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

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.