A steakhouse designed to appeal to women is expected to move to the Lone Star State in 2016, first in Uptown Dallas and then in downtown Austin.
STK, as it's called -- that's a hip abbreviation for "steak" -- launched in New York City in 2006 and has grown to London, Milan and more than a half-dozen U.S. cities including Las Vegas and Los Angeles.
STKs sell steaks in small, medium and large sizes and are designed to be more "modern" than traditional steakhouses, says Jonathan Segal, CEO of The ONE Group, the parent company of STK. All the restaurants have DJs who "read the room and play the right music for that audience," he explains. "If you want dinner in a nice, quiet environment, we're not the place for you."
But STK is not a nightclub, and most people don't go there only for drinks, the CEO says.
His idea is to "change the paradigm of the steakhouse" from a boys club to a place for womens night out or date night.
The STK on McKinney Avenue in Dallas will have a 6,500 square foot rooftop deck with an 8,000 square foot restaurant below.
A slightly more casual restaurant, STK Rebel, will open in Austin in 2016. The restaurant on East 3rd Street in downtown Austin will be open for lunch and dinner, whereas STK in Dallas will serve dinner only. STK Rebel will also pull pricier items off the menu to reduce the average price per person.
All STKs and STK Rebels are situated around the bar, "because all the energy comes from the bar," Segal says. They all feature white-bricked walls with protruding horns.
Chefs will create special Dallas-only and Austin-only dishes, which will make up about a third of the menu. The remaining two-thirds of the menu will mirror what diners may have seen at STKs in Miami, Atlanta or elsewhere.
The CEO says he was "nervous" about expanding to Texas because Texans are serious about their steakhouses. He believes his non-traditional steakhouse can succeed. "They say Dallas is the center of conspicuous consumption. Texans, they know how to have a good time," he says.
In Dallas: 1899 McKinney Ave. In Austin: 305 East 3rd St. Estimated opening for both restaurants is "first half" of 2016, the CEO says.
