To-Go News
Dallas team opens chef-driven digital food hall with tacos & more
Many menu items in one place.
A new digital food hall is opening in Dallas featuring concepts created by local chefs. Called OOMI Digital Kitchen, it's a pick-up and delivery concept located at 3510 Ross Ave., founded by Markus Pineyro, owner of Urban Taco.
UPDATE 12-13-2022: The food hall celebrates its grand opening on December 13 from 5-7 pm, and will be giving out free chicken sandwiches to the first 100 people in line.
OOMI goes beyond the traditional fragmented ghost kitchen by allowing customers to choose from different restaurants in one order, facilitated by one hub.
"You are able to mix and match your food. That’s our biggest differentiator," Pineyro says. "Breakfast for dinner, a taco, and a bowl of ramen, OOMI provides different items from different concepts that can be ordered all together under the same ticket."
OOMI will feature up to 10 restaurants, which may change seasonally. Initial brands include WhichWich sandwiches, Austin-based FlyRite Chicken, Fuel America coffee, Acai Revolution, Momo Shack Dumplings and, of course, Urban Taco.
That selection will include five OOMI-owned virtual brands, some featuring input from chefs Uno Immanivong (Chino Chinatown, Red Stix Asian Street Food) and Aaron Nelson (Beckley 1115), as follows:
- Hot Lips – Asian street food including noodles, fried rice, and ramen.
- Bowlrito – Bowls.
- Just Yolking – Breakfast.
- Biscuit Royale – Biscuits!
- Savage Rabbit – Salads.
Pineyro, who has been working on the concept for a couple of years (previously under the name Krave), says he was inspired after observing that an increasing number of Urban Taco's orders — up to 40 percent — were take-out or delivery.
Orders can be placed on the OOMI website or mobile app, or via third-party companies such as UberEats and DoorDash, then picked up at their Ross Ave. store, or delivered within a 5-mile radius. Walk-ins are also welcome.
Making sure the food travels well was a priority, and the OOMI team has fashioned "smart pods" they hope to install inside high-density buildings, where they can leave the food for customer pick-up.
Another distinction is their OOMI "market," offering local goods such as Paciugo ice cream by the pint and Tribal juices, that can be added at checkout as part of the order.
OOMI Digital Kitchen will open in November and will be open Monday-Sunday from 8 am–8 pm.
Smoky garlic hummus from Aba.Photo by Jeff Marini.