Despite the rising restaurant death toll in Dallas-Fort Worth, chefs are still opening new restaurants.
Korean street-food franchise Frank Seoul opened in Frisco on July 11, with the intention of getting customers in and out quickly.
“It’s a fast-paced restaurant,” says manager Andy Ahn. “And despite what’s going on, business is booming at Frank Seoul. I’m honored to share our food and culture with people who are willing to try it.”
Frank Seoul has more than 50 restaurants in South Korea. The shop in Frisco, operated by franchisee and D-FW resident Jin Oh, is the first one in the United States. The restaurant sells eye-catching snacks like a potato-cheese hot dog, which looks like a corny dog that’s ready to explode, with mozzarella on the inside and diced potatoes that come deep-fried to the outside. Korean-style pancakes called hotteok are another menu staple that come with brown-sugar syrup and peanuts inside.
The restaurant will sell dalgona coffee — the whipped drink that became a viral hit among Americans stuck at home during coronavirus quarantines. Ahn points out that while dalgona coffee is a recent trend, dalgona is not: “Dalgona is something that every Korean grew up eating,” he says. Dalgona is candy — like toffee, made with sugar and baking soda — that customers can buy from Korean street vendors.
The nimble franchisers were sure to add it to the menu before Frank Seoul made its United States debut.
Frank Seoul is one of many restaurants whose owner is choosing to open during the COVID-19 pandemic. See the list below for other restaurant newcomers.
For a list of restaurants that opened in March, April, May and early June in North Texas, click here.
New restaurants that opened in summer 2020 in D-FW
Another Round Mini Golf: Call it West Dallas’ new country club. An indoor mini golf company opened June 19 on Sylvan Avenue, just around the corner from the Sylvan Thirty development. While food isn’t the focus here, Another Round does sell light bites from Cooper’s Meat Market: chips and queso, chicken fingers and sliders. There’s also a list of cocktails with names like the Birdie and the Hole In One. We’ve got eyes on the Caddie, a tequila cocktail with passion fruit habanero puree, cilantro and lime. Make reservations before you quaran-tee up. Another Round is at 660 Fort Worth Ave., Dallas.
El Mana: Jefferson Boulevard is home to a Mexican and Salvadoran restaurant, El Mana, that opened June 22. The restaurant’s specialties include chile relleno and carne guisada. You shouldn’t miss the pupusas, or corn cakes filled with pork, cheese, beans and the like. El Mana also serves breakfast. CultureMap first reported the opening. El Mana is at 4448 W. Jefferson Blvd., Dallas.
Elm & Good: This American restaurant opened Aug. 12 on the first floor of the Pittman hotel in Deep Ellum. The restaurant is cheffed by Graham Dodds, who has worked at the Statler hotel as well as at beloved, shuttered Dallas restaurants Bolsa and Hibiscus. While the menu includes dishes for all eaters, Dodds is especially excited about the vegetables he’s cooking. Elm & Good is at, well, Elm and Good Latimer. 2551 Elm St., Dallas.
Frank Seoul: Jin Oh operated Fort Worth restaurant Burger Box for years before getting the rights to launch Korean franchise Frank Seoul in the United States. “I could not stop thinking about how I can introduce Korean food and snack to this Dallas-Fort Worth area,” Oh says. Frank Seoul sells deep-fried hot dogs (think corny dogs), rice-cake stew called tteokbokki, and sweet, crispy pancakes called hotteok. Since we can’t gorge on fried food at the State Fair of Texas this year, perhaps Frank Seoul will help fill the corny-dog void. Frank Seoul is at 9292 Warren Parkway, Frisco.
Holy Crust: Dallas restaurateur Phil Romano opened his new pizza joint Holy Crust in Trinity Groves on Aug. 3. The main attractions are, of course, the 16 pizzas on the menu. But the pour-your-own wine — operated on the honor system — might be just as intriguing. (Romano also debuted an honor system at Macaroni Grill, a restaurant he founded in 1988.) Holy Crust has a patio that looks out over Singleton Boulevard in West Dallas. Romano says he’s “been eagerly waiting to unveil this concept, which is very special to me, as it honors my own mother.” Holy Crust is at 3011 Gulden Lane, Dallas, in the Trinity Groves development.
Hudson House: There’s a little bit of everything at Hudson House, and it’s served in a handsome dining room that feels like it belongs in the Northeast. The oysters are popular, but so are the popcorn chicken, the cheeseburger and the lobster roll. The Lakewood restaurant — a made-over IHOP — is the third in Dallas-Fort Worth, after the original in University Park and a second in Addison. It opens July 28. Hudson House is at 4040 Abrams Road, Dallas.
Krio: The theme at Bishop Arts District restaurant Krio is “where the Far East meets the Deep South.” Owner Connie Cheng opened the restaurant June 21, serving Asian-inspired Cajun food like jambalaya egg rolls. Boiled seafood seems like a big draw, with options of crawfish, crab, shrimp or clams dipped in signature spice blends like garlic bomb or C’Asian (Cajun-Asian). Baskets of fried cod and soft-shell crab are gluten-free. Krio is at 233 W. Seventh St., Dallas, next to another shop on this list, White Rhino Coffee. (See below.)
La La Land Kind Cafe: The owner of the coffee shop that employs foster-care youths who have aged out of the system is expanding his business to a second location. This new La La Land opens July 27 on Oak Lawn Avenue, inside a renovated Starbucks that swapped dark woods for a stark white interior splashed with bright yellow. Owner Francois : is passionate about his mission, to help teens and young adults in need. In a lengthy interview about his goals for the business, he says, “Why can’t we take a step back and think about people? As we’re going into this next decade, I think we need to really start setting a precedent that companies should be giving back.” La La Land Kind Cafe is at 3330 Oak Lawn Ave., Dallas. The original La La Land remains, on Lower Greenville in Dallas.
La Resistencia: One of the most exciting and vibrant new restaurants to open in North Texas in 2020 is La Resistencia, chef Regino Rojas’ reimagined place in Deep Ellum that opened June 18. The tiny dining room is attached to Revolver Taco Lounge, Rojas’ other restaurant that’s been converted into a to-go window during COVID-19. The rest of the space is a reservations-only restaurant with a six-course taco tasting menu. All the tortillas are house-made, and they help celebrate the many ways this chef uses Mexican corn on his menu. The servers wear all black — suits, disposable gloves, face masks and reflective face shields — which means customers can’t see their eyes, noses or mouths. It’s a mysterious, exclusive dinner experience that’s unlike anywhere else in town. La Resistencia by Revolver Taco Lounge is at 2701 Main St., Dallas.
Mestizo: Tapas & Drinks: Mestizo is an Asian-Latin restaurant so named for a word meaning “mixed race.” According to Eater, menu items include “the uber-trendy birria ramen, a bowl of brothy, spicy noodles that blends two classic dishes from Mexico and Japan” as well as “sizzling sisig platters, nacho towers, ... deep-fried fish topped with sweet chili tamarind sauce, and a ton of slushies, boba teas and coffee drinks.” It opened in the beginning of August. Mestizo is at 2626 N. Josey Lane, Carrollton.
Mexican Sugar: Spicy restaurant Mexican Sugar opened June 29, next door to sibling restaurant Whiskey Cake on I-635 in the Irving/Las Colinas area. Those who choose to go inside the restaurant will find a “tequila library,” which is a fancy way of saying they’ve got 100 ways to get you schnockered on the good stuff at the bar. The menu is a mix of tacos, enchiladas and fajitas. Curbside pickup includes family-style enchiladas and big batches of margaritas. Mexican Sugar is at 3215 Regent Blvd., Irving.
Ngon Vietnamese Kitchen: Owner Carol Nguyen is proud to announce that her restaurant is run by women: She’s joined by managers Lyna Tran and Nini Nguyen. The Lower Greenville restaurant started serving Vietnamese dishes via takeout in late July, with dine-in coming soon. (See a preview menu here.) Menu items include bánh mì — with French cognac infused into the foie gras pâté, yes please — plus spring rolls and a pork noodle dish named bun cha Hanoi. Ngon also sells Vietnamese coffee and “refresher” drinks made with butterfly pea flower or hibiscus. Ngon is at 1907 Greenville Ave., Dallas.
Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille: Perry’s in Dallas got a makeover. A major one: It moved about 400 feet and reopened on July 16 inside a building by Klyde Warren Park. The new restaurant boasts a 30-foot-tall wine tower that acts as a centerpiece for the two-story restaurant. It has four private dining rooms. It will continue Pork Chop Fridays, which is a $16 lunch-cut portion of the restaurant’s famous pork chop. Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille is at 2100 Olive St., Dallas.
Primo’s MX Kitchen + Lounge: If the name sounds familiar, that’s because a Tex-Mex restaurant named Primo’s was open on McKinney Avenue in Uptown for nearly three decades. After it closed, a new restaurant group reopened Primo’s — first in that same McKinney Avenue spot and second in downtown Dallas. Both restaurants are intended to be a more elevated Tex-Mex experience from the original. Downtown Dallas dwellers will find boxed lunches to-go in addition to the traditional menu. The latest Primo’s opened July 20. Primo’s MX Downtown is at 1914 Commerce St., Dallas.
Provender Hall: Southern comfort restaurant Provender Hall opened July 4 in the Fort Worth Stockyards. That might seem like a strange date — a day when most of us were grilling hot dogs in the backyard — but it was specifically picked by chef-restaurateur Marcus Paslay because he expected tourists to visit the Stockyards over the holiday weekend. Paslay explains the menu as “Texas’ greatest hits”: chicken-fried steak, pimento cheese and crackers and a raw bar with oysters. If you go, wear comfortable shoes so you can check out the restaurants and retail in the new development called Mule Alley. Chef Tim Love, who will open restaurants in Mule Alley, said in early 2020, “I think this will be the greatest development Fort Worth has ever seen.” Provender Hall is at 122 E. Exchange Ave., Fort Worth.
Sandoitchi: This might be the most elusive sandwich in Dallas. Sandoitchi is a pop-up Japanese sandwich shop in Deep Ellum that saw such overwhelming demand — 10,000 sandwich orders in its first month — that its founders ask interested customers to sign up for an email newsletter, which gives a five-step process of how to order. (Step 2 is “set your alarm” for 6 p.m. Sunday, when orders open. When was the last time you set an alarm to order food?) It’s fun to see a restaurant success story during the coronavirus pandemic. Sandoitchi is at 2939 Main St., Dallas. Note, you can’t walk up and order a sandwich.
Standard Service: Tucked off of Greenville Avenue in Dallas is a restaurant called Standard Service, which comes from the restaurateur who started HG Sply Co. nearby. Owner Elias Pope — who opened a super-sized Standard Service in Heath, a town near Rockwall — says the goal for Standard Service in Dallas is to feel like “everybody’s neighborhood staple.” The decor is a modern twist on Grandma’s house, with a mustard yellow and blue color palette mixed with wood-paneled walls. Menu items include loaded tots, chicken salad, a BLT and a Buffalo chicken sandwich. Eventually, weekend brunch will be a thing. Standard Service is at 5631 Alta Ave., Dallas.
Tarantino’s Cicchetti Bar and Record Lounge: As with many restaurateurs on this list, Joseph Peter Tarantino’s restaurant opening didn’t go as planned. In an interview before the pandemic, Tarantino talked about hosting family night on Sundays at his restaurant, with big plates of lasagna. Fast-forward to summer 2020, and Tarantino’s is operating as an Italian kitchen serving to-go food during a pandemic. (Perhaps he can do family night someday.) On the menu are steamed mussels, hot Italian roast beef sandwiches, and spaghettini and meatballs. The restaurant is in Expo Park, in the exact location where Tarantino operated a restaurant from 1997 to 2001. More recently, it was home to beloved bar Meridian Room. Tarantino’s is at 3611 Parry Ave., Dallas.
Torchy’s Tacos: Torchy’s Tacos’ first restaurant in the Hurst-Euless-Bedford area opened July 20. The fiery chain, based in Austin, is known for its tacos with cheeky names. There’s the Trailer Park (fried chicken, green chiles and poblano sauce on a flour tortilla) and the Democrat (barbacoa, avocado and tomatillo sauce on a corn tortilla). The restaurant once sold tacos called The Republican and The Independent, but it says it removed them due to low sales. Order a taco “trashy” and the cooks will remove the lettuce and add queso. You’ll want some of that green-chile queso, anyhow: Our readers declared Torchy’s queso the best in D-FW. Torchy’s Tacos is at 2501 State Highway 121, Euless. The company operates 15 other Torchy’s restaurants in North Texas.
Tri Tip Grill: This new Richardson restaurant is named for its tri-tip steak, which is aged for 35 days before it gets marinated, char-roasted and smoked. While a tri-tip sandwich or platter sounds like the way to go, the restaurant also sells pulled pork, barbecue chicken, burgers and salads. Owner Robert Sunleaf has configured the restaurant to do counter service at lunch and full service at dinner. It opened June 22. Tri Tip Grill is at 1417 E. Renner Road, Richardson, in a development called CityLine.
Trova Wine + Market: This new shop sells coffee, wine and stylish bites like chicken liver mousse toast and fig and prosciutto sandwiches. But the heart and soul of the shop is its wine selection. Owner Michelle Bonds hired Cameron Cronin, the former somm at nearby restaurants Homewood and Sachet. Cronin told us his wine list is intended to “hit all the classics — all the things people are used to, balanced with the fun, funky and biodynamic.” Trova is at 4004 Villanova St., Dallas, in the Plaza at Preston Center.
Velvet Taco: D-FW’s seventh Velvet Taco opened Aug. 3 in Addison. The company describes its food as “tacos without borders,” and menu items include tacos stuffed with chicken tikka, Nashville hot tofu, falafel, fried paneer, green-chile pork and more. Some of the existing Velvet Tacos in North Texas are known for their very late hours, but in Addison, during COVID-19, the latest it will stay open is 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. That’s still several hours later than most restaurants. Velvet Taco is at 15104 Dallas Parkway (at Belt Line Road), Dallas.
WannaEat Seafood: If you fall hard for this Caribbean-Cajun fusion restaurant in Mockingbird Station, just know it’s expected to be open from July 31 through Halloween only. WannaEat Seafood is a pop-up from husband and wife John and Brittney Wannamaker. Dishes will include fish stew, Jamaican jerk shrimp and seafood mac and cheese. “These are difficult and uncertain times for everyone right now, but we are going to do what we do best, and that is provide comfort and a temporary escape through our food,” the owners say in a statement. WannaEat Seafood is at 5331 E. Mockingbird Lane, Dallas, in Mockingbird Station.
White Rhino Coffee: After opening a coffee shop in Cedar Hill in 2007, the owners started pouring espresso in Waxahachie, Red Oak and now Oak Cliff. The Bishop Arts District shop is a cute little spot designed with natural wood and navy. And the menu is extensive: Beyond coffee, White Rhino sells breakfast tacos, chicken biscuits, bagels, pies, muffins, scones, sandwiches and salads. White Rhino Coffee is at 233 W. Seventh St., Dallas.
Xaman Cafe + Ayahuasca Cantina: Inside 334 W. Jefferson Blvd. in Dallas, Gerardo Barrera and Mauricio Gallegos are cooking up something(s) very interesting. Xaman Cafe is a coffee shop that will showcase beans from small farms in Mexico, reports D Magazine. Ayahuasca Cantina — in the back of the shop — pours a distilled Mexican spirit called sotol. (Read more here about sotol’s recent popularity.) The owners soft opened the first week in August. Both are at 334 W. Jefferson Blvd., Dallas.
Zalat Pizza: What we once called “stoner pizza” has turned into a budding pepperoni empire in Dallas-Fort Worth. Zalat opened its eighth location on July 16 in Addison. This restaurant will be a “cloud kitchen,” also known as a ghost kitchen, which means it will not have any dine-in space and will make pizzas for delivery and takeout only. Owner Khanh Nguyen has long been obsessed with pizza — the sauce, the dough, the ingredients — and says removing the ability for dine-in “allows us to focus 100% of our energy on producing high-quality pizzas quickly and efficiently.” The restaurant’s Sirancha (that’s Sriracha + ranch) is beloved. Zalat Pizza is at 4980 Belt Line Road, Addison.
Plus: One restaurant coming soon
Palmer’s Hot Chicken: In the span of a few months, East Dallas went from having very little Nashville hot chicken to being a hot spot for it. Palmer’s Hot Chicken, named for its Georgia owner Palmer Fortune, takes over the former Lakewood’s First & 10 sports bar. Nashville hot chicken will come in four spice levels: naked, novice, Nashville and napalm. The restaurant will also sell catfish, shrimp, salads and frosé. An exact date in August has not yet been set. Palmer’s Hot Chicken is at 6465 E. Mockingbird Lane, Dallas.
Story updated Aug. 14, 2020 after several restaurants opened in August. Original story written July 24, 2020.
