Chinese Food News

MiYa Chinese restaurant to bring authentic cuisine to East Dallas

MiYa Chinese dumplings.

MiYa

East Dallas residents are about to get their Chinese thanks to MiYa Chinese, opening in Casa Linda Plaza in the former Pei Wei space 9540 Garland Rd. #383. According to a release, it'll open in late November, with a genuine and elevated take on Chinese cuisine, blending traditional flavors with a modern, yet cozy atmosphere.

MiYa is the brainchild of David Romano, an industry veteran with 30-plus years of food and beverage experience; and brand creator and menu visionary Jia Huang, who grew up in China immersed in her family’s restaurant and has 10-plus years of experience in restaurant operations in America.

With a deep understanding of the importance of sharing meals and building relationships around the table, Huang has created a menu that balances authentic Chinese flavors with popular American favorites.

“We’re excited to bring MiYa to East Dallas and offer the community a welcoming space to gather and enjoy delicious Chinese food in a pleasant dining atmosphere,” Huang says in a statement. “Our vision is to create a place where neighbors and friends can come together often, whether it’s for a family dinner, catching up, or for a relaxed weeknight meal. At MiYa, we focus not only on great taste but also on providing a comfortable dining experience with attentive, thoughtful service. We serve our food in generous portions, perfect for sharing, and we also offer a selection of high-quality drinks, including excellent wines I’ve personally curated, all at reasonable prices. My goal is to make MiYa a place for everyone to enjoy regularly—not just for special occasions.”

The culinary team will be led by chef Wei Luo, who trained at a culinary school in China and has 15 years of experience in traditional Chinese kitchens.

The menu will combine delicious passed-down recipes and American classics from handmade dumplings and noodles to dim sum, Crispy Duck, and Orange Chicken. The beautifully designed restaurant will also feature an array of specialty craft cocktails.

There are a wide variety of dumplings including notable standouts like Wagyu beef potstickers. Four soups include hot & sour and veggie tofu with broccoli, snow peas, and carrots. Four fried rice options range from a house fried rice with chicken, beef, & shrimp, to a truffled vegetable fried rice with snow peas and bok choy.

They're doing classic Chinese take-out items like beef with broccoli and orange chicken, plus hand-pulled noodle dishes such as Sichuan Dan Dan with cucumber, carrot, and sesame Dan Dan sauce ranging in price from $14 to $18.

A half-dozen higher-end Chef's Specialties include crispy duck breast, tenderloin peppersteak, and honey walnut prawn, with choice of white or brown rice.

Their goal is to have MiYa Chinese open for takeout and delivery between November 18-24, and then be open for dine-in service to the public on November 25.

Tex-Mex News

Get Tex-Mex and bargain margs at Alexander's Cantina in North Dallas

A Mexican restaurant with a killer happy hour has debuted in North Dallas: Alexander's Cantina & Cocina, a family-owned restaurant and bar, has opened at 4805 Frankford Rd. #105, a space most recently occupied by Casa Don Luis Tex-Mex and before that, a Corner Bakery.

Alexander's is a bigger-and-better spinoff of Alexander's Mex Cuisine, a restaurant opened in Plano in 2023 by Bernardo Garduño and his family, featuring Tex-Mex and street food from his hometown Mexico City.

Garduño worked for many years in the service industry before coming to Dallas in 2015. He crafted Alexander's menu by drawing on his restaurant experience, along with recipes from his mom.

Signature dishes include:

Pambazo — Mexican bread dipped in chili sauce, filled with potatoes, chorizo, and queso, then fried
Alambre — steak, ham, and bacon with onion, peppers, and cheese
Bistek a la Mexicana — steak tips, onion, and bell pepper simmered in a spicy tomato sauce until it turns into a stew

Other crowd-pleasers include chicken mole, brisket tacos, birria, fajitas, enchiladas, and more. They have a big selection of seafood including tacos with salmon and coconut shrimp, plus vegetarian options such as veggie fajitas and spinach enchiladas. One favorite extra: Their chips come not only with salsa but also black bean dip.

The new location has given them room to grow in a way they were unable to do in Plano, Garduño says.

"Plano is doing very well but that location is small, and there was no room to expand," he says. "We did extensive renovations at the Dallas location that included the addition of a bar, as well as room for parties and entertainment, like salsa on Fridays and Saturdays."

The menu at the two locations is basically the same but Dallas has a few new dishes such as mojarra frita, a whole tilapia fried and served with rice, plus carnitas, and a few more tacos, he says.

One item they recently dropped: soft-serve margaritas. Garduño was quick to jump on that early 2026 trend, and Alexander's made many a "soft-serve margarita" list, but the trend turned out to be short-lived.

"It did well for a month, but people went right back to regular margaritas," he says. "Those drinks are fun but they're very sweet. The mix has to be highly sugared in order to get the texture correct. The ingredients and equipment to make it were expensive, which meant we had to charge more for it — $16 as opposed to $10 for our regular margaritas."

Garduño has kept an eye on the trend. "We're not the only place no longer doing it," he says.

Besides, it was not a good fit with Alexander's generous happy hour, featuring $5.50 house margaritas, $6 flavored margaritas, and $4 beer, available from 11 am-6 pm every day at the Plano location, and Sunday-Thursday at Dallas.

"Our happy hour has become one of our trademarks," he says.

tex-mex openings