A restaurant dedicated to biscuits will rise again in Dallas: Called Rise Southern Biscuits and Righteous Chicken, it's a concept dedicated to those two foodstuffs, and it will open in Victory Park Plaza at 2414 Victory Park Ln., in the former Freshii salad space.

According to co-owner Isha Vedire, the restaurant will open in spring 2024.

UPDATE 5-2-2024: Rise will open on May 4 at 7 am.
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This is not the first time Rise has entered the DFW market. The concept premiered in Dallas-Fort Worth in April 2017 in Allen, back when it was known as Rise Biscuits & Doughnuts. It was rebranded in 2019.

Rise has a local connection. It was founded in 2012 by Tom Ferguson, a chef and Culinary Institute of America grad who grew up in Grand Prairie. The menu specialized in biscuit sandwiches, filled with options like ham, sausage, eggs, and fried chicken; and foodie-style doughnuts with outrageous toppings like Froot Loops.

Customers loved the biscuits and doughnuts, but were less enthused that it was primarily to-go only with only a few stools inside. The Allen location closed in December 2017.

Ferguson rebooted the concept, cutting back on the doughnuts and changing the name, which gave it a second life. Sadly, Ferguson died in 2022, but the concept persevered, and currently has 19 locations across North Carolina, Kansas, Maryland, Virginia, Florida, Tennessee and California.

Husband-and-wife Ashwin Reddy and Isha Vedire signed a deal in 2022 to open 20 locations across DFW, beginning with the location in Victory Park.

The couple has experience in building a business: They'd previously built an outpatient behavioral practice with seven locations, and were seeking a second act.

"While our backgrounds are medicine and engineering, our love and passion are business, entrepreneurship, and building and growing companies," Reddy said in a statement.

"We went to North Carolina and tasted the food, and we were blown away," Vedire says. "The biscuits and chicken are made in-house, and the biscuits have only five ingredients including flour and butter. There's no shortcuts."

Biscuit sandwiches include country ham; a Guacamole Smash with guacamole, tomato, fried egg; fried green tomato with pimento cheese; a BLT. They have veggie meat options including veggie chik’n and veggie sausage, and a signature spicy mayo called Boom Boom Sauce.

Chicken sandwiches include

• Righteous with pickles and Boom Boom sauce
• hot honey butter
• Southern topped with bacon and pimento cheese
• Nashville Hot
• chicken club with BLT
• Buffalo with hot buffalo sauce, diced celery, and blue cheese

Outside of biscuits, there are box meals such as chicken fingers over cheese grits; loaded tots with fried egg, cheese, and green onion; and biscuit & gravy with veggie sausage.

Sides include tots, jumbo cheddar tots, fried okra, grits, and seasoned fries. Sweet options include a glazed blueberry biscuit, cinnamon roll, and biscuit beignets.

For old-school Rise fans, they still offer a small selection of doughnuts including apple fritter and maple bacon ring, but they’re no longer made on-site.

Vedire says their plan is to grow slowly and organically, with two set to open in 2024.

"Our first is in Victory Park Plaza - we had a feeler out on locations in Dallas, it was not easy, but we got there at the right time when the previous business was closing down," she says.

Their second location will be in Fort Worth - "we are negotiating that lease," she says.

“As Rise reflects on the last 10 years, we’re excited to also look forward to a very bright future bringing Rise to new locations like Dallas,” says Rise CFO Ken Priest in a sattement. “Ashwin and Isha know how to run and scale a business and are the ideal franchisees to introduce Dallas to our Southern hospitality and culinary traditions."