invitation or application only.

Iron Cactus, which was founded in Austin, opened in Dallas in 2012, but closed during the pandemic. The location, overlooking Pegasus Plaza at Main and Akard streets, is about as central to downtown Dallas as it gets — something that Parker Hospitality founder & CEO Brad Parker clearly understands.

"This new location on Main Street holds a special place in the fabric of the city, and we hope to create a vibrant, welcoming space that seamlessly blends into the energy and character of downtown Dallas while introducing something fresh and exciting," Parker says in a statement.

He's also optimistic about Dallas' prospects, something we should all embrace.

“Dallas has experienced incredible growth in recent years, evolving into a premier destination for dining, entertainment, and culture, and we’re honored to introduce a space where guests can experience the coastal-inspired lifestyle The Hampton Social is known for," he says. "From our carefully curated menu to our signature cocktails and lively ambiance, we’re dedicated to offering quality, consistency and hospitality at a price that makes us an accessible go-to spot for Dallas locals and visitors alike.”

downtown openings

Noodle News

YouTube critic Mike Chen ranks his favorite noodles in Dallas

Pho Pasteur

YouTube food critic Mike Chen, who travels the world spotlighting mostly Asian restaurants for his Strictly Dumpling YouTube channel, recently dropped into Dallas to rank his favorite noodles in town.

Titled "24 Hours Eating The Best NOODLES + DUMPLINGS Around DFW," the video follows Chen as he visits five restaurants, ordering noodles and dumplings at his favorite places as well as new discoveries.

The visit marked a return to DFW for Chen, who briefly resided in North Texas in 2021 and who has previously posted videos covering ramen, Vietnamese food, sushi, and barbecue.

Here's where he ate:

Chef Sun's Noodle and Dumpling
The video starts out with him noting that "there's a lot of new noodle places around the Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano, Frisco area," before entering Chef Sun's Noodle and Dumpling, a Chinese Halal restaurant that makes its own noodles, with locations in Plano and McKinney (which CultureMap covered in May — do you think he saw our story?!).

He raves over the extensive menu, featuring not only noodles but "a bunch of dumplings" and many other options like walnut shrimp and mapo tofu.

He also raves over the price. "Wow — $10 for Biangbiang noodles" [a dish featuring flat noodles with minced garlic, green onion, chili powder] — "only in Texas," he says.

He orders the Big Plate chicken, like a chicken stew with flat noodles, chunks of soft potato, carrots, yellow onion, green onion, bell pepper, and cilantro; as well as a variety of dumplings, including beef, pork, chicken & corn, veggie, and soup dumplings, heaping praise on their light chewy wrapper.

"My philosophy is always, eat the worst first and save the best for last, so let's start with the veggie dumplings," he said.

Pho Pasteur
On Day 2, he goes to Pho Pasteur, a longtime highly acclaimed family-owned chain with locations in Richardson, Arlington, and Carrollton, the location he visits.

"I've been thinking about this place for a long long time," he says. "I remember when I was living here, this was one of my favorites."

He orders pho with fatty brisket — "because here in Texas, whenever you see brisket, you get the brisket," he says.

After taking a sip of the broth, he proclaims, "This is the stuff — I've always said that this place has one of the best, if not THE best broth in America, with such a concentrated beefy flavor, and it's got so much depth."

"This might be one of my most-missed food items after I left Dallas," he says.

z.TAO Marketplace
His next destination is the z.TAO Marketplace, an Asian grocery store and food court in Plano which oddly has not updated its social media presence since 2020. He oohs and aahs over the supermarket's bounty including the many different Asian flavors of Pepsi, Coca Cola, and Fanta, then orders a bowl of hulatang, a traditional thick Northern Chinese soup, hand-pulled dan dan noodles, and a sandwich with chopped pork.

Moriya Shokudo Ramen & Curry
He also visits Moriya Shokudo, which started out in a food court in Koreatown before opening a stand-alone restaurant in Richardson in 2024, and which has won local awards for its ramen and curry.

He orders the garlic ramen and marvels at its garlicky-ness, with a black garlic-flavored tonkotsu broth along with roasted whole garlic cloves.

"This is a really intensely garlicky bowl — to call it intense would be an understatement," he says. "I would say this is a must-try."

Pho Big Bowl
His last place is Pho Big Bowl, a Vietnamese restaurant which started out in Watauga before opening a location in Carrollton in 2022.

He likes the lightness and yet potent beefy flavor of the broth. "I feel like when I'm here in Texas, I don't add nearly as much sriracha as I would at places in New York or Seattle," he says.

"I am really jealous of all the good pho places you have here in the Dallas area," he says. "I feel like, of all the cities in Texas, this area has the best pho, hands down."

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