The top-grossing restaurant in the United States in 2022, Komodo in Miami, opens soon in Dallas. The bar, restaurant and lounge is expected to make a flashy debut on April 7, 2023, in Dallas’ Epic development, near downtown and Deep Ellum.
Komodo is a two-story, 22,500-square-foot behemoth. The Miami original — the one that grossed $41 million in sales in 2022 — is 5,500 square feet smaller. We’re not doing that bigger-in-Texas thing, but ours is bigger.
Founder David Grutman describes the Southeast Asian menu as “the Marco Polo of the spice trail.” Dishes include dumplings, snacks and shareable appetizers, sashimi, sushi rolls and entrees like Korean-fried chicken ($29), crab lo mein ($56) and short rib with gochujang ($98).
The star of the menu is the Peking duck, Grutman says. For $105, a table can share duck brined for four hours with five spice, dipped in red vinegar and hung to dry for 24 hours. It’s served with cucumber, scallion, pancakes and hoisin, and is corporate chef Ryan Lithgow’s favorite dish from the original Komodo.
Much of the Miami menu is available in Texas, but the chefs expanded the steak selection. Because Texas. Steaks come from Wagyu Excelente in Midlothian or from Japan, and customers can pick cuts with wowza sticker shock. The 8-ounce filet is $62, but a flight of Japanese Wagyu could cost as much as $600.
The founder is partial to the Grutman Pastrami Eggrolls ($26) served with Chinese grain mustard. “I’m a Jewish boy who loves pastrami,” he says. He learned it was one of the worst-selling dishes at the Miami restaurant, but it’s on the Texas menu, looking for redemption.
Please and thank you, Grutman would appreciate if you’d try it.
Two only-in-Texas dishes are Szechuan Texas quail and Chinese barbecue pork ribs.
For cocktails, Komodo corporate beverage director Haunah Klein has added Ranch Water for the first time. Other drinks include a prickly pear margarita and a Dr Pepper-inspired Old-Fashioned. The venue is best known in Miami for its ginger passion mule and for a tequila and ginger-wasabi shrub cocktail that comes in a Pikachu mug, Klein says. Both are available at the Dallas restaurant.
Komodo’s visitors might be tempted to drink instead of enjoy dessert, but corporate pastry chef Tiffany Pascua’s sweets are too pretty to pass up. The miso molten cake “blooms” as it’s brought to the table, because the coral-colored chocolate begins melting atop the warm lava cake at its center. Other desserts are a banana cheesecake, sticky toffee chocolate pudding and a glass box filled with matcha doughnuts accompanied by a “tower” of toppings like berry coulis and caramel.
Komodo’s double-decker patio looks out at Harper’s and La Neta, two vibe-y spots, where diners might ping-pong from one to another. Komodo is washed in moody reds and colorful wallpaper as designed by New York firm ICRAVE. The second floor — not finished quite yet — will become a lounge that looks out on the triangular-shaped patio.
Traditional bottle service is available for those who want it, but it’s not the only late-night option, Grutman says: “We’ll do bottle service wherever you want. If you want a bottle in the bathroom, we’ll give you one.”
He’s kidding. I think. (The unisex bathroom, lined with flowy drapes, does look like a place where someone might want to drink.)
Grutman’s Groot Hospitality company includes a hotel and restaurant with Pharrell Williams, and a steakhouse with Bad Bunny. Grutman plans to open a third Komodo, in Las Vegas, this winter.
Talks of opening Komodo in Dallas started five years ago, which makes this debut a long time coming.
“We did our homework on Dallas,” Grutman says. He’s already considering where in Dallas he should open a second concept.
Komodo will be at 2550 Pacific Ave. (in the Epic), Dallas. It’s expected to open April 7, 2023. Reservations via Seven Rooms are available now. Closed Mondays.
