Manny's is doubling down. By year's end, the restaurant group behind Manny's Uptown Tex-Mex Restaurante will double in size, expanding its existing restaurants in Uptown and Far North Dallas to include ones in Lakewood and Southlake.
The Lakewood restaurant, opening Oct. 20, will be located at Mockingbird Lane and Abrams Road. It moves into the former Rex's Seafood & Chop House, which closed in May.
The team behind Manny's scooped the lease up quickly, says partner and CEO Marisa Espinoza.
"We've always wanted to open in Lakewood, we just didn't have the right spot," she said. "We're not letting go of this location. ... We're excited." That corner of Lakewood is booming right now, with new Dream Cafe and Meso Maya restaurants seeing big business. (And there's even more Mexican food nearby: Taco Joint and ZuZu Fresh-Made Tex-Mex.) H-E-B also reportedly bought a grocery store at the intersection.
Both the Lakewood restaurant and the Southlake one will be similar to the existing Manny's, Espinoza says, and that means a homey atmosphere and Tex-Mex dishes such as queso, brisket tacos and fajitas.
The Southlake restaurant, located at 151 N. Nolen Drive, is expected to open in December.
The patio will be a main attraction at the Lakewood Manny's, the CEO hopes.
Expect draperies and booths for "relaxed, outdoor dining," Espinoza says, "where we're making them feel like they're at home on their patio." The company is working on its liquor license now.
Manny's is certainly going through a growth spurt. "[And] we're not done yet," Espinoza says. "We have more to come."
