An outdoor hangout on Dallas' Greenville Avenue has reopened with a new nostalgic feature: Truck Yard, which helped usher in the backyard trend that is now de rigeur in the food & beverage world, reopened at 5624 Sears St., AKA across from Trader Joe's, with $2 million in renovations that include an installation of the famed Tango Frogs sculptures.

The venue closed quietly in November, and in fact, when it closed would not answer questions about the closure. Now the truth can be told: It was temporary. They reopened March 10, in time for the St. Patrick's Day block party.

According to a release, Truck Yard owner Jason Boso felt it was time for a refresh.

"We know we’ve been the biggest tease, but it sure is nice to be desired," says Boso. "While no one loves to shell out money to then shell up, we felt a renovation was necessary to meet the demand of our Dallas location. The first of its kind, we’ve learned a lot in the past decade and have since built out other locations to support the type of business we want to consistently offer guests. We knew Dallas needed new digs and we feel this is great step into a new decade of business."

Known for its rotating food trucks, cheesesteaks & nachos, and outdoor drinking, Truck Yard is also celebrating a decade in business, having first opened in 2013.

The renovation included functional improvements such as:

• making the concept more year-round weather-friendly
• covered patios and four fire pits
• A larger bar and back of house kitchen for high volume days
• paved driveway for food truck ease
• new bathrooms

They've adopted tableside technology so that customers can order drinks direct from their phone to be delivered. There's also more truck bed seating, new furniture, a covered private event space, and new cocktails.

Oh, and the frogs.

Created by artist Bob "Daddy-O" Wade, the six Tango Frogs were originally a fixture on top of an '80s nightclub called Tango's, located at 1827 Greenville Ave., now home to a Starbucks but previously a Taco Cabana.

Three of the frogs ended up at a truck stop along I-35 in Hillsboro, from which they were recovered in 2014 by Taco Cabana executives Tim Taft and Todd Coerver, who reinstalled them atop the restaurant with great fanfare. (The other three are at a Chuy's in Nashville.) When Taco Cabana closed its the Greenville Avenue location in 2020, it put the status of the frogs in peril.

Boso stepped in, stating at the time that they would position the Tango Frogs so they could be an Instagram-worthy staple, and to continue to show the appreciation of the artwork.

They posted updates of the frogs being re-painted on their Facebook page as well as video of the renovation.

An acclaimed Chinese restaurant from Irving has expanded to Dallas: Fortune House, known for its soup dumplings, noodles, and authentic Shanghainese dishes, has opened a second location on Lower Greenville, at 2010 Greenville Ave. #B, next to HG Sply Co.

The restaurant is in soft opening mode, and occupies a space with Asian food history: It was briefly home to a Chinese restaurant called Gung Ho, which closed in mid-2020.

Fortune House is perhaps most famous for its pan-fried pork buns — plump round dumplings with a soft dough on top and a delectably crunchy brown crust on the bottom.

Those alone warrant a trip for fans, but there are many other delicacies on their menu, ranging from vegetarian dishes to fried rice, to noodle dishes, to soups and soup dumplings, filled with choice of pork, pork & crab, or pork & black truffle.

That last one — the one with the black truffle — is a new item they've added specifically for the Dallas location, according to manager Karen Rubia.

"We also added a dumpling sampler, and that has been extremely popular," she says.

They have a unique selection of small plates such as Chive Pockets — a pan-fried pocket filled with chives, vermicelli, egg, wood ear mushroom, and dried shrimp; baby ribs in Shanghainese sweet & sour sauce, served the traditional way, chilled; and "phoenix talons" AKA hot pepper-marinated chicken feet.

Seafood includes steamed whole sea bass, honey walnut prawns, and kung pao prawns, stir-fried with peanuts and chilies.

Vegetarian options are varied and inventive, such as lettuce wraps with water chestnuts, peas, & carrots; tofu wrapped with shiitake & enoke mushrooms; braised seitan with mushrooms & peanuts; Crispy Garlic Cucumber with English cucumber and garlic in a sesame oil vinaigrette; sautéed spinach with egg yolk in a supreme broth; and sauteed edamame & tofu in a white sauce.

The cuisine is Shanghai-style Chinese, a legacy from original owner Lucy Yong, who first opened the Irving location in 2015. She brought in chefs trained in Shanghai, China who built the menu of authentic Chinese dishes. She subsequently sold the restaurant to John Kim, who also owns Koryo Kalbi, the highly rated Korean BBQ restaurant on Royal Lane in Dallas' Koreatown district.

For the Dallas location, they've expanded their cocktail selection, incorporating ingredients you'd find in Chinese cuisine, such as tea. They're also offering a Chinese "Gongfu" tea ceremony, which is uncommon in Dallas.

Also, here's a thing: The space came with a pizza oven. "We're excited we inherited that, and we'll play around and do some unusual dishes," Rubia says.

They first signed on to open the Greenville Avenue location in April 2021, a challenging time for a new restaurant on all fronts.

"But opening here was something we definitely wanted to do," Rubia says. "There's a lot of foot traffic, but more than that, it's an up-and-coming area, just like our company. Greenville Avenue has an ever-growing variety of cultures and cuisines, and we wanted to be part of that."