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

Spring Arrival

Oak Cliff gets new Spanish-Peruvian restaurant with big-name Dallas chef

Photo courtesy of Ulloa's

Paella will be on the menu.

A new restaurant with a high-profile culinary director will bring Spanish and Peruvian flavors to Dallas' Oak Cliff: Called Ulloa’s, it is coming to 727 Fort Worth Ave. in West Dallas, with a projected opening in March 2027.

The concept is from philanthropists Susan and Woodrow Gandy, who were previously investors in the historic Belmont Hotel just around the corner. They've teamed up with Dallas celebrity chef Kent Rathbun as culinary director, along with Christopher Tunnell as general manager to lead the front of the house.

Rathbun is a name Dallas diners know well, with a resume that includes The Mansion on Turtle Creek, the Landmark Restaurant at the historic Melrose Hotel, Seventeen Seventeen at the Dallas Museum of Art, Abacus, Jasper's, Rathbun’s Blue Plate Kitchen, and more. He's won numerous awards and made multiple appearances on Food Network. He was most recently behind the launch of On The Rocks, an Italian bistro in Burleson.

Chef Kent Rathbun will be the culinary director of Ulloa's. Photo courtesy of Kent Rathbun

Tunnell’s background spans both culinary direction and front-of-house operations. He worked at Los Angeles hot spots Ketchup, Geisha House, and Les Deux, as well as the Mandalay Bay and The Mirage in Las Vegas, before moving to Dallas to open The Mexican, the upscale restaurant in the Design District.

“I am truly excited to partner with Chef Kent Rathbun, whose reputation is amazing — not only in the DFW Metroplex, but in the culinary world,” Tunnell says. “He has been with this project since the beginning, helping develop it; this will be a very chef-driven, culinary-forward restaurant.”

The team's vision for Ulloa’s is both culinary and urban, with hopes of anchoring the corridor and attracting other businesses to Fort Worth Avenue — a stretch connecting downtown Dallas with Oak Cliff that remains somewhat underdeveloped despite its panoramic skyline views.

The restaurant is named for Spanish explorer, astronomer, and scientist Antonio de Ulloa, who spent extensive time in the Mexican peninsula before becoming Louisiana’s first governor. During his travels, Ulloa documented a fogbow — a circular rainbow formed when sunlight meets mist that causes silhouettes standing between the sun and fog to appear ringed in light, a phenomenon known today as “Ulloa’s Rings.”

That vibrant phenomenon inspired both the restaurant's identity and logo. The concept promises "bold, worldly flavors in a welcoming neighborhood setting inspired by exploration and discovery,” the owners say.

Ulloa's Rendering of Ulloa's.Rendering courtesy of Ulloa's

While the menu remains in development, Tunnell describes the culinary direction as “Spanish soul with a Peruvian heart.” The kitchen will merge the coastal flavors of both traditions — ranging from paellas and ceviches to crafted cocktails and signature adaptations by Rathbun.

The 200-seat, two-story space will feature a downstairs dining room, a large bar, and an outdoor patio. Upstairs, plans call for a secondary bar, a private dining room, a patio, and an expansive balcony patio, offering views of the city's skyline and of the Margaret Hunt Hill and Margaret McDermott bridges.

While the upstairs space will be available for private events, the owners intend for it to operate primarily as an organic extension of the main restaurant. The buildout will include a guest elevator along with ample parking, including both self-parking and valet options.

The team says the restaurant will have have an aesthetic that's “warm, theatrical, generous, elegant but alive, with the energy of a great Spanish tapas bar and the soul of Peruvian hospitality.”

Ulloa’s plans to launch with dinner service first, followed by lunch and weekend brunch.

restaurants bars peruvian flavors west dallas oak cliff kent rathbun