Preston Hollow Village, the shopping center anchored by Trader Joe’s at Walnut Hill and Central Expressway in Dallas, is changing its fleet of restaurants.
Gone are Dugg Burger, Tricky Fish, Vitality Bowls and Lemonshark Poke. Those four restaurants will be replaced by at least five new ones.
The shopping center is also home to staples like Mesero, Blue Sushi Sake Grill and Modern Market, each open four years or more. Newer restaurants include Jinya Ramen Bar, Another Broken Egg Cafe and Thirsty Lion Gastropub. You’re sensing it: There’s a lot to eat here.
Hope you’re hungry for more.
Chido Tacos and Tequila
Frisco resident Blaine McGowan started pairing food with tequila years ago, during “underground dinners” he’d host at his home with his wife Christen. McGowan ditched a career in software sales and medical recruiting and went into the restaurant industry full-time in 2021, when he opened Chido Taco Lounge in Frisco. His Preston Hollow restaurant, which opened quietly on May 20, 2024, is the second Chido. McGowan has ambitions of opening at least five more.
Unlike the original, the Preston Hollow taco shop does not have full service. Customers will scan a QR code and order street tacos, salads and margaritas from their phones. Two items take inspiration from powerhouse local Mexican restaurants: The Fort Worth nachos are inspired by Joe T. Garcia’s, one of D-FW’s oldest restaurants; and the Chido Uber is a play on Mi Cocina’s Mambo Taxi. It’s a margarita-sangria swirl.
Chido is a casual spot with a patio. It’s open for lunch and dinner.
Customs
Head upstairs from Chido, and McGowan has opened a private tequila bar that sells additive-free agave spirits and a menu of fancier tacos and snacks like mole salami and locally-made Mozzarella Co. cheeses.
“This is my baby,” McGowan said of the tequila bar. It could become a home for his tequila dinners, because here, he plans to host monthly dinners with special pairing menus that include tequilas to sip. McGowan plans to sell 250 to 300 memberships at $100 per month.
His roster of agave-based spirits includes the 21-year aged Fuentaseca, which can retail for over $1,000 per bottle, and a trio of limited-reserve spirits from Fortaleza. The bar also pours La Pulga, a new spirits company based in Fort Worth.
Fortune House
Restaurateur John Kim confirmed that his Irving-original Shanghainese restaurant, Fortune House, will expand into Preston Hollow Village near Mesero. The restaurant also has a location on Dallas’ Lowest Greenville.
Fortune House is a dumpling shop with a long menu of dishes like pepper steak, orange chicken, scallion pancakes and mu shu. Its xiao long bao and the sampler of pan-fried or steamed dumplings are popular at the existing two restaurants.
Chicken Guy! — a fast-food restaurant from celebrity chef Guy Fieri
Tucked in a corner by the parking garage, the frontman for Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, Guy Fieri, plans to open a Chicken Guy! restaurant. He’s opening these fast-food spots around the country with Robert Earl, founder of Planet Hollywood.
The Chicken Guy! in Preston Hollow is slated to be the first one in Texas.
The restaurant sells chicken sandwiches, chicken tenders (grilled or fried) and sides: coleslaw, macaroni and cheese, fried pickle chips and French fries. Fieri is the “boss of sauce,” says the menu, and this spot offers more than 10 options, from Nashville hot honey to jalapeño ranch to a garlicky mayo called Donkey Sauce. (Sound familiar? Sauces are sold in grocery stores under Fieri’s Flavortown brand.)
The restaurant is still in the beginning stages of construction, with piles of dirt on the concrete floor. Sources have given several possible dates for its opening, from late summer 2024 to early 2025.
Chefika Mediterranean
The former Tricky Fish is expected to get new life as a Mediterranean restaurant from a Fort Worth group. Not much more is known about it yet, except it’s described as a Turkish Mediterranean restaurant in city documents. The restaurant is expected to open in early 2025.
