Saturday, December 27, 2008

Pegasus News dining out in Dallas-Fort Worth 2008: Comings and goings

By Teresa Gubbins

The dominant theme for 2008 in the Dallas-Fort Worth restaurant scene was, unfortunately, closures.

Forget about the proliferation of fro-yo and wine bars, the rise of eggs, or the newly popular butternut squash ravioli (all big trends in '08).

Dallas-area restaurants were the canary in the coal mine, offering an early warning of the tanking economy.

Back in Nove's glory days

Some closures were more tragic than others: Brothers Fried Chicken was a crushing blow to a handful of local foodies, as was the passing of Chip's Hamburgers. But thousands were affected when the owner of the Ponderosa and Bonanza chains went bankrupt, Bennigan's abruptly shut down, and Starbucks announced it was closing stores.

Area Italian restaurants got slaughtered: Nove, Bice, Il Sole, Riccardi's, The Grotto, Alessio's, and Pulcinella pizzeria.

Steakhouses, too: BLT Steak, Ounce Prime Steakhouse, Rick Stein's Steakhouse, The Club, and Kirby's in Plano.

Delis took a hit, with the demise of Bagelstein's and Ed's Deli.

Independent spots that deserved to survive (but didn't): Kitchen 1924, Urbano Paninoteca, 62 Main in Colleyville, cult bakery Doughmonkey, and Zoom Vietnamese and Thai.

Meanwhile, a little less sushi: Sushi Samba and Sushi on McKinney.

Gelato at Cibus Caffe & Ristorante

Restaurant-watering-holes Martini Park and Two Rows Grill folded; Meridian Room closed, but then re-opened with new owners. Upscale Amuse survived by morphing into a Tex-Mex place called Sala.

Openings

But thank heavens for these crazy optimists:

Restaurateur Alberto Lombardi opened Pescabar in the West Village and Cibus at Northpark Center.

Chef Nick Badivinus left Dallas restaurant company Consilient to open his own place, called Neighborhood Services.

Wolfgang Puck (well, his catering company) took over the sparkly ball in the sky that used to be Antares to open Five-Sixty.

Dallas Star Mike Modano is opening a sports bar-restaurant.

"Deluxe" combo platter at Jorge's Tex-Mex at One Arts Plaza

A restaurant team took over the Rick Stein's space and opened a steakhouse called Fruia's Tre Amici. Randy DeWitt, formerly of Rockfish, opened Cadillac Ranch in Las Colinas; Lambert's opened in Fort Worth, as did Grace. Charlie Palmer opened at the Joule Hotel. Westin Galleria opened a splashy new restaurant, Second Floor.

One Arts Plaza opened in downtown Dallas with a raft of places including Tei An, Jorge's Tex Mex Cafe, Dali Wine Bar, and Screen Door.

The Shops at Legacy in Plano kept expanding with Coast Global Seafood, RA Sushi, and Gordon Biersch Brewery.

Other West Village-style complexes with restaurants galore opened in Cedar Hill; Rockwall; and Allen.

Swirl Winery in downtown Dallas may have closed but Calais Winery opened in Deep Ellum.

Eno's Pizza Tavern in Bishop Arts

Bishop Arts got hotter with Bolsa; Eno's Pizza Tavern; a second branch of Spiral Diner; and Oak Cliff Pizza & Pasta.

And chains such as Sweet Tomatoes and Dunkin Donuts were bullish on business here.

Veteran restaurant critic Waltrina Stovall passed away, as did Mike Herrera of the Herrera's restaurant chain. Top Chef finalist Casey Thompson left Dallas. But Twisted Root/Cowboy Chow chef-restaurateur Jason Boso is back on his feet -- literally -- after a dreadful auto accident. Hopefully the Dallas restaurant scene will follow in kind.

Related stories

• Pegasus News week in view: New day edition (Jan. 8, 2009)
• Pegasus News week in view: New Year’s edition (Jan. 1, 2009)

See more stories in:

• Food and Drink > Dining / Restaurants > Best Bites

Comments

Michael Anderson Verified

Nice summation, TG. One other 2008 closing that I'm still lamenting is Hola, the tapas place on McKinney with one of the best patios in town. Hopefully something good will eventually fill that spot. Any thoughts on what 2009 will have in store?

10 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

okme2 Anonymous

Very nice 2008 summary TG. Unfortunately it appears that 2009 will see more closings….

10 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )

John McClelland Verified

Frisco seems the place to be for new food. They keep opening new joints near Pizza Hut Park and the Town Square.

They've also been opening new fast food and sit down chains along El Dorado and the Tollway which is making us 380 dwellers very happy people. If they'd just open more on 380 itself, I'd be set. Hear me, Jerry Jones?

10 months, 2 weeks ago ( Link to this comment | Suggest removal )