A fun casual hangout is coming to Dallas: Called Kanpai Coffee + Beer Garden, it's a day-to-night concept from a team that includes acclaimed Austin chef Michael Carranza, and will open in Deep Ellum this summer in the former Mama Tried space at 215 Henry St.

UPDATE 9-9-2024: Kanpai makes its debut on September 9 and will celebrate a soft opening from September 9-13, featuring dishes such as their panko-fried pork with cabbage and kewpie mayo on Texas toast.
____________________________________

Carranza is the entrepreneurial whizkid chef whose portfolio includes buzzy Austin restaurants such as Tare, his omakase speakeasy, and Texas Sushiko, his innovative hand-roll spot which was nominated for a Tastemakers Award for Best New Restaurant in 2022.

Kanpai will serve as a relaxed meeting place — a great spot for a casual date or just hanging out, with a focus on quality coffee, food, and drinks for a reasonable price.

Helping to make Kanpai happen are Carranza's friends and partners Bonham White, a graduate of SMU, and Harry Huynh, a weekend chef who has competed at cooking events.

"We're hoping to bring in a low-key approachable place that's family oriented, with a backyard feel, where you hang out and have a drink and a bite," Carranza says.

The Asian-inspired menu will take its cues from some of Carranza's other restaurants such the famous hand rolls from Texas Sushiko, as well as his past experience working for restaurants such as Uchi, Musashino, and Minamoto.

"It'll be Asian inspired with hand rolls and yakitori skewers — not strictly a Japanese restaurant, but with nuances of Texas, based on the ingredients and food that people are doing here now," he says. "Things like sushi bites with salsa verde, or our take on Frito pie, but featuring rice with tuna poke and spicy mayo."

Their coffee program will center on coffee from Dallas roaster Noble Coyote, and they'll also offer Noble Coyote's nitro cold brew on tap. One of the perks of the Mama Tried space is its huge tap line that will accommodate not only nitro coffee and the usual local beers, but batch cocktails, as well.

Carranza says they'll open for coffee in the morning and lunch— "then at 5 pm, bartenders will come in and mix up some cocktails," he says. "That outdoor area Is such a nice space, we're adding tables with sunshades where people can just hang out."

It's a touch of Austin in Dallas, where Carranza says they all have a connection: "My mother is on the Dallas Police force, Bonham went to school at SMU, and it's been a dream of mine to open a place in the area — now coming to fruition," he says.