Pei Wei News

Upscale Indian restaurant takes over an original Pei Wei in Dallas

Roti Grill

A hallowed restaurant space in Dallas' Knox Park Village has a new tenant. The new tenant is Roti Grill, the Northern Indian restaurant known for its modern take on traditional Indian food. The space is the former Pei Wei space at 3001 Knox St., which closed in 2023 after nearly 20 years.

Roti Grill knows the neighborhood well, as it has been there since 2005 (as reported by Andoni Vossos), just around the corner at 4438 McKinney Ave. — a location that was a little hidden away, without much street presence. (And yet they survived 20 years.)

That Pei Wei was only the fifth Pei Wei to open in Dallas. (No. 1 was Preston Frankford, #2 was Carrollton, #3 was Las Colinas, and #4 was South Arlington — this is the kind of solid-gold intel you can find in Fork Fight!, the memoir by Pei Wei co-founder Mark Brezinski.)

But the Knox location was among the most visible, and remained a major foodie destination for most of its two-decade lifespan.

Roti Grill founder Pardeep Sharma says the new location brings not only greater visibility but also a more refined version of the typical Roti Grill dining experience including full-service dining and a full bar serving craft cocktails made with Indian ingredients.

“There’s a lack of Indian restaurants in DFW where guests can sit down and take their time enjoying wine, beer, or cocktails along with dinner,” Sharma says.

Open daily from 11 am-10 pm, the restaurant offers a contemporary, elevated Indian dining experience, unlike its other counter-service locations. Guests can enjoy a full-service meal paired with cocktails and wine.

Sharma is a veteran restaurateur who has owned some of Dallas' most popular Indian restaurants starting with Kebab N Kurry, which he opened in Richardson in 1982. He went on to open India Palace in 1985, a longtime staple in the Indian restaurant community.

He launched Roti Grill in Plano in 1992, and has since opened locations at Victory Plaza near downtown Dallas and at The Star in Frisco.

Roti Grill Knox Street Roti Grill gives former Pei Wei space a bright makeover.Roti Grill

Dishes include

Vegetable Samosas filled with spiced potatoes and peas
Chili Paneer with onions and bell peppers
Dahi Papdi Chaat - fried chickpea flour cake, spicy chickpeas, and chutney

Tandoori specialties include chicken tikka, ground lamb seekh kebab, and shrimp tandoori — each served with basmati rice, naan, and masala sauce. Entrees include chicken Vindaloo in a tangy sauce; plus vegetarian favorites like Chana Masala and Malai Kofta - vegetable and cheese dumplings in a creamy sauce.

Drinks include the Indian Sunset with Indian rum, amaretto, cranberry juice, and pineapple juice; and a Mango Margarita with Hornitos tequila, mango purée, and lime.

The new location spans 3,300 square feet and seats up to 80. It features a vibrant design by Hatsumi Kuzuu (Tei-An, FT33). The former Pei Wei now incorporates decorative details of Indian architecture and art, large wood beams, vibrant colors, and stenciled figures.

It joins other excellent-yet affordable restaurants at Knox Park Village that include Bread Zeppelin, the ingenious salad chain that puts salads inside a crusty loaf of bread, and Fadi's Mediterranean Grill, the excellent Mediterranean and Lebanese concept from Houston.

uptown openings

Closure News

Sylvan Avenue Tavern in West Dallas closes but a new bar's on the way

They're known for their pizza and chill vibe.

Courtesy of BST

undefined

A West Dallas tavern is closing, but that's not the end of the story: Sylvan Avenue Tavern, located at Sylvan Thirty at at 1888 Sylvan Ave. #F250, closed for good on November 3, after three years at the address.

The restaurant-bar opened in the complex in 2021 as a spinoff of Bryan Street Tavern, a longtime bar in East Dallas, serving pizza, beer on tap, and a laid-back atmosphere with pool tables and outdoor space.

The bar closed in August 2024, which owner Joe Hinkson attributed to issues with the landlord, but reopened at the end of the month — only to close these two months later.

"We reopened for football season, but we didn't get the boost like we hoped," Hinkson says. "It was becoming the definition of insanity."

"It's official this time," he said. "The shopping center is dying. Cooper's Meat Market is gone, Craft & Co. is gone, Shayna's is gone, and there's been nothing new since we moved in."

In a Facebook post, he stated that "the complex is dying and we've lost four other businesses prior to us making our decision to close. And now we’ve become the fifth one to leave. We've enjoyed our time there, but without support from the property owners, we had to call it a day."

Some of the nearby neighbors said that bar "trashed" the suite, leaving broken glass as well as one of the gas burners open, requiring the fire department to come out because of complaints about the smell of gas.

But Hinkson said that wasn't true. "We removed equipment," he said. "Not sure what the spray paint was. It was just residual trash. No vandalism. We left most of the furniture and the beautiful bar-top."

Hinkson's attention is on a new sibling, called Fate Village Tavern, opening in the city of Fate at 4970 East I-30,#130 — a center so new, it barely shows up on Google maps.

Fate Village is set to open in November, with a similar menu, spirit and beer selection, TVs galore, and a patio with a pet-friendly area.

"This has been in the works for about a year — we started construction back in June," he says. "We're excited about it. It's going to be a truly polished version of BST, and we will be the only bar in Fate city limits."

They're finishing up construction with includes touches like a pressed tin ceiling and shiplap on the walls, to give the new build some lived-in character.

"Adam Navan, my partner in Sylvan Avenue, moved to Fate a few years ago, and that gave us an awareness of the town's growth," Hinkson says. "We watched them build out the retail center, called Fate Village, and it was an instant success. We approached the developer and one year later, they reached out to us and we signed up."

It's bigger than Bryan Street and they've given it a huge patio.

"We are soooo close — we're just waiting on one last bit of furniture and final inspections," he says.

oak-cliff closings