What's Brewing

Smash burger favorite Shady's brews up new location on Lake Lewisville

A guac-and-bacon topped burger at Shady's.

Photo courtesy of Shady's Burgers and Brewhaha

Shady’s Burgers and Brewhaha, the Richardson-born brewpub known for its signature onion-grilled smash burgers, will soon make a splash with its third Dallas-area location, in Frisco, on Lake Lewisville.

The restaurant will take over a lakeside space at Hidden Cove Marina, 20400 Hackberry Creek Rd. in Frisco, later this spring. It joins the Richardson original, which opened in 2013, and a Lake Highlands restaurant that opened in 2016.

Shady’s is from Greg Cooney, Don Bouvier, Anthony Bolner, Dave Swiney, and Steve Gumbert, a group of Richardson friends who came together to create a restaurant with a laid-back vibe.

That restaurant grew into the High Five Hospitality group, which now operates The Fifth Fireside Patio and Bar, Pineda’s Mexican Cuisine, and a “full-service catering” business across DFW in addition to the mini burger chain. Shady’s is in growth mode, too — in addition to the new Lake Lewisville location, a fourth restaurant is set to open in North Dallas later this year.

“We couldn’t be more excited to bring Shady’s to Lake Lewisville,” High Five managing partner Greg Cooney said in a statement.

“Lake season is such a special time in North Texas, and opening at Hidden Cove Marina gives us an incredible opportunity to be part of that experience. We’re ready to serve the lake community with the food people know us for, along with great cocktails, cold beer, live music, and a place where friends and families can gather after a day on the water.”

Thanks to its waterfront locale, burger fans will be able to arrive at Shady’s by car or boat. When they get there, they’ll find the restaurant’s signature double smash burgers, which are smashed with grilled onions and topped with the classic burger accoutrements — American cheese, lettuce, mustard, pickles, and tomato. Tacos, wraps, salads, and other casual fare will be on offer, along with plenty of the aforementioned cold beer and frozen cocktails.

While an official opening date for the Lake Lewisville location has not been set, expect Shady's to debut this spring, just in time for scarfing a smash burger while soaking up the sun.

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Get Well, Michelle

Pioneering Restaurant Beatrice in Dallas' Oak Cliff to close

Restaurant Beatrice

Gumbo from Restaurant Beatrice

In a huge loss for Dallas' dining scene, an acclaimed restaurant in Oak Cliff is closing: Restaurant Beatrice, the Cajun restaurant at 1111 N. Beckley Ave. from award-winning chef Michelle Carpenter, will close on June 7, after four years.

Carpenter and her partner Hanh Ho are closing the restaurant so that Carpenter can recuperate from recent surgery she underwent to remove a brain tumor.

"Michelle is getting world-class medical treatment at UTSW," Ho says. "She’s herself, but there’s no cheffing during recovery. People might not understand the volume of manual labor required to be a real chef in a real restaurant."

“I can’t do recovery and run Beatrice,” Carpenter told D Magazine. “That is the reason [it is closing]. Even though these are difficult times, it would be hard to navigate while only giving 20 percent, or anything less than 100 percent of my focus.”

Carpenter opened the restaurant in 2022 as an effort to offer a new face of contemporary Cajun cuisine to Texas. Pronounced "bee-AT-russ," the restaurant is named after Carpenter's "Mammaw" or grandmother, Beatrice, and featured contemporary classics in a setting that embraced Louisiana hospitality and the Oak Cliff spirit of inclusiveness.

Chef Michelle Carpenter at Restaurant BeatriceCourtesy

Beatrice was her second restaurant, following Zen Sushi, which she opened in Bishop Arts in 2007, well before it became the hipster hangout it is today. She was also the first to offer vegan sushi, at least a decade before vegan became a major trend.

Zen Sushi will remain open.

Beyond the cuisine and culture, Restaurant Beatrice also pioneered a number of important initiatives including earning a B-Corporation certification — the first and only restaurant in Texas to obtain it. B Corporation is a for-profit business that has been verified to meet the highest standards of social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability.

The restaurant's significant efforts at environmental stewardship included composting, re-purposing of oil (they recycled their fryer oil to be re-used as bio-diesel), and repurposing of single-use items by encouraging guests to return their mason jars and bring their own re-usable to-go boxes to limit single-use containers. And like its sibling Zen Sushi, Beatrice also championed vegetarian dishes.

Capstone dinner Chef Michelle Carpenter, center, mentoring student chefs Taqoya Williamson (left) and Riauna Clarke WRLP

In addition, Carpenter and Ho partnered with Dallas College to launch the Women in Restaurants Leadership Program (WRLP), an eight-week, tuition-free program that provide seminars, training, and stagiaire opportunities. Carpenter conceived the program with a goal of helping retain and advance more women in the industry and creating a more positive restaurant culture.

The restaurant earned multiple awards including a James Beard Award semifinalist for Best New Restaurant in 2023, Open Table's Icon Awards in 2024, plus multiple Tastemaker Awards including Best New Restaurant, Best Chef in 2023, and again in 2025, plus Best Dessert Program in 2026.

Their final meal will be brunch on Sunday, June 7.

oak cliff closings chefs