A national promotion to hype the anniversary of cartoon SpongeBob SquarePants kicks off on October 8, with the participation of 10 restaurants across Dallas.
Called the Krabby Patty Kollab, it's a program with restaurants doing spinoffs of the Krabby Patty, the signature dish of Spongebob Squarepants, the cartoon that first debuted on the Nickelodeon channel in 1999.
The Krabby Patty Kollab program has more than 100 renditions — dumplings, falafel, burgers, doughnuts, ice cream — in 250-plus restaurants across 12 cities: New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, San Francisco, Seattle, Miami, Las Vegas, Toronto, London, and Mexico City. The promotion will end on October 27.
Strangely, the promotion — orchestrated by a secretive company called Off the Menu — forbade any restaurant from using seafood, which seems odd given the undersea theme of the cartoon. The promotion also required that restaurants include a side. And they all have to be served in a Krabby Patty-branded box, reminiscent of a Happy Meal.
The major player is Wendy's, which is doing a dull quarter pounder with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickle, onion, and secret sauce, plus a pineapple-mango Frosty shake. Some others did the same: a straightforward burger on a bun with a secret sauce.
But some came up with creative spins including vegetarian burgers since the original Krabby Patty was meatless.
Vegetarian Krabby Patty from Starship Bagel with a Spongebob-like backdrop.Starship Bagel
Participating restaurants in Dallas and their Krabby Patty offerings include:
- Black Tap Craft Burgers & Beer - Victory Park/Dallas location of this New York-based burger & beer chain is doing a fried cheeseburger on a stick: a burger with American cheese, sauce, pickles, wrapped in dough and fried, served on a stick, with a side of potato salad. (Other participating Black Tap restaurants include New York, Miami, and Las Vegas at The Venetian.)
- Brooklyn Dumpling Shop - Dallas location of this New York-based dumpling chain is doing bacon cheeseburger dumplings — dumplings filled with ground beef and cheese — and "choice of side."
- Cris and John - Vietnamese street food shop in Richardson is doing an Asian-inspired take, featuring two smash patties with American cheese, seaweed aioli, and pickled Asian cucumbers, served with fries drizzled with spicy mayo and seaweed flakes.
- Hat Creek Burgers - This Austin burger chain with 11 Dallas-area locations is serving a dialed-in offering similar to an item already on their menu, with two patties, white cheese, onions, and a "happy" sauce on a pretzel bun.
- Le Reve Gelato & Patisserie - North Dallas shop is the most TikTokky by using sweet ingredients to mimic burger components: vanilla sponge cake bun, pineapple patty, crêpe lettuce, tomato made of strawberry mousse, puff pastry sticks for fries, and strawberry ketchup. It's reminiscent of shokuhin sampuru, the Japanese tradition of creating plastic replicas of dishes.
- Lubbies Bagels - East Dallas bagel shop is doing a vegetarian burger featuring housemade seitan on a sesame kaiser roll with lettuce, tomato, onion, B&B pickles, miso mayo sauce, and a side of twice-fried fingerlings with kimchi mayo.
- Oomi Kitchen - Digital kitchen is doing a smashed beef patty, with cheddar cheese, grilled onions, tropical slaw, and pineapple aioli on a Hawaiian King roll, served with crinkle-cut bacon cheese fries.
- Pacheco Taco N Burger - Burger pop-up inside Four Corners Brewery is doing a standard burger with lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles, cheese on a sesame seed bun with a secret sauce featuring horseradish and srirarcha.
- Serious Eats - Grand Prairie food hall is doing a slider with beef patty, American cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickles, and Boom Boom sauce, served with sea salt fries. Also offering a pineapple milkshake.
- Starship Bagel - Award-winning bagel shop with three locations in Dallas is doing vegetarian version featuring an Impossible patty on a sesame bagel with lettuce, tomato, red onion, pickle, schmear, ketchup, hot sauce, sweet pickle relish, and vinegar. (Remove the schmear and it magically becomes vegan.) Their side is pretzel bites with cheese sauce, and they're doing a "Jellyfish" Strawberry Milk Matcha drink — both available only with the Krabby Patty combo.
(While there are 10 names, some restaurants have more than one location.)
Oomi Kitchen founder Markus Pineyro went above and beyond by turning his storefront at 3510 Ross Ave. into a full blown pop-up, decorating the interior to evoke The Krusty Krab, the fast-food restaurant where main character Spongebob Squarepants works.
He and his team pulled together materials from sites like Etsy.
"This collaboration was a perfect opportunity to go all out, delivering not just a delicious new item, but an immersive experience that brings the magic of SpongeBob SquarePants to life," Pineyro says.
USA 'Rita at Cantina LaredoPhoto courtesy of Cantina Laredo
Nothing Bundt Cakes are getting patriotic for the 4th.Photo courtesy of Nothing Bundt Cakes