Ice Cream News

Cult ice cream brand Salt & Straw makes Texas debut in Dallas

Salt & Straw

UPDATE: Salt & Straw will open on Friday, May 15 at 11 am. The first 50 guests on grand opening day will receive surprise gift cards. A live DJ vinyl set from the Spinster Records team will play from 5-8 pm. There will also be special ice cream flavors and creations: a FRITOS Pie Sundae that includes candied Fritos; and two exclusive, Texas-inspired flavors – Cream Cheese Jalapeño Jelly and Paloma Sherbet.

---

A big name in ice cream is coming to town: Cult-favorite artisan ice cream chain Salt & Straw will make its debut in Texas, opening its first locations in the state in Dallas and Fort Worth.

According to a release, the Oregon-based brand will open two shops in the DFW area this spring, both located in buzzy neighborhoods, as follows:

Dallas: 2323 N. Henderson Ave. #107, in the same center as Gemma
Fort Worth: 1305 W. Magnolia Ave., in the former Great Harvest Bread Co. space

Salt & Straw started out as a pushcart, founded by cousins Kim and Tyler Malek in 2011 in Portland. They've now grown to 57 locations with a huge presence in California and an expansion to the East Coast — from New England and New York to Florida to even Disneyland.

Wild flavors and collaborations
They're famous for their hyper-creative, often unexpected flavors including a never-ending rotation of monthly specials, overseen by head ice cream maker Tyler Malek. A recent Thanksgiving Series is typical: It included Parker House Rolls with Salted Buttercream; Turkey Stuffing and Cranberry Sauce, which featured a salt-and-pepper ice cream studded with bread pudding, turkey sausage, & cranberry jam; Pumpkin Pie Tiramisu; and Cranberry Orange Sorbet.

They also do partnerships such their 2024 collaboration with Taco Bell on a flavor called Tacolate, featuring a waffle-cone taco shell filled with cinnamon ancho chili ice cream, dipped in chocolate, and topped with toasted brown rice, served with two custom Taco Bell-inspired sauce packets: Mango Jalapeño Sauce and Wildberry Cinnamon Sauce.

Why DFW
In a statement, Kim says that DFW was a natural fit.

“We’ve spent meaningful time in Texas and have been inspired by the depth and momentum of its food and creative communities," Kim says. "Dallas and Fort Worth, in particular, stood out as places where craftsmanship, entrepreneurship, and hospitality intersect in a really genuine way, making them natural homes for Salt & Straw’s first shops in the state."

Dallas-Fort Worth has also in recent years embraced ice cream in a way it never did before, with incoming chains such as Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream, Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, and Handel's Ice Cream, as well as emerging local concepts such as Melt in Fort Worth.

Both Dallas and Fort Worth Salt & Straw locations will feature chef-driven classics such as Double Fold Vanilla and Salted Malted Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, featuring a house-made cookie dough, made with the same malt you'd use to brew amber ale, and inorporating two types of salt, with thick malted fudge as a sweet counterpoint.

The shops will also serve as platforms for hyper-local collaborations that celebrate each neighborhood’s character, and gathering spaces for the community, where guests are encouraged to linger and try free samples of as many flavors they desire.

All You Can Eat News

Eki Sushi will bring buzzy sushi experience to southwest Dallas 'burb

A sushi restaurant with a little something extra is coming to Cedar Hill, on the southwest corner of Dallas: Called Eki Sushi, it'll open at 649 Uptown Blvd., where it will bring two buzzy options to a neighborhood eager to have them.

The restaurant is opening in a former Applebee’s, and is from a team that includes Meng Yang and Ben Zhu, who've operated other Asian restaurants in Texas. A spokesperson says they chose Cedar Hill, which is 18 miles southwest of downtown Dallas and just below Duncanville, because it's an up-and-coming area without many sushi restaurants so far.

They'll open in mid- to late-September.

Eki Sushi will offer:

a "revolving sushi" experience, in which pre-plated sushi is placed on a conveyor belt that circulates past tables, allowing diners to pluck them as they pass
"AYCE" all-you-can-eat sushi, in which diners pay a set price and order as much as they want

Both of these options have proven to be highly appealing to diners. The revolving sushi experience, for example, is a novelty with a sense of "fun" that takes it beyond the usual restaurant meal; entire chains are dedicated to the experience such as Kura Revolving Sushi Bar, which has numerous locations in the DFW area.

AYCE sushi places, also plentiful around DFW, are a lure for those seeking variety and instant gratification. And like a buffet, they allow diners unfamiliar with a cuisine to try a variety of dishes at a low-risk low price.

That said, Eki will follow the lead of many AYCE places that monitor your consumption to avoid waste; if you don't finish the food you order, you get charged regular price. There's also a 90-minute limit — no all-day gluttony — and it's priced differently depending on time of day: $20 at lunch, $30 at dinner, and $31 on weekends.

Eki has a massive menu with sashimi, sushi rolls, 25 specialty rolls from the prototypical Rainbow Roll with crab, cucumber, and avocado, draped with tuna and salmon, to the Sweetheart Roll with spicy tuna, cucumber, and avocado, wrapped in soy paper as well as seaweed and artfully fashioned into a heart-shaped roll.

In addition to sushi, the menu also offers Asian appetizers like edamame, spring rolls, egg rolls, tempura, and gyoza, plus wings and French fries, which are surely welcome in any restaurant, regardless of cuisine.

openings