When Loro opens in East Dallas on July 5, 2021, this Asian smokehouse from Austin will be one of the most interesting restaurant openings of the year in North Texas.
Much of Loro’s allure is its talent: It’s created by pitmaster Aaron Franklin, of Franklin Barbecue in Austin, and chef Tyson Cole, of Uchi in Austin (and now Dallas, Denver, Miami and Houston).
But some serious anticipation surely contributed to its appeal, too: The restaurant was twice named to our list of most exciting new restaurants and bars, in 2020 and again in 2021 after the restaurant did not open during the coronavirus pandemic. It’s been nearly two years since this supergroup announced plans to open Loro in Dallas. The original location opened in Austin in 2018.
Their style of food — Franklin’s Central Texas style barbecue with Cole’s Japanese ingredients — isn’t widespread in Texas yet. But ask Franklin and Cole say, their food is an obvious match. The fattiness and saltiness of Franklin’s smoked meat begs for acid, and Cole comes through with kimchi, chili vinaigrette and lime.
“We’re going to take barbecue, and we’re going to make it a little brighter and fresher,” Cole says.
Some of the most popular dishes are smoked brisket served with chili gastrique and Thai herbs; corn fritters with Sriracha aioli; and smoked prime bavette and shishito salsa verde. The cheeseburger — served only at happy hour, cuz everybody loves a get-it-till-its-gone special — is also a big seller. Topped with red onion-brisket jam and oozy muenster cheese, Franklin calls it “one of those tall, dense gut bombs of a burger.”
The chef de cuisine in Dallas is Mike Perez, who has traveled across the country working in kitchens: at Scarpetta in Los Angeles, Ten01 in Portland, Trattoria Lucca in Charleston and more.
Some of the dishes at Loro that are specific to Dallas include fried fish served with salt and vinegar beet chips and brisket coconut rice with Thai chilis. A new French onion brisket melt will be available during happy hour only for $8.
The menu in East Dallas will otherwise be similar to the original restaurant in Austin.
Customers will order at the counter, and the restaurant is also intended to have a casual Austin vibe where Dallasites can wear “their cutoffs and flip flops,” as Franklin puts it. It’s designed by Michael Hsu Office of Architecture in Austin, the group that also created the dining rooms at Lada in Far North Dallas; Merit Coffee in Deep Ellum; and the now-closed Gung Ho on Greenville Avenue.
Cole and Franklin are two of the most famous chefs in Texas, and both have won a James Beard award. Cole won Best Chef: Southwest in 2011, and Franklin won the same award in 2015. We’re piling on here, but Cole is also a five-time James Beard award semifinalist, each for his talent at the original Uchi in Austin.
Loro was always intended to be replicable, Cole says in an interview in the parking lot of the soon-to-open restaurant, which is located across the street from E-Bar Tex Mex on Haskell Avenue in Dallas. After Dallas opens, a Houston location will follow.
Cole opened the door to Dallas first by opening Uchi in Uptown in 2015. Loro will be Franklin’s first restaurant here.
They’re understandably hopeful: “Loro has done better than any of us thought it would,” Franklin says.
Loro is at 1812 N. Haskell Ave., Dallas.
