News You Can Eat

Year-end openings & closings sneak into this Dallas restaurant news roundup

La Neta will be opening on the edge of Deep Ellum in early 2023.

La Neta

With the end of 2022 winding down, things are a little quiet on the restaurant news front. But there are still openings to applaud, closings to lament, new menus to try, and some food media tidbits to catch up on.

Here's what happened in Dallas restaurant news:

Shell Shack opens its new location in Lake Highlands at 6770 Abrams Rd., next to Alamo Drafthouse in the Creekside Shopping Center on January 9. The small local chain is known for seafood boils with crab, shrimp, or crawfish, plus potatoes, corn, and sausage. The space has 25-foot-high ceilings, a 20-seat bar, three large communal tables, outdoor patio, high-pressure handwashing stations, and four murals by local artist Roger Nitz depicting maritime and crabbing scenes. Shell Shack opened its first location in Dallas in 2013; this makes the sixth, with additional stores in Dallas, Plano, Arlington, Mesquite, and Fort Worth.

Fletcher's Original Corny Dogs now has permanent residence at Klyde Warren Park 2012 Woodall Rodgers Fwy., following temporary weekend pop-ups while their new food truck was being built. They're open Tuesday-Friday 11 am-3 pm, Saturday-Sunday 11 am-7:30 pm (hours can change due to weather and could increase if demand warrants) with six varieties of Corny Dogs, as well as curly fries and lemonade.

Asian Mint, known for amazing Thai and Asian dishes, has opened its fifth location in Addison in the former Cafe Gecko at 5290 Belt Line Rd. #118.

Brass Tap has opened a location in Frisco. It's owned by franchisee Sid Patel, who opened his first Brass Tap in 2015 in Allen, followed by a second in Prosper in 2019.

Unleavened Fresh Kitchen, a fast-casual sandwich & salad place in Lakewood, closed at the end of November. "And that's a wrap," said their Facebook post. "Unleavened has officially closed its doors after an amazing 7+ years of service to our community, friends, supporters, and wonderful staff. Thank you for all playing a part in our story. We are truly grateful for the opportunity and thoroughly enjoyed the adventure."

Fishmonger's, a longtime seafood restaurant in Plano, closed on November 27. "It has been a pleasure to watch Plano grow and change over the last 41 years," their Facebook post said. "We've seen the children of 1981 bring in their children and grandchildren. Now it's time to enjoy the next stage of our lives. We will remember all of you who we’ve come to know and love in this wonderful Fishmongers Family! Thank you all for supporting us all these years. So long and thanks for all the fish, Love you all, Jim and Pattie Elrod."

La Neta Cocina y Lounge, the Mexican concept from Las Vegas-based 81/82 Group and industry veteran Ryan Labbe, will open in March 2023 at The Epic in Downtown Dallas with a modern twist on traditional Mexican cuisine including exclusive Lone Star additions. They're hosting a hiring event January 16-17. Interested candidates can apply by emailing careers@lanetadallas.com.

BarNone in East Dallas has a new late night menu from 10 pm until close, with finger sandwiches, salads, chips & dips, and beef jerky. They've also expanded the weekend brunch menu with Belgian-style waffles and toppings such as “Elvis-style” with bananas, peanut butter, and crispy bacon, corned beef hash, potato-leek-cheese frittata, and breakfast sandwich with choice of sausage, chicken sausage link, ground Wagyu, bacon, short rib or corned beef.

Modern Market has expanded its menu and made it possible to order half sizes of all entrees online and via the app, as well as in-restaurant. This allows mix-and-match options such as sandwiches, salads, pizzas, and more, from pizzas such as their new Brussels bacon pizz, or salads such as Baja blackened chicken, salmon Caesar, and Thai coconut salad. Bowls range from Angus beef with chimichuri to sesame-glazed tofu. Sides include rosemary sweet potato mash, arugula & blue cheese salad, and garlic mashed potatoes.

Station Nation is a new series hosted by Hunter Fieri – son of Guy Fieri – to discover food served in Shell stations around the country. It's a project between Shell and Food Network whose initial run visits 6 spots around the U.S., including Texas Best Smokehouse in Italy, off I-35 in Ellis County, an hour south of Dallas; there's a snippet here.

Chili's Grill & Bar won fans and media attention on December 27 with a cunning Twitter promotion for travelers who got stuck in the Great Southwest Airline Meltdown of 2022. "To slightly offset the insane amount of flight cancellations, we’re offering gift cards to 30 of y'all who are stuck in the airport (with a Chili’s).. reply below and let us know where you’re stranded" -- drawing responses such as "Stuck at Dallas Love praying for a Chilis gift card so I can get a triple dipper and calm my soul from these travel delays."

Fancy was a national trend for 2022, according to Eater, who noted that diners were drawn to classic cocktails, ritzy settings, and pricey ingredients like caviar with lots of big spender openings such as, in Dallas, Carbone and STK.

Uchi Dallas was the target of a protest over its use of foie gras, a dish that requires animal cruelty -- part of a national blitz by members of PETA that also included protests at locations in Houston, Miami, Austin, and Denver.

lists news-you-can-eat

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