A charming cafe has debuted in Dallas' Snider Plaza serving wholesome breakfast and lunch, plus dinner on weekends. Called Zest Cafe, it's at 6730 Snider Plaza, in the former Studio Sebastian fashion boutique, which closed in 2022.

Zest is from husband-and-wife Will and Lisa Murphy, who created what they could not find: a casual restaurant with good-quality food at a moderate price.

"We would go to brunch and we had two small kids, and the question was always, Where can we find a place that's casual enough to bring our kids, but with really good fresh healthy food," Lisa says.

"We're friends with Josh Sepkowitz, co-founder of the Rustic, and my husband suggested they open a concept like this," she says. "Josh loved the idea and we decided to partner up together."

Will devised a menu and consulting chef John Franke came in to iron out the recipes.

"I would call it healthy, except that, for a lot of people, that means bland," Lisa says. "We're using high-end ingredients, we brine our turkey in house, and nearly everything is scratch made."

They started out just doing breakfast and lunch, with options such as:

• Spinach and Chevre Omelet
• Breakfast Wrap with egg whites, spinach, avocado, Swiss, and basil pesto aioli, on a whole wheat wrap
• Avocado Toast with poached eggs
• Kale & Brussels Chicken ‘Caesar’
• Tuna & Ancient Grain Salad
• Beet and pistachio goat cheese with arugula, golden beets, and pistachio-crusted goat cheese croutons

Sandwiches - served with choice of arugula salad, fruit, Mediterranean cucumber salad, or pesto pasta - come in options such as turkey sandwich with green apple and brie on toasted sourdough, and cranberry pecan chicken salad on multi-grain toast.

A veggie Avocado & Alfalfa Wrap has avocado, alfalfa sprouts, spinach, goat cheese, red onion, cucumber, red bell pepper, kalamata olives, and heirloom tomatoes in a whole wheat wrap.

Breakfast items and sandwiches are all priced from $13 to $18.

There's also a selection of cookies and pastries - croissants, orange cardamom buns, blueberry cheese Danish - from acclaimed Bresnan Bakery in McKinney, plus coffee and espresso drinks including Americanos, cappuccinos, lattes, cortados, cafe au lait, and drip, plus hot chocolate, cold brew, and hot tea.

They began first with breakfast and lunch, before adding dinner hours in mid-September from Thursday-Saturday 4-9 pm; they'll eventually extend the hours to six days a week. The evening menu includes tapas-style items like charcuterie, prosciutto & burrata on a baguette, red curry coconut mussels, hummus with veggies, entree salads, and a burger; plus a full bar with cocktails such as espresso martini, paloma, and bloody Mary. A happy hour runs from 3-6 pm with half-price bottles of wine, frozen cocktails, and call spirits.

For location. they cycled through neighborhoods like Preston Center and Lower Greenville before landing in Snider Plaza, which seemed fitting, since Lisa attended SMU and used to hang out in Snider Plaza all the time.

The bar serves as a coffee bar during the day and a cocktail bar at night. It's a full-service restuarant in the dining room, with a cafe counter in the back, along with a patio.

"To find this unique building in Snider Plaza just felt right," she says.