hunger games

Plano scores new Victory Tap Sports Lounge from Lombardi Concepts

Modern takes on classic sandwiches and burgers are on the menu.

Photo by Samantha Marie Photography

Plano's sports bar scene has a new player: Victory Tap Sports Lounge has debuted in time for World Cup soccer-watching, at 5973 W. Parker Rd. in West Plano Village.

The restaurant and lounge comes from Lombardi Family Concepts, the company behind Dallas-Fort Worth restaurants like Bistro 31, Toulouse Cafe & Bar, Taverna, and Lombardi Cucina Italiana. According to a release, Victory Tap is designed to serve as a neighborhood destination for game-day gatherings, happy hours, brunches, and casual dinners.

Victory Tap occupies a 7,600-square-foot space with seating for 250. In addition to food and drink, it offers guests a chance to get in the game with a professional-grade Formula 1 racing simulator, outdoor bocce court, cornhole, foosball, shuffleboard, and tournament events.

And of course, there are many TV's for sports-watching - 32 to be exact - and two video walls.

Just as important as the TV offerings are the food offerings.

Victory Tap Sports Lounge Formula 1 simulator at Victory Tap.Photo by Samantha Marie Photography

"Far from being an afterthought, the kitchen is central to the Victory Tap concept, with a menu designed to stand on its own as a dining destination," says the release. "Victory Tap bridges the gap between classic tavern favorites and premium dining, pairing familiar sports bar staples with elevated culinary touches, high-quality ingredients, and chef-driven execution."

The menu features sports-bar faves along with sushi, seafood, pizzas, sandwiches, and entrees. The list of highlights is long, so how 'bout a bullet-point list, by category.

Starters such as:

Chicken Wings in flavors such as Spicy Buffalo, Texas Dry Rub, Hot Honey, Thai Chili Garlic, and Texas Peach BBQ
Bloody Mary Deviled Eggs
Birria Brisket Tacos
Prime Steak Wedge Salad with candied bacon, roasted tomato, pickled onions, and blue cheese ranch
Mediterranean Salmon Bowl

Sushi and raw snack, including:

Tuna Crispy Rice
Fresh oysters
Parker Roll with tempura shrimp, crab mix, spicy tuna, cream cheese, avocado, jalapeño, sweet soy, and spicy mayo

Tavern pizzas like:

Chicken Pesto Pizza
Calabrese Pizza with Calabrese salami, hot honey, garlic oil, and Parmigiano-Reggiano

"Between the bun" offerings like:

Crispy Chicken Sandwich
Victory Smash Burger
Texas Burger with pepper and bacon jam, roasted jalapeño aioli, and Vermont cheddar
Chicken Parm Sub
Texas Cheesesteak with ribeye, white queso, onions, jalapeños, and au jus

Entree options:

Steak Frites
Roasted Chicken
Miso Cod with sticky rice
Rigatoni alla Vodka with crispy pancetta and basil

Food and drinks at Victory Tap.Photo by Samantha Marie Photography

The beverage menu includes Victory Tap's take on a Ranch Water with a guest's choice of passionfruit, mango or peach; The Red Card - a frozen cocktail with St-Germain, watermelon, raspberry, lime, prosecco and mint; High Quality H2O - Tito's Vodka, aloe liqueur, cucumber, lemongrass and sparkling water; Mango Lychee Martini - Patron Silver, mango, lychee, sour pineapple, coconut flakes; The Kucklepuck - Maker’s Mark Bourbon, barrel-aged stout cordial, angostura and a pretzel bites; and the Shake & Bake - a frozen cocktail with Grey Goose, passionfruit, pineapple soft serve, lime, vanilla and champagne.

Happy hour is available Monday-Friday from 11 am-6 pm and includes $1 off draft beer, $2 off spirits and wine by the glass, and select appetizers for $10.

The restaurant was designed by Filipe Pao Nunes and draws inspiration from classic athletic heritage, Ivy League traditions and timeless athletic clubs.

Victory Tap Sports Lounge Wall of sports memorabilia.Photo by Samantha Marie Photography

"A great restaurant becomes part of the neighborhood, part of the routine," says founder and owner Alberto Lombardi in the release. "With Victory Tap, we created a place for all of it — the big games, the slow Sunday mornings, the nights that stretch longer than planned."

Victory Tap is open 11 am-10 pm Monday-Thursday, 11 am-12 am Friday-Saturday, and 11 am-9 pm Sunday. Weekend brunch is served from 11 am-3 pm Saturday-Sunday.

Spring Arrival

West Dallas gets new Spanish-Peruvian restaurant with big-name chef

Photo courtesy of Ulloa's

Paella will be on the menu.

A new restaurant with a high-profile culinary director will bring Spanish and Peruvian flavors to West Dallas: Called Ulloa’s, it is coming to 727 Fort Worth Ave., with a projected opening in March 2027.

The concept is from philanthropists Susan and Woodrow Gandy, who were previously investors in the historic Belmont Hotel just around the corner. They've teamed up with Dallas celebrity chef Kent Rathbun as culinary director, along with Christopher Tunnell as general manager to lead the front of the house.

Rathbun is a name Dallas diners know well, with a resume that includes The Mansion on Turtle Creek, the Landmark Restaurant at the historic Melrose Hotel, Seventeen Seventeen at the Dallas Museum of Art, Abacus, Jasper's, Rathbun’s Blue Plate Kitchen, and more. He's won numerous awards and made multiple appearances on Food Network. He was most recently behind the launch of On The Rocks, an Italian bistro in Burleson.

Chef Kent Rathbun will be the culinary director of Ulloa's. Photo courtesy of Kent Rathbun

Tunnell’s background spans both culinary direction and front-of-house operations. He worked at Los Angeles hot spots Ketchup, Geisha House, and Les Deux, as well as the Mandalay Bay and The Mirage in Las Vegas, before moving to Dallas to open The Mexican, the upscale restaurant in the Design District.

“I am truly excited to partner with Chef Kent Rathbun, whose reputation is amazing — not only in the DFW Metroplex, but in the culinary world,” Tunnell says. “He has been with this project since the beginning, helping develop it; this will be a very chef-driven, culinary-forward restaurant.”

The team's vision for Ulloa’s is both culinary and urban, with hopes of anchoring the corridor and attracting other businesses to Fort Worth Avenue — a stretch connecting downtown Dallas with Oak Cliff that remains somewhat underdeveloped despite its panoramic skyline views.

The restaurant is named for Spanish explorer, astronomer, and scientist Antonio de Ulloa, who spent extensive time in the Mexican peninsula before becoming Louisiana’s first governor. During his travels, Ulloa documented a fogbow — a circular rainbow formed when sunlight meets mist that causes silhouettes standing between the sun and fog to appear ringed in light, a phenomenon known today as “Ulloa’s Rings.”

That vibrant phenomenon inspired both the restaurant's identity and logo. The concept promises "bold, worldly flavors in a welcoming neighborhood setting inspired by exploration and discovery,” the owners say.

Ulloa's Rendering of Ulloa's.Rendering courtesy of Ulloa's

While the menu remains in development, Tunnell describes the culinary direction as “Spanish soul with a Peruvian heart.” The kitchen will merge the coastal flavors of both traditions — ranging from paellas and ceviches to crafted cocktails and signature adaptations by Rathbun.

The 200-seat, two-story space will feature a downstairs dining room, a large bar, and an outdoor patio. Upstairs, plans call for a secondary bar, a private dining room, a patio, and an expansive balcony patio, offering views of the city's skyline and of the Margaret Hunt Hill and Margaret McDermott bridges.

While the upstairs space will be available for private events, the owners intend for it to operate primarily as an organic extension of the main restaurant. The buildout will include a guest elevator along with ample parking, including both self-parking and valet options.

The team says the restaurant will have have an aesthetic that's “warm, theatrical, generous, elegant but alive, with the energy of a great Spanish tapas bar and the soul of Peruvian hospitality.”

Ulloa’s plans to launch with dinner service first, followed by lunch and weekend brunch.

restaurants bars peruvian flavors west dallas oak cliff kent rathbun