Louisiana Street Grill in McKinney nears completion

The historic building will undoubtedly be another draw for downtown McKinney.

Photo by Beth Barton

Entrance of Louisiana Street Grill in McKinney

If you’ve passed by the future home of the Louisiana Street Grill recently, you may have noticed that the parking lot has been poured and the facade is beginning to come together. They’ve put in hand carved wood-trimmed windows all along the side and beautiful transom windows above newly varnished heavy wooden doors.

The inside is littered with power tools and ladders, but I can already see that it is going to be a beautiful restaurant. Louisiana Street Grill will be a wood-fired steak and seafood destination with a Southwest feel for the mid to upscale diner, not fine-dining pretension but not flip-flop casual either. Chandeliers will hang from the dark beams overhead and the cedar bar will have ten or so taps. The bathroom is already tiled with cross-hatched southwest tiles and the kitchen has great hulking stainless steel equipment waiting to be installed.

I got a chance to talk with General Manager Jesse Raymundo, and they are hoping to be open for business in about six weeks. He doesn’t expect to be open by Scare on the Square (October 31) but we should be able to expect a soft opening sometime between then and Dickens Festival (Thanksgiving weekend).

The family’s history here as skilled artisans making handmade furniture is a definite advantage in converting this building into a modern, sophisticated eatery. At one time, they employed 35 people here, delivering two truck loads of hand-crafted furniture to the Dallas market each week. Now, they have turned those same skills to renovating the historic building into what will undoubtedly be another draw for downtown and a darling for the review sites.

I understand from Raymundo that parking lot across the street in the shadow of the Historic Flour Mill has become a public parking lot for the city. That, in conjunction with their own newly poured lot, means that there will be plenty of parking. His plans include patio dining on the sidewalk in front of the building where you have a nice view of Historic Flour Mill on one side and the main intersection leading into the downtown square on McDonald.

I asked him if they would have live music and he smiled. It is something that’s in the long range plan but, right now, his hands are full just getting the place open.

Keep an eye out for this one. My bet is that it is going to be the next big thing.