Perla’s Kitchen opens in Rockwall, with everything from scratch

by Teresa Gubbins

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Even the bread!

Perla's pear salad

ROCKWALL — Perla's Kitchen occupies a location that has seen many a restaurant come and go, but 26-year-old owner Perla Gallejos seems poised to change that.

Perla has partnered up with chef Carlos Camacho, whom she met when they both worked at Bonnie Ruth's in Casa Linda. Carlos runs the kitchen, and she mans the front of the house.

"I started working at restaurants to pay my way through university," she says. "I got my bachelor's in health studies but I still hadn't finished paying off my education, so I continued working at restaurants. At Bonnie Ruth's, it hit me that I could do something small like that sometime."

Carlos went to culinary school and has worked as a chef for 16 years; he makes everything from scratch, including the sauces and dressings for their salads. They're doing some high-end-sounding stuff like Zinfandel pear salad with rosemary vinaigrette, and yet their most expensive item is $13.99. Most dinner entrees are $12.99. She describes the cuisine as "mostly American and French."

"Our signature dish is Carlos' roast half chicken, marinated 24 hours in extra virgin olive oil, lemon, and rosemary, and served with mixed vegetables on a hot skillet," she says. "But we have a little bit of everything: chicken penne pesto, spaghetti pomodoro, hamburgers, pizza, salads."

They even make their own bread, not something you'd expect at a suburban spot in Rockwall, and maybe the thing to set Perla's apart from the previous tenants.

"We make all our bread here -- Italian, wheat, and rosemary," Perla says. "What's leftover, we use for French toast, which we do at brunch along with crepes and Eggs benedict. We make our own desserts. Carlos likes to try different things -- when he eats out, he sees things he likes and gets inspired."