A gourmet doughnut shop is opening on one of Dallas' busiest streets: Parlor Doughnuts, a chain known for doing a flaky, cronut style of doughnuts, is opening a location on booming Henderson Avenue, at 2802 N. Henderson Ave. in a small standalone building that was most recently Esther Penn, a clothing store.
Construction is just underway and the shop will open in late spring, according to franchisee Ben Burkett.
Parlor was founded in Indiana in 2019 as a coffee shop before they added gourmet cronut-style doughnuts, and subsequently began franchising across the U.S. They now have more than 100 locations and will also ship their doughnuts nationwide.
They opened their first Texas location in 2021 in Fort Worth, and currently have 12 shops in Texas including Lake Worth, McKinney, and Southlake. (There was also a location in Flower Mound which just recently closed.)
Henderson Avenue will be their first in Dallas proper.
Parlor makes their doughnuts using the same kind of laminated dough used for croissants, which gives them a layered texture — like the cronut that became an internet sensation way back in 2013. (Parlor does not call them cronuts because cronuts is a trademarked term.) Thus, no traditional doughnuts here — no yeast raised, no cake doughnuts.
They do coffee and espresso drinks such as cappuccinos and lattes, plus hot chocolate, chai, and matcha drinks, plus doughnuts with decadent toppings and fillings, in more than 20 flavors including their bestselling maple pecan, along with bourbon caramel, turtle cheesecake, and raspberry pistachio.
Iced doughnut from Parlor DoughnutsPhoto courtesy of Parlor
But their menu goes beyond doughnuts with breakfast and lunch items such as avocado toast, acai bowl, breakfast tacos, and two breakfast sandwiches: sausage-biscuit and spinach pesto on a ciabatta bun.
There's also a whole line of decadent milkshakes in matching flavors such as churro and maple pecan.
Burkett became enchanted with Parlor Doughnuts after visiting them in Florida.
"I'd been working in corporate finance but wanted to do my own thing," he says. "I feel like Henderson Avenue is the perfect spot. You have all these great restaurants and nightlife but no place for people in the neighborhood to bring their kids and grab a doughnut and coffee or a light lunch. It fills a gap."
Manny's Mexican Kitchen at CityLine.Photo courtesy of CityLine