Restaurant News Roundup

Doughnuts, pies, and cupcakes make this Dallas restaurant news indulgent

Pricey pies at Crown Block

Kathy Tran

This roundup of dining news around Dallas has a temporal feeling, with lots of seasonal specials, summer menus, and limited-edition items. Nothing lasts forever, and that's especially true in this roundup. There's pie, beer, burgers, and egads, an early sighting of pumpkin.

Here's what's happening in Dallas restaurant news:

Parlour Doughnuts has opened a location in McKinney, at 5100 Stacy Rd. #950. The location is from franchisees Josh and Miranda Houston, and represents the fourth in the DFW area, following Flower Mound, Lake Worth, and Southlake; there's also a location in Houston. Parlor was founded in Indiana as a coffee shop before they added cronut-style doughnuts, and subsequently began franchising across the U.S. They made their Texas debut in 2021. They do espresso drinks such as cappuccinos and lattes, plus hot chocolate, chai, and matcha, plus doughnuts with decadent toppings and fillings, in flavors such as maple pecan, bourbon caramel, turtle cheesecake, and raspberry pistachio. There's also a menu of breakfast items such as avocado toast, acai bowl, breakfast tacos, and breakfast sandwiches, plus milkshakes.

Stackhouse Burgers on Gaston Avenue is closed until further notice due to a fire that caused significant damage. According to owner Dimitrios Ioannides, a car ran into the fence separating Stackhouse and the business next door and caught fire. The fire spread to Stackhouse. A GoFundMe has been launched with the ambitious amount of $50,000.

The Burger Shop, a burger joint in Forney from Dallas College/El Centro grad Corey Ahrens, recently opened a second location in Richardson at 101 S Coit Rd. #1 at Belt Line Road.

III Forks has launched a new menu with 10 new appetizers, steaks, and sides. The stars are two Japanese Wagyu steaks from the Miyazaki prefecture of Japan. The biggest change is the increase in appetizers, with five new appetizers and one soup. New entries include Ahi Tuna, Chilled Seafood Platter, Scallops with Bacon Jam, Chicken Fried Lobster, Beef Croustades, and Lobster Bisque. New sides include Sauteed Spinach and Six Cheese Potatoes. Six cheeses sounds like the latest permutation of the multi-cheese mac & cheese trend, which itself is so silly.

Asador at the Renaissance Dallas Hotel has a new summer menu with dishes such as ceviche with redfish, red onions, watermelon radish; watermelon salad with, red onion, queso fresco, pepitas, fresno chili, cucumber, jicama; a new vegan Earth Bowl entree with sweet potato noodles, zucchini, bok choy, red onions, peppers, mushrooms, in coconut ginger sauce. New summer sips include a tiki drink with coconut rum, pineapple juice, & coconut milk, and the Japanese Blossom with Suntori whiskey and midori.

Ocean Prime Dallas has a new lunch menu Monday-Friday from 11 am-3:45 pm with dishes that include a steak sandwich with shaved ribeye on a toasted hoagie roll with pickled tomatoes, arugula, provolone, and crispy onions; salmon BLT on griddled sourdough; market fish with crab fried rice; and a rotating sushi roll that changes weekly.

Happiest Hour has a new Hoedown Brunch, Saturdays from 12-4 pm with a DJ spinning country hits, line dancing on the patio, and a Southern-inspired menu with chicken fried steak & eggs, pulled pork benedict, biscuits & gravy, brisket hash, and shareable cocktails for 8-10 people.

Loro has launched two specials at both its Dallas and Addison locations: The Hot Honey Fried Chicken, available Tuesday-Wednesday through September, consists of fried chicken drizzled with Thai chili hot honey and a yuzu kosho potato salad, for $17.50. The Lunch Special is a three-course lunch with appetizer, main, and chocolate chip cookie, for $24 available through September 3 from 11 am-2 pm with choices from corn fritter, arugula & melon salad, cabbage salad, onion-cheddar burger, pulled pork sandwich, or rice bowls.

Trova Wine + Market has four new summertime dishes: The Chauncey sandwich with fennel salami, Oro Italian cheese, olive + pimento tapenade, harissa aioli, champagne vinegar-dressed microgreens, on grilled panini bread; Fennel & Citrus salad; Smoked Salmon Spread served with everything bagel crostini; and Strawberry Key Lime Pie.

Fish City Grill and Half Shells have two chalkboard specials available through August: Jalapeno Bacon Mahi Tacos, featuring Mahi Mahi, jalapeños, bacon, chipotle aioli, and Cuban black beans & rice for $15; and Miso Glazed Black Cod with bok choy, sugar snap peas, and white rice for $27.

Birdcall, the chicken sandwich chain with a location at 3232 E. Hebron Pkwy. in Carrollton, has a new monthly sandwich: the Tikka Masala with chicken, provolone cheese, tikka sauce, Romaine, and tomato, available through September 5.

Hopdoddy has revealed their August Burger of the Month: The Bodega Burger, inspired by a New York bodega, wrapped in deli-style paper and topped with chopped cheese patty, bread & butter pickles, spicy ketchup, lettuce, tomato, and doddy mayo.

Pokeworks has a new bowl featuring lobster, with surimi, Mandarin oranges, veggies, and Ponzu sauce over white rice, $14 for regular, $17 for large, available through October 3 at its seven DFW-area locations in Addison, Arlington, Dallas, Richardson, and Southlake.

Bonefish Grill has a Snow Crab entrée with a pound of snow crab legs and a choice of two sides for $25, available until September 4.

Cotton Patch Cafe has a new "10 Under $10" value menu featuring junior portions of iconic dishes like chicken fried steak, chicken & dumplings, and meatloaf, perfect for a quick lunch.

Salata has added Spicy Shrimp to its lineup, and brought back a seasonal topping for summer: Watermelon. Spicy Shrimp follows Salata's addition of Angus beef steak last summer. Get them in two new salads: Spicy Shrimp Salad and Baja Watermelon Salad featuring beets, cucumber, jicama, edamame, cilantro, and feta cheese.

Tacodeli has a new Sweet & Spicy Taco available through August with pork, spicy serrano glaze, cilantro, and pickled onions; and a new Melon Agua Fresca made with fresh cantaloupe, solo or available to add as a swirl to a frozen margarita for $1. They're also featuring corn from J&B Farms in Hondo, Texas, and jalapeños from Basse Farms in Fredericksburg, grown solely for Tacodeli.

Fuzzy's Taco Shop has a new limited-time "Dip Trippin’ Trio with three full-sized dips: fire-roasted arbol chile salsa, guacamole, and queso with pico de gallo. Priced from $10 to $13, depending on location, through September 4.

Freebirds World Burrito now has Prime Rib as a protein for any entrée, burrito, bowl, salad, and more at all 64 locations across Texas while supplies last.

SusieCakes has launched a limited-edition Taylor Swift-inspired set of cupcakes. Sold by the dozen ($99), they include 4 vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream, 4 chocolate cupcakes with vanilla buttercream, and 4 red velvet cupcakes. Available at the Preston Center location through September 4, 24-hour pre-order required.

Crown Block in the Reunion Tower has added four pies to its dessert menu: Cherry, Key Lime, Peach-Plum, and Double Chocolate. They're $12 each or $34 for a flight of 3 pies, which is $2 off if you were to buy the three pies separately and not in a flight.

Cowboy Chicken in Forney, at Shafer Plaza At Mustang Creek, is celebrating the fact that it's the only Cowboy Chicken with a drive-thru and is offering a free peach cobbler with every order placed at the drive-thru through August. Let's hear it for disposable containers!

Glow Beverages Inc. is now available in more than 900 stores in Texas including Albertsons, Market Street, Randall’s, Tom Thumb, and United Supermarkets. The product line includes Glow Sparkling Hydration, Glow Sparkling Energy, and Glow Ultra Smooth Alkaline Water.

Lakewood Brewing Co. has made an SMU-themed beer. Called Pony Pils, it's a 4.5% American Golden Lager which founder and SMU grad Wim Bens says is light and crisp. It's on tap in a limited deployment and will be on shelves in August.

Avner Samuel, Dallas chef and former restaurateur, is doing catering and meal preparation with weekend offerings such as Avner’s Mediterranean Meal, available August 4-5 with falafel, Mother’s Salad, baba ganoush, dolmas, pita bread, beet salad, Moroccan carrot salad, and hummus. It's $35 per per plus $12 delivery, such a deal. Cash or Zelle only. Call 214-304-5564 or email avnersamuel56@gmail.com.

7-Eleven is already rolling out Pumpkin Things. Too soon, 7-Eleven! The lineup includes Pumpkin Spice Latte, Pumpkin Coffee, and a limited-time Apple Cider Donut, an old-fashioned doughnut glazed and coated with apple cider sauce. "We know our customers wait all year long for their favorite fall flavors, so we decided to break out the pumpkin a little bit early this year," says 7-Eleven senior VP Dennis Phelps.

Al Biernat's is celebrating its 25th anniversary with some fanfare that includes merchandise such as hats, aprons, and a yearbook diners can sign and share their favorite memory. In the yearbook, you will find familiar faces through the years, with photos of the early years, holidays, behind-the-scenes moments, and celebrity patrons such as Mario Lopez, Will Ferrell, Dr. Phil McGraw, Chef Nobu Matsuhisa, Eva Longoria, Conan O’ Brian, Dak Prescott, Tony Romo, and countless more.

All the Restaurant News

Holiday week is not slowing down this round of Dallas restaurant news

Shogun

This may be a holiday week but the Dallas restaurant scene is not slacking, with a whole wave of restaurants that are newly open or are just about to. There are also new menus, special dishes, and a nice celebrity tout for a local celebrity beer.

Here's what's happening in Dallas restaurant news:

Sidelines Sports Tavern, a short-lived sports bar in Frisco just closed. It was the latest occupant of a space at 307 Main St. #105 at the corner of 423, which has had its share of turnover, starting out as Woody's Bar Kitchen, which closed in 2024. Sidelines opened in February 2025, and now it is gone.

Ateliê, a new restaurant from chef Wyl Lima, opened in Bishop Arts on December 15 at at 365 W. Jefferson Blvd. — a permanent home following years of underground dinners. It opens with a 12-item menu including vegetable-forward dishes such as Roasted Carrots with tofu curry, Garden Salad with frisée, fried egg, & radish, Mushroom Croquettes, Turkey Hot Pocket with truffle mornay & smoked gouda, Wagyu Melt with pastrami & caramelized onions, Fried Rice with egg yolk, garlic crisp, & nori, Cacio e Pepe, Lamb Shank with pomegranate & couscous, skirt steak with piquillo salsa and yuca, and Half Roasted Chicken with sweet plantains and Mediterranean chutney.

Noodle One is a new Asian restaurant in Frisco, 3311 Preston Rd. #1 in the former Nations diner space, serving dishes like beef noodle soup, stir-fried noodles, and wok-tossed fried rice. They specialize in handmade noodles — including a guy making them in plain view — along with lamb skewers, dumplings, and fried rice. owners are from Lanzhou, capital of the Gansu province in China. Nations closed that location in October but still has locations in Sunnyvale, Denton, Arlington, and Sachse.

Flying Fish, the Dallas-based mostly-Cajun seafood chain, is opening a location in Plano, in the former Dickeys space at 4032 Preston Rd., across from the H-E-B just south of Spring Creek Parkway. According to a spokesperson, they're in the thick of a remodeling with a grand opening coming in early 2026.

Caffe:in is a new restaurant and boba shop in Plano at 101 Spring Creek Pkwy. #735 on the northwest corner of US-75 in the same shopping center as 99 Ranch, taking over the space previously occupied by Tiger Sugar, another drink chain. The concept hails from California and specializes in authentic Taiwanese and Malaysian boba, desserts, and snacks such as Taiwanese popcorn chicken, a Malaysian street burger, and shaved ice topped with mango and cream — bringing back memories for California transplants.

Hoja Bubble Tea and Asian Street Food, an Asian restaurant that opened at 812 W. Spring Creek Pkwy. #208 in Plano in 2023, is another purveyor of Taiwanese Popcorn Chicken. Surely there is a third, so we can make it an official trend. Often called Taiwan’s favorite street food, the chicken comes in bite-size pieces, featuring a crunchy coating made with potato flour and flavored with five-spice seasoning and basil leaves.

Shogun Japanese Grill & Sushi Bar, a chain based in Houston, just opened its first DFW location in Plano, at 3916 Dallas Pkwy., in the space left vacant by Pappas Delta Blues Smokehouse, the upscale barbecue restaurant from Houston-based Pappas Restaurants which closed in 2024 after five years. Shogun, which is no relation to the Shogun in McKinney, or any other Shogun in the DFW area, serves sushi, sushi rolls — with a big selection of both cooked and raw — plus hibachi, hotpot, skewers, tempura, yakisoba noodles, plus favorites like teriyaki chicken and bento boxes. They're part of Shogun group from Houston which has 22 locations across Texas including Houston, Austin, and San Antonio — all cities which coincidentally have CultureMap bureaus as well.

Elm & Good, the restaurant at the historic 1916 Kimpton Pittman Hotel in Deep Ellum, has a new menu from newish chef JV Hernandez, which features a "modern American tavern" identity, with shareable plates and comfort-driven mains. Highlights include koji-aged Manhattan steak, cider-braised pork shank, Texas wild boar bolognese, hamachi crudo, and a warm sticky toffee cake based on his grandmother’s recipe. A native of Puerto Rico native and Dallas-trained chef, Hernandez grew up working on his great-grandmother’s farm, trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Dallas, and cooked in fine-dining kitchens from Maine to Denver to Salt Lake City alongside Michelin and James Beard recognized teams. A signature dish is the Puffy Potatoes — crisp, hollow potatoes with gribiche, parmesan, and chives, designed for the center of the table.

Soy Cowboy, the modern pan-Asian restaurant at Loews Arlington Hotel, has launched a new Dim Sum menu featuring sharable dishes like chicken dumplings, lobster wontons, Wagyu gyoza, crab tacos, Korean BBQ ribs, a variety of sushi rolls, plus sake flights and brunch cocktails available during daytime service.

Mirador in downtown Dallas is debuting new menus for weekday lunch and Saturday brunch which they say have a healthier slant for after the holidays. Highlights include chef’s selection of pickles, Caesar salad, farro bowl, lobster Cobb — although that dish has egg yolks and bacon, so can you really call that healthy? — wild mushrooms, chicken paillard with carrots & pickled golden raisins, ube bowl with fruit, and scrambled eggs with rosemary ham, also not particularly healthy, but whatever.

Grimaldi's, the pizza chain, has a new menu of winter specials, available through March 2 featuring the Duo Pizza with tomato and pesto sauce, topped with pepperoni and spicy cup ‘n’ char sausage; Cherry Pecan Salad with spinach and goat cheese; Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake; and Black Cherry Cheesecake.There are also drinks including a mocktail with cranberry juice, and a black cherry spritz with Aperol and Prosecco.

Mister O1 Pizza, the artisan pizza chain, has teamed up with Terry Blacks BBQ on the limited-edition Terry Black’s Brisket Pizza featuring Mister O1’s signature thin crust topped with brisket, tomato sauce, mozzarella, red onions, jalapeño, dill pickles, barbecue sauce, and cilantro — available at all Texas Mister O1 locations through February 28.

The Great Greek Mediterranean Grill has a new limited-edition dish: Loaded Feta Fries, topped with choice of chicken or gyro meat, crumbled feta, and garlic sauce. Available through December 31. The chain has four locations in the DFW area — Lewisville, Fort Worth, The Colony, and McKinney — and is opening two more locations in early 2026 in Burleson and Coppell.

Sunny Street Café launched a new winter menu featuring shareable dishes and seasonal sweets: There are breakfast nachos (housemade tortilla chips with queso, egg, chorizo, & avocado); Queso Breakfast Burrito with cheesy eggs, bacon, potato, avocado, & queso; Turkey Melt with Monterey Jack, cheddar, tomato, & chipotle mayo on sourdough; Maple Pecan Muffin; Butter Pecan Pancakes with caramel sauce; and Salted Caramel Cold Brew with vanilla cold foam. DFW locations include Carrollton, Keller, Little Elm, Haltom City, North Richland Hills, and Weatherford.

Salad and Go has introduced its first sweet treat: a Chewy Marshmallow Bar. They've also added Cold Foam, which can be added to any drink. Plus two limited-edition beverages: Toasted Marshmallow Lemonade and Toasted Marshmallow Cold Brew. Last but not least, they've added pulled chicken which can be added to any salad or wrap.

DQ restaurants in Texas have new breaded chicken tenders, which can be ordered solo or in a new Chicken Tender Country Basket, with fries, Texas toast, and choice of creamy gravy or DQ Texas sauce.

Cheba Hut has a new limited-time cocktail called Sleigh’d and Confused featuring Deep Eddy Lemon Vodka, lemon juice, and Coconut Berry Red Bull, available through December 31 for $10, but $3 off all day on Fridays.

The Salty doughnut shop has holiday doughnuts: From December 22—24, they have a Gingerbread Cheesecake Donut, a 24-hour gingerbread-man-shaped brioche filled with gingerbread cheesecake; and the “Not Little Debbie” Christmas Tree Donut, a 24-hour tree-shaped brioche filled with marshmallow fluff, dipped in white chocolate glaze. Both are $4.95. From December 31-January 1, they have an Espresso Martini Donut for $4.50 with a 24-hour mini brioche dipped in espresso glaze, filled with whipped coffee cream, and topped with dark chocolate drizzle and espresso beans.

Luckys, the diner on Oak Lawn Avenue, will feature a special spiked eggnog the week after Christmas, from December 26-January 1 made with milk, cream, sugar, eggs, Makers Mark, and rum for $9.75.

Frenchie, the bistro at Preston Center, has a new executive chef, Reilly Brown, who was previously executive sous chef at Georgie. His new menu items include Hiramasa crudo, bluefin tuna with tomato-soy glaze, and Castelfranco salad with duck confit, candied walnuts, pickled pear, and shallot vinaigrette.

Eight Beer, the craft beer label founded by Troy Aikman, got a serious shout-out on Landman, the Taylor Sheridan TV show that's been filming around the DFW area. Aikman shared the clip which shows series star Billy Bob Thornton ordering the beer "just out of respect" to Aikman for founding it.

news-you-can-eat lists