As recently as late 2019, we didn’t have very many Spanish restaurants in Dallas. Then Sketches of Spain, which opened near the Bishop Arts District in early 2020, offered a nice glimpse into the northern region of Spain right here in Dallas.
But take a look at the Knox-Henderson area of Dallas just a month later and there are two new Spanish restaurants in one block. There’s bar-restaurant Barcelona Wine Bar and the world-renowned jamón Ibérico shop Enrique Tomás.
And let’s not forget there’s a third Spanish restaurant in that same neighborhood: Cafe Madrid, which has served tapas on Travis Street for three decades.
New shops Barcelona Wine Bar and Enrique Tomas are a mere 600 feet apart. They both serve Spanish ham and wine, but the restaurants are surprisingly dissimilar. Here’s a look at each.
Barcelona Wine Bar
If you consider “wine bar” to mean “quiet,” you’ve got this place wrong: Barcelona Wine Bar has a Spanish-Mediterranean tapas menu with a “lively atmosphere,” says General Manager Brian Franzman. Bartenders may even be spotted standing on the bar, pouring samples of wine into customers’ mouths.
“I think when people hear ‘tapas’ or ‘wine bar,’ or both, that’s assumed as a quiet, quaint, tame atmosphere. I think we’re kind of the opposite, really. We like to bring the party, we like to bring a good time,” Franzman says.
It’s the first Barcelona Wine Bar in Texas but the 18th nationwide. The company is financially backed by L Catterton, which has invested in Hopdoddy Burger Bar, Snap Kitchen and even Peloton. The Knox-Henderson restaurant’s GM Franzman lives near the new wine bar, on the M Streets, and has a history with Dallas restaurants, having operated Cru Food & Wine Bar, J. Black’s Feel Good Lounge and others in North Texas.
Barcelona Wine Bar’s managers hope to have a robust happy hour scene but will also keep the kitchen open until 2 a.m. “You’re running out of spots to get a late-night bite that’s not a pub, fast-casual or fast food,” Franzman says of the Knox-Henderson area.
Chef Chad Starling’s menu seems right for grazing, with a deep selection of charcuterie and cheese alongside more than 30 tapas. Tapas options include tuna crudo; beef tartare; roasted Marcona almonds; marinated olives and the like. Tapas range from $4.50 to $15.50, and customers are encouraged to order several and share.
Franzman loves to bring around boquerones, or marinated anchovies, so customers can try them. He eats at least a few every day.
“I just think that’s a little taste of Spain — and I’m absolutely in love with them," he says.
While it’s a bar first, a restaurant second, diners could certainly come to Barcelona Wine Bar and eat an entire dinner. The menu also has five larger plates to share, like a seafood paella dish with shrimp, mussels, clams and calamari; and a whole-roasted branzino.
Barcelona Wine Bar is at 5016 Miller Ave, Dallas. It opened on Feb. 29, 2020.
Enrique Tomás
As one of the most talked-about restaurant openings in Dallas this year, Enrique Tomás burst onto Henderson Avenue in Dallas with a built-in fanbase. They’re coming for cured Iberian ham, a delicate meat with an international reputation. Jamoneros, or the chefs who slice the ham, have a specific technique to keep each bite thin and buttery.
Enrique Tomás is the largest purveyor of jamón ibérico. They have 50 shops worldwide, including nine shops in Mexico. The Knox-Henderson restaurant is the Barcelona-based company’s first restaurant in the United States.
The Dallas Morning News is doing an exclusive event for subscribers at the restaurant on March 5.
This quote shows just how excited some are that the restaurant is now open: “When you try prosciutto, you say, ‘That’s good.’ But when you try Ibérico ham, you almost cry,” Joel Verges said in August 2019. He was involved in the company’s expansion to North America.
The restaurant at this Knox-Henderson address had many lives previously, as Mesero Miguel, Alma and Cuba Libre.
Customers at Enrique Tomás’s 76-seat restaurant can order tapas, Spanish gin and tonic, or wine. It goes without saying that everyone’s getting jamón.
Enrique Tomás is located at 2822 N. Henderson Ave. It opened Feb. 12, 2020.
