Editor's note: This story has been updated as more restaurants were announced.
The Irving Music Factory, now under construction near U.S. Highway 114 and Las Colinas Boulevard, will have a lot more than music. The 18-acre walkable development will be home to an Alamo Drafthouse, a 100,000-square-foot office park and more than 20 restaurants.
The first two restaurants announced were
Gloria's
, the Latin eatery with a dozen locations in D-FW, and a new-to-the-area sushi restaurant called
Kabuki
. Also expected to open there is
Thirsty Lion Gastropub
, a sports bar/pub hybrid, and a beer bar and restaurant called the
Yard House
. One other Yard House is currently open in North Texas, in Addison.
More restaurants will be announced in the coming weeks, says Noah Lazes, president of ARK Group, which is developing the Music Factory.
Some of those coming-soon restaurants will be national players -- restaurants many of us are already familiar with, Lazes hints. But he is also courting local restaurateurs.
"We could fill this place three times over with regional, national operators. We've reserved special places for these local guys," he says. It'll add "flair" to the project, he thinks.
An "upscale, very well known steakhouse" will also open there, he says.
A group called Restaurants Unlimited, Inc.will operate seven more restaurant/bar spaces in the Music Factory, but the names of each are so far unknown. A press release says all seven will have live music and will be categorized as such:
- A "Texas kitchen"
- A burgers and BBQ place with blues music
- Latin restaurant
- Seafood house
- "West Coast grill" inspired by Portland City Grill
- Tapas bar with specialty in martini
- Wine bar with Mediterranean food
North Texas has long been a strong restaurant region. Lazes' team, which has developed projects in Charlotte, N.C., and Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, among others, is acutely aware of D-FW's dining potential. Lazes describes the Music Factory as "in the dead center of the 7 million [people] in the Metroplex" -- which means he hopes the complex will draw from all over the region.
Construction just began, though passersby will not see the development "go vertical" for a few months, Lazes says.
The anchor to the development is a 4,000-seat, 8,000-person concert venue that will be operated by Live Nation. Our Hunter Hauk
describes it as a venue that "will change with the seasons."
The Pavilion at The Music Factory will be walking distance from the Irving Convention Center and the not-yet-built Irving Convention Center Hotel. It seems likely that convention center visitors will also utilize the more than 20 restaurants.
The Music Factory is expected to open in April 2016. Lazes hopes every restaurant will be open by July 2016.
