Working Holiday News

Dallas restaurants are turning Labor Day into a 3-day weekend

Fun people having brunch at Haywire

Haywire

Labor Day is the federal holiday honoring American working stiffs — a holiday one used to celebrate at a backyard barbecue or picnic. There are surely plenty who take that route. But for others, every holiday is an excuse for brunch and/or cocktails, and/or both, and that's what this list is about.

Here are restaurants and some hotels doing their best to turn Labor Day into a three-day weekend.

Cantina Laredo
Tex-Mex chain will bring back its USA ’Rita, a patriotic twist on the restaurant’s signature Casa ’Rita — a colorfully layered red, white and blue frozen margarita with flavors of blue Curaҫao and strawberry puree. The USA ‘Rita will be available from Friday August 29-Monday, September 1 at the locations in Addison (4546 Belt Line Rd.) and Frisco (1125 Legacy Dr.)

The Charlotte
Henderson Avenue spot will host an All-Day Happy Hour on Monday, September 1, featuring favorites such as the Smash Burger or Wagyu Glizzy, alongside cocktails like the Margarita, Espresso Martini, frozen Peach Bellini, and Ranch Water, all for $9.

City Works Eatery & Pour House
Fort Worth is the only Texas location of this Chicago-based chain with chef-driven food and craft beer on tap, and they'll be open for brunch on Labor Day, Monday — the one day of year you can celebrate a Monday off with brunch. The menu will include a breakfast burger (with egg, candied bacon, arugula, cheddar, and fries); bananas Foster pancakes with rum caramel & spiced walnuts; brunch shots like Cinnamon Toast with Fireball and rumChata; and a Mini Espresso Martini with Absolut, Kahlua, and Owen’s nitro-infused espresso.

Del Frisco’s Double Eagle
Steakhouse is hosting a shareable feast for two, from August 28-September 1, featuring a 32-oz Prime Porterhouse + sides, plus salad, plus dessert for $155.

Del Frisco's Grille
The upscale American grill chain will offer a Labor Day special, extending from August 28-September 1, featuring a half rack of ribs glazed in BBQ sauce, served with potato salad and street corn for $25. At all three locations: Plano (7200 Bishop Rd. #D9), Southlake (1200 E. Southlake Blvd.), and Fort Worth (154 East 3rd St.).

Fish City Grill
Fish City Grill locations will be offering a Cajun shrimp boil special with Gulf shrimp, Andouille sausage, corn, potato, and a toasted baguette for $19. Select oysters are $2, and they also have drink specials: rose bottles half off, margaritas for $5, and mystic mermaids for $2. Available August 30-September 1 at Burleson, Mansfield, Richardson, Flower Mound, Lake Highlands, Preston-Royal, Prosper, and Watters Creek in Allen, plus Half Shells at Plano Legacy and Dallas Snider Plaza.

The Hampton Social
Downtown brunch spot is adding an extra day of brunching, beyond its usual Saturday-Sunday, on Labor Day Monday, from 10 am–3 pm with dishes like wild berry French toast, lobster rolls, and steak & eggs, plus cocktails such as the signature Hampton frosé and espresso martinis.

Haywire
Enjoy Hill Country-inspired brunch from Wagyu pastrami hash to cinnamon-orange pancakes to barbacoa chilaquiles: Saturday August 30–Monday, September 1, when they'll be open until 3 pm.

The Henry
Uptown-adjacent restaurant and bar that's part of Fox Restaurants Concepts (Flower Child, Culinary Dropout) will extend its inordinately popular Saturday-and-Sunday weekend brunch to Labor Day, with the same menu of dishes such as egg white turkey omelet, harvest bowl, honey hot fried chicken sandwich, and avocado toast.

Ida Claire
Southern restaurant will host a three-day Labor Day weekend brunch, with pull-apart blueberry biscuits, fried chicken, creme brulee French toast, lemon-poppyseed pancakes, mimosas, and more. Saturday-Sunday August 30-31, 9 am-4 pm, Monday September 1 from 11 am-4 pm, and they'll also host a regular breakfast on Labor Day from 8-11 am.

JOA Grill
Korean BBQ spot is usually closed on Mondays, but it will open on Monday, September 1 for dinner, with a variety of menu items from their “Taste of JOA” including meats to grill at the table, pork kimchi stew, and tofu steak. Sounds intriguing!

Santa Cabana Weekend at Hotel Anatole with Santa and Mrs. Claus in their summer togs.Hotel Anatole

Mexican Sugar
Latin-inspired brunch with vanilla cinnamon pancakes, steak & eggs, and cocktails. Saturday, August 30–Monday, September 1 from 11 am–3 pm.

North Italia
Italian restaurant is sending off summer with a celebratory and discounted toast: From Saturday, August 30-Monday, September 1, they'll offer their limited-edition $15 Summer Sips cocktails — Watermelon Sugar, Pink Pony, Strawberry Blush, Maneater — for $10. That's $5 off each drink — one third off.

Sixty Vines
Escape to wine country with vineyard-style dining and shared plates including orange morning bread, tuna crudo, or Spanish-style albondigas, with a BYO Mimosa Bar featuring fruits and juices. Brunch is served all three days: August 30-September 1 from 11 am-3 pm.

Whiskey Cake
Local American chain is rolling out a new brunch menu and they're debuting it on Labor Day weekend, when brunch will run for three days straight — Saturday-Monday. New dishes and cocktails include the B.L.T. Toast with candied bacon, steak hash with grilled flat iron and avocado hollandaise, and deviled eggs with a Bloody Mary twist.

HOTELS

Hilton Anatole Santa Cabana Weekend
Four-day event from August 29-September 1brings Santa and Ms. Claus to the Hilton Anatole's JadeWaters Resort Pool Complex for poolside family-friendly activities and a sneak peek of the hotel’s signature Christmas at the Anatole programming, including holiday crafts and photo ops with a giant polar bear, train rides, foam parties, themed food & beverage offerings like Christmas cookies and snow cones. If you're not staying at the hotel, you can join the fun with a day pass via ResortPass.

Virgin Hotels Dallas Celebrate Labor Day Weekend
Expect fun all weekend long at the Design District hotel, from August 29-September1, with rooftop pool parties, pilates & Patrón, drag brunch, and sunset swims. Book a room at Virgin Hotels Dallas for suite accommodations and pool access, or reserve a VIP table at The Pool Club for spritzes, margaritas, and frozen specialties. [Note: Non-hotel guests must purchase a $25 day pass or VIP reservation for pool entry.]

brunch holidays

Burger News

Family-owned Patty Lou's Smashburgers will open in old downtown Plano

Photo by Sara Aurora Cimminiello on Unsplash

Smashburger

A new restaurant starring a buzzy burger is coming to old downtown Plano: Called Patty Lou's Smashburgers, it will feature the namesake smashburger, and will open at 1004 E. 14th St. #105, in a historic location that was most recently home to a Starbucks.

Patty Lou's is a new concept from Urban Family Concepts, the hospitality company whose other restaurants include Urban Seafood Co., Urban Rio Cantina & Grill, and Italian restaurant Urban Crust, all located in the downtown Plano area.

Patty Lou's is their burger entry, a quick-service spot serving smashburgers, the flattened version of a burger with crisp edges that's been a hot trend for the past year.

According to Urban Family Concepts partner and spokesperson Dana Blaugrund, the restaurant will open in late spring.

Patty Lou's is also a sweet homage to a family member — named for Patty Lou Peters, of "Patty Lou and her Texas Sweethearts" fame, an all-female country & Western / Western swing group founded in the '40s, when female groups were a rarity.

Patty Lou was the mother of Bonnie Shea, who co-founded Urban Family Concepts with her husband Nathan Shea. Infusing the personal touch into everything they do is part of the company DNA, says Urban partner Michael Lee.

"Urban is generally driven by what we like," Lee says. "Urban Rio, our Mexican concept, came about because Bonnie loved that cuisine, and Urban Seafood Company, Nate loves seafood. Burgers are a favorite of their son-in-laws."

Their version of the smashburger will feature American cheese and onions that melt into the meat, Lee says. They'll be served on potato buns, and there'll be some toppings — but they won't go too crazy.

"It'll have onions, lettuce, and pickle, but we're going to stay minimal, with additional toppings on the side," he says. "Going overboard with ingredients can get complicated. Our goal is, very simple burgers that taste very good, at a value price, so that everyone can enjoy coming back and getting a burger."

The menu will also feature smashed chicken burgers, hand-cut French fries skin on, lightly battered onion rings, and milkshakes. They'll also serve alcohol, including bottled beers, wine by the glass, and a signature frozen cocktail. Eventually, they'll add specials like a burger of the month.

The location was originally home to the Ice House, built in 1917, an institution that provided ice products to Plano residents and businesses, says Urban partner Payton Hickey.

"You could pull up and get a block of ice from workers with tongs," Hickey says. "During remodeling, we could still see the raised floor where the freezer was, where they kept the ice."

They operated a licensed location of Starbucks in that space until 2024, when Starbucks opened a store nearby with a drive-thru in the former longtime Jack in the Box at 15th Street and US-75.

Decor at Patty Lou's will embrace a diner feel with counter seating, while incorporating elements from Patty Lou Peter's life, Blaugrund says. (It's a nice coincidence that her name syncs up with "hamburger patty.")

"We'll have her original guitar and some memorabilia in the restaurant — a cool mixture of country music and burger restaurant," Blaugrund says.

burgers openings