Dallas' Bishop Arts District is due for something sweet: A shop called Hey Sugar Candy Store will open in a century-old location at 409 W. 8th St., in one of two side-by-side nearly-identical former homes that have been renovated and repurposed for retail.

According to Hey Sugar owner Kristin Brittan, the store will open at the beginning of March.

Brittan founded Hey Sugar back in 2013, with her first store in Roanoke, which has become a big family and tourist destination, with not only sweets galore but an entertainment component, including TVs airing Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and kiddie rides on the front porch.

Brittan grew up around candy: Her father was a candy distributor, and she and her sister would attend candy conventions when they were young.

The candy thing then reemerged after Brittan was married with kids. Three of her children liked going to horse shows, but her youngest son did not. So Brittan set him up with an Airstream trailer to sell candy at the riding events, and he made a killing.

She's since opened locations in Celina, College Station, Decatur, Denison, Waco, and Broken Bow, Oklahoma.

The stores have all kinds of bulk candy, plus nostalgia candy, plus funky things like suckers with scorpions inside. Some locations have ice cream, but this one will not: Instead, she promises it will boast the largest selection of vintage sodas in Texas, not unlike the location in Broken Bow.

"The Bishop Arts location will still be a Hey Sugar with the same branding, but a smaller footprint in a tiny home on 8th Street," Brittan says. "We won't be selling hand-scooped ice cream since there is so much competition for that in the area. It will be very retro, focusing on candy and old-fashioned sodas, in glass bottles."

Sodas at Hey SugarHey Sugar

They'll also have a chocolate case with gourmet chocolates.

Bishop Arts has had a vintage soda shop off and on over the years (who remembers The Soda Gallery), which turns out to be a favorite amenity of Bishop Arts landlord David Spence, who first reached out to Brittan back in 2016.

"David Spence from Good Space has wanted an old fashioned candy soda store in Bishop Arts for many years," Brittan says. "He loved the concept and felt it was good fit. Seven years after he first contacted me, we found a location that was the perfect fit being it’s a 100 year old home; very vintage!"

This has been somewhat of a Hey Sugar motif. The original location in Roanoke was built in 1880, and her location in Decatur is more than a century old.

"I love old buildings," she says.

An Italian restaurant with deep suburban roots has opened in Dallas' Oak Cliff: Called Roma's Italian Bistro, it's located at 839 W. Jefferson Blvd., in a small brick storefront at the corner of Tyler Street, in a space that was once Mi Fondita Restaurant, where it's winning over the locals with its basic Italian-American at an affordable price.

Roma's is owned by Julian Leshnja, who also owns locations in Duncanville, Lufkin, and Jacksonville.

His goal with the Oak Cliff location is to offer an alternative to Mexican food that's more common in Oak Cliff, but at about the same price. Appetizers start at $5.95, and pastas start at $10.95.

Specials include:

• Julian’s signature: shrimp, garlic, basil, tomatoes, and feta cheese over penne pasta
• Chicken carciofi with artichoke and mushroom in a sherry pink sauce
• Chef’s special with chicken, shrimp and scallops in a pink sauce
• Ribeye with marsala wine sauce and penne garlic pasta
• salmon over sauteed veggies

There are also pizzas, calzones, stromboli, subs, and desserts such as tiramisu, cannoli, and cheesecake. [Calzone vs. stromboli, courtesy of Food Network: "A calzone features a circle of dough that's folded in half over the filling and sealed by crimping, like a pasty or empanada. A stromboli starts with a rectangular piece of dough that's then topped with add-ins and cheese, rolled up lengthwise and sealed by folding and pressing the extra dough over the edges."]

They offer delivery in a 5-mile radius. Add the three sibling locations and Roma's has pretty good coverage in the southeast Dallas corridor.

Leshnja moved from Albania to the U.S. when he was nine. Owning restaurants is in the family: His brother Florenc owns Gallo Nero, a similar concept that debuted on Greenville Avenue in Dallas in 2018, followed by Frisco, which opened last year.

The two brothers got their start with their first Roma's in Duncanville, back in 2011. There are now 14 other loosely connected Roma's locations around DFW, East Texas, and Louisiana that have been sold over time yet all operate under the same name — not unlike other Albanian-run chains around DFW such as Joe's Pizza & Pasta.

All Roma's locations have a similar look and feel with comfortable seating and high ceilings, but in smaller spaces.

"I don’t really like to do big restaurants," Leshnja says. "I’d rather have a small place that I can manage and where my employees are happy. This helps us provide fresh food and a consistent experience."

Pull out your world atlas for this: A new restaurant and bar based in New York is coming to Dallas from an Australian team. Called Isla & Co., it'll open in Bishop Arts, at 408 W. 8th St., better known as the former Lucia Dallas space. (Lucia relocated to 287 N. Bishop Ave.)

Isla & Co. is from Parched Restaurant Group, a New York outfit from two natives of Australia, Barry Dry and Tom Rowse, whose other concepts include coffee cafe Hole in the Wall, The Sentry penthouse lounge, and Daintree in Midtown Manhattan.

There are currently Isla & Co. locations in Williamsburg, Brooklyn; Fairfield, Connecticut; and Midtown Manhattan. Bishop Arts opens October 21.

Co-owner Tom Rowse says that their goal with Isla — pronounced "eye-la" — is to recreate a common concept in Australia.

"Isla is one of most popular female names in Australia," Rowse says. "We liked the idea of having a female name, and it's also a Scottish word that translates to 'island'."

"The concept started in New York where we could find coffee specialty shops and places doing good brunch or good dinner, but no one that did them all," he says. "That kind of versatility is not unique in Australia."

So they're there for morning coffee, lunch, and dinner, with a seasonal food and beverage menu featuring influences from Australia, Europe, and SouthEast Asia, plus cheerful, engaging service.

"The service aspect can be challenging, especially in this environment, but it's important to us," Rowse says. "We are very culture driven and put a lot of time into not just hiring the right staff but in doing continuous training. We want to create a fun work culture that passes on to the guest experience. We even have a 'culture officer' who supervises this process."

Dallas had been on their radar for a couple of years.

"A few years ago, we might've gone to Austin, but Bishop Arts spoke to us," he says. "We like to be in areas with good restaurants and Bishop Arts has a great food & beverage scene. And the space itself is exactly what we were looking for, with 40 seats inside and 40 outside."

Food
Executive chef Matt Foley attended the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, worked at two-Michelin-starred Marea, and was corporate chef at fast-casual restaurant group DIG, before joining Parched, where he oversees the menus at Hole in the Wall and Isla & Co.

Brunch is served daily until 4 pm and includes:

• Brekkie Roll
• Smoked Salmon Benedict
• Brioche French Toast
• Isla & Co. Burger
• Grilled Chicken Sandwich with cheddar and charred broccoli pesto

Dinner dishes include:

• Spicy Shrimp Vodka Rigatoni
• Fish & Chips
• Pork Sausage Rolls
• Thai Green Vegetable Curry
• Half Chicken with seasonal roasted vegetables

Drinks
Isla & Co. has a specialty coffee program inspired by Australia's hardcore coffee culture, serving Hole in the Wall Espresso with two house blends suitable for espresso or drip, originating from Ethiopia and the Americas, and roasted in Denver. Need the world atlas again!

Their bar program includes a wine list focused on natural and organic wines, plus craft beer and signature cocktails like the Espresso Martini (Tito's vodka, Mr. Black coffee liqueur, espresso), Wizard of Aus (Starward Whiskey, lemon juice, sugar, egg white, Shiraz wine float), Isla Old Fashioned (bourbon, Amaro Montenegro, Eucalyptus bitters), and The Taipan (Hiatus Tequila, spicy pepper, yuzu, agave, and shiso).

All beverages including mimosas and bloody marys are served from brunch through to dusk.

Isla & Co. is also slated to open locations in Atlanta, South Beach, and West Palm Beach later this year.