Deep Ellum News

2 splashy restaurant concepts open side by side in Deep Ellum Dallas

Ghost Donkey

Ghost DOnkey

Not one but two new restaurant-bars are opening in Deep Ellum. It's a sibling arrival from Flagship Restaurant Group, the Omaha-based hospitality company (Blue Sushi Sake Grill, Plank Provisions), located at 2625 Main St., in the former Braindead Brewing space.

Ghost Donkey is a tequila and mezcal bar, with locations in Las Vegas, Auckland, Melbourne, Chicago, Phoenix, Denver, and Omaha. Right next door will be Palma, a Tex-Asian restaurant and bar with a lush, indoor-outdoor space.

According to a release, they'll open on May 5.

Ghost Donkey
Mezcal and tequila bar will offer an extensive selection with agave-forward cocktails and zero-proof creations, garnished with florals. Highlights include:

Mushroom Margarita: Huitlacoche-infused Montelobos, Mezcal Espadín, Nixta licor de elote, agave, and lime
Burro Tropical: Terralta Blanco tequila, Uruapan Charanda blended rum, Chinola passion fruit, Calpico, and lemon
Highland Picnic: Koch Elemental Mezcal, Terralta Reposado tequila, yuzu, lime, agave, and egg white
Al Pastor (Zero-Proof): Pineapple, achiote, lime, taco seasoning, and cilantro
Lavender Sour (Zero-Proof): Lavender, yuzu, honey, and vanilla

The food includes tacos and quesadillas ranging from the Chicken Tinga to Carne Asada and vegetarian Mushroom & Roasted Corn; plus shareable bites, or Antojitos, like Shrimp Ceviche, Guacamole, and Esquites. Nibbles, nachos, tacos, churros.

Decor includes a life-sized donkey adorned in parade florals; neon, eccentric accents; and a sea of multi-colored ceiling lights, with a bar staff that shines as entertainers, Latin-inspired music, and a nightly light show featuring signature red twinkle lights that cast a glow.

Palma
Dallas will be the second location of Palma — the first is in Phoenix — with a lush interior, towering palm trees, a mural wall animated with digital graphics, and a skylight that fills the space with natural light. The indoor-outdoor layout opens onto a sprawling patio lined with fireplaces, fountains, and a canopy of potted and hanging plants, creating a transportive oasis.

Rooted in Asian and Southwestern influences, Palma’s menu blends bold flavors with thoughtful presentation. Offerings include classic and specialty maki rolls, inventive shareables, party platters, main dishes, and desserts. Open for lunch, dinner, happy hour, and weekend brunch, Palma delivers an energetic dining experience set to a lively soundtrack, designed for gathering and staying awhile.

The food is a hipster global mishmash, with everything from sushi to smash burgers to a banh mi cheesesteak, as follows:

Thai Curry Fries with chili mayo
Banh Mi Cheesesteak with Oaxaca cheese, kewpie mayo, pickled daikon, jalapeño, kimchi, and herbs
KFC Crispy Chicken Sandwich with pickled slaw, Korean aioli, and matcha chili crisp
Shrimp Curry Noodles with Chinese broccoli, vadouvan curry, red onion, and ginger-scallion sauce
Galbi Short Ribs with sticky rice, kimchi, crispy soft egg, pickled red cabbage, Korean aioli, and pineapple chili condiment
Ube Bingsu Sundae with shaved ice, white chocolate, coconut, sea salt, and strawberry compote
Five Spice Beignets with dulce de leche and sea salt
Honey Butter Crunch Pain Perdu with bananas foster, corn flakes, vanilla ice cream, and powdered sugar

“Dallas has long been an important market for us, with Blue Sushi Sake Grill thriving in Uptown and Preston Hollow Village, and Plank Provisions growing in Fort Worth,” says Flagship CEO and co-owner Nick Hogan. “With Ghost Donkey and Palma, our goal was to bring concepts that feel fresh and transportive, yet still resonate with the energy of Deep Ellum. The neighborhood is known as one of the city’s most exciting culinary and cultural districts, and we saw an opportunity to contribute something new here. Both brands have built strong followings in other major cities, and we’re excited to see the Dallas community build a connection with them.”

deep-ellum openings

Noodle News

YouTube critic Mike Chen ranks his favorite noodles in Dallas

Pho Pasteur

YouTube food critic Mike Chen, who travels the world spotlighting mostly Asian restaurants for his Strictly Dumpling YouTube channel, recently dropped into Dallas to rank his favorite noodles in town.

Titled "24 Hours Eating The Best NOODLES + DUMPLINGS Around DFW," the video follows Chen as he visits five restaurants, ordering noodles and dumplings at his favorite places as well as new discoveries.

The visit marked a return to DFW for Chen, who briefly resided in North Texas in 2021 and who has previously posted videos covering ramen, Vietnamese food, sushi, and barbecue.

Here's where he ate:

Chef Sun's Noodle and Dumpling
The video starts out with him noting that "there's a lot of new noodle places around the Dallas, Fort Worth, Plano, Frisco area," before entering Chef Sun's Noodle and Dumpling, a Chinese Halal restaurant that makes its own noodles, with locations in Plano and McKinney (which CultureMap covered in May — do you think he saw our story?!).

He raves over the extensive menu, featuring not only noodles but "a bunch of dumplings" and many other options like walnut shrimp and mapo tofu.

He also raves over the price. "Wow — $10 for Biangbiang noodles" [a dish featuring flat noodles with minced garlic, green onion, chili powder] — "only in Texas," he says.

He orders the Big Plate chicken, like a chicken stew with flat noodles, chunks of soft potato, carrots, yellow onion, green onion, bell pepper, and cilantro; as well as a variety of dumplings, including beef, pork, chicken & corn, veggie, and soup dumplings, heaping praise on their light chewy wrapper.

"My philosophy is always, eat the worst first and save the best for last, so let's start with the veggie dumplings," he said.

Pho Pasteur
On Day 2, he goes to Pho Pasteur, a longtime highly acclaimed family-owned chain with locations in Richardson, Arlington, and Carrollton, the location he visits.

"I've been thinking about this place for a long long time," he says. "I remember when I was living here, this was one of my favorites."

He orders pho with fatty brisket — "because here in Texas, whenever you see brisket, you get the brisket," he says.

After taking a sip of the broth, he proclaims, "This is the stuff — I've always said that this place has one of the best, if not THE best broth in America, with such a concentrated beefy flavor, and it's got so much depth."

"This might be one of my most-missed food items after I left Dallas," he says.

z.TAO Marketplace
His next destination is the z.TAO Marketplace, an Asian grocery store and food court in Plano which oddly has not updated its social media presence since 2020. He oohs and aahs over the supermarket's bounty including the many different Asian flavors of Pepsi, Coca Cola, and Fanta, then orders a bowl of hulatang, a traditional thick Northern Chinese soup, hand-pulled dan dan noodles, and a sandwich with chopped pork.

Moriya Shokudo Ramen & Curry
He also visits Moriya Shokudo, which started out in a food court in Koreatown before opening a stand-alone restaurant in Richardson in 2024, and which has won local awards for its ramen and curry.

He orders the garlic ramen and marvels at its garlicky-ness, with a black garlic-flavored tonkotsu broth along with roasted whole garlic cloves.

"This is a really intensely garlicky bowl — to call it intense would be an understatement," he says. "I would say this is a must-try."

Pho Big Bowl
His last place is Pho Big Bowl, a Vietnamese restaurant which started out in Watauga before opening a location in Carrollton in 2022.

He likes the lightness and yet potent beefy flavor of the broth. "I feel like when I'm here in Texas, I don't add nearly as much sriracha as I would at places in New York or Seattle," he says.

"I am really jealous of all the good pho places you have here in the Dallas area," he says. "I feel like, of all the cities in Texas, this area has the best pho, hands down."

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