Pizza News

New pizza pub from Dallas bar veterans to open in Deep Ellum

Good Side Pizza Pub is coming to Deep Ellum.

Courtesy photo

Another pizza place is coming to Dallas' Deep Ellum: Called Good Side Pizza Pub, it will open at 2538 Elm St., and is from a team of veterans in the Deep Ellum bar scene.

The address is on the western side of Good Latimer Freeway, outside of the central Deep Ellum zone, and across the street from The Hamilton apartment high-rise. At one time, the location was home to a dog daycare and training business.

According to co-owner J.R. Munoz, Good Side has been in the works for a couple of years. "But the time has come, and we will be open in a few weeks," he says.

Munoz owns Will Call Bar, a sports bar in Deep Ellum, as well as country dive bar Elm St. Saloon.

On Good Side, he's partnered with Danny Wilson and Jacob Cox, a prolific and creative duo whose prior ventures have included Shot Topic, Rocket Fizz, The Pharmacy, Pop Culture DTX, Select Start, and more. They also tried, futilely, to rescue Great American Hero, the storied sub shop, which closed in 2023.

His other partners include Chris Brown and Bujar Hajro, owner of Tony's Pizza and Pasta in The Colony, bringing the pizza expertise. Munoz says they are still resolving details of the menu, but it will definitely include pizza, pasta, and a full bar.

They've given the 2,200-square-foot space a makeover — one that addresses its role not just as a pizzeria but a pub as well. The interior is lined with brick walls, and black booths with pale wooden tables run around the perimeter. There's a U-shaped bar-table in the center where customers can dine solo and catch a glimpse of the kitchen.

The facade is mostly floor-to-ceiling windows, but with a semi-enclosed patio in front.

At one point during Dallas' pizza heyday back in the 2000-teens, Deep Ellum had numerous pizza places, but it's calmed down to a reasonable few including acclaimed Neapolitan-style pioneer Cane Rosso, plus Serious Pizza and Mama Mia's which is opening on the opposite end of Elm Street in the fall.

Sushi News

Dallas sushi restaurant Oishii opens in ex-Pei Wei at Preston Forest

Plano gets what everyone wants.

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Sushi is now being served at Preston-Forest in Dallas, thanks to chef Thanh Nguyen, who has opened a new location of his vastly popular Oishii restaurant at this buzzy intersection.

Located at 11700 Preston Rd. #650 — also known as the former Pei Wei space — Oishii Preston Forest has opened on September 20, ready to serve sushi and Pan-Asian cuisine to the North Dallas and Preston Hollow areas.

The restaurant is beloved for its imaginative rolls, hospitality, and broad menu with not just sushi but also Vietnamese and Chinese dishes, including classics like orange chicken. They serve as a convenient lunch spot with reasonable prices on favorites like the spicy salmon cabbage salad and sushi lunch platter. At dinner, it's specials like Peking duck, coconut sea bass, crab & Chinese asparagus soup, and the Royce sushi roll drizzled with truffle oil.

Scoring the Pei Wei space was a coup; it closed at the end of February after 20 years. Oishii was courted by the landlord, who wanted a traditional full-service restaurant in the space.

Nguyen previously worked at restaurants such as Nakamoto in Plano and Steel, before taking over a former Vietnamese buffet on Wycliff Avenue to open the first Oishii in 2003. The concept has maintained a devout following even through an expansion of new locations at SMU, in Plano, and Grapevine.

The menu at Preston Forest will feature many of the same innovative dishes served at the four existing Oishii locations such as the 42 Roll, Tribeca Roll, Royce Roll, Himalayan Roll, On the Border Roll, and Thanh Scallop Roll.

Oishii also has popular off the menu dishes including the Dallas Roll, Mustang Roll, Main Street Roll, and Salmon Tomato Sushi. They have a full bar, and their most popular cocktail is their Lychee Martini.

According to a representative from the restaurant, chef Thanh is debuting a new Preston Roll in honor of the newest location.

All locations are introducing a new wine menu with a Reserve List of special occasion wines; as well as a new Specialty Cocktail Menu, with Asian-inspired cocktails including Asian ingredients such as Japanese whisky, sake, shochu (rice liquor), yuzu marmalade, and sesame. The Nigiri Negroni for example contains sushi rice and soy sauce.

The chain also has a popular half-price bottle wine program, offered at different locations on different nights:

Mondays: Oishii SMU Boulevard (Dallas)
Tuesdays: Oishii Preston Forest (Dallas), Oishii Parkwood Boulevard (Plano), and Oishii Highway 114 (Grapevine)
Wednesdays: at Oishii Wycliff Avenue (Dallas)

Happy hour is available at the Plano and Grapevine locations only, Monday-Thursday from 5-6:30 pm at the bar and sushi bar with $3 to $9 small plates, $9 glasses of select wines, and $10 specialty cocktail drinks.

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