Hillside Village's facelift is almost complete, and with the new look comes changes to the restaurants.
It's the first time since 1993 that the Lakewood shopping center at Mockingbird Lane and Abrams Road has gotten a facelift, said Ward Kampf, president of Northwood Retail, and the construction has been "arduous." He expects his company to be finished with renovations in about 30 days.
First, a sports bar called Lakewood's First & 10 has closed. It was in operation for nearly 10 years, and we listed it as one of Dallas' best sports bars. Owner Mark Hajdu says it became a beer bar for regulars. The restaurant often smelled like barbecue because Hajdu leased part of the kitchen to the owners of Smokey John's Bar-B-Que last year while they rebuilt their Dallas restaurant destroyed by fire.
Hajdu says he doesn't plan to open First & 10 elsewhere. "Given the current rental market, mom and pop restaurants like this have a very tough time succeeding," he says.
A few doors down, Visionworks closed in Hillside Village. That storefront will become an Original ChopShop, a fast-casual salad and sandwich shop from Arizona that has popped up in Las Colinas, University Park and Plano. We picked one of Original ChopShop's salads as one of the most healthful, delicious restaurant dishes of early 2019.
ChopShop COO Kyle Frederick says the restaurant fits the "on-the-go lifestyle" of the neighborhood.
"We're also excited about the visibility of the new space," he says: ChopShop, located at the corner of the shopping center, can be spotted while cars drive north and south on Abrams Road. ChopShop is expected to open in "late 2019," says a spokeswoman.
Existing tenants The Little Gym and Dallas Swim Kids are joining up into one space. (The Little Gym is temporarily operating between the former Visionworks and the former Lakewood's First & 10, but it will move permanently next-door to Pro Martial Arts when construction is complete.)
That move frees up the Dallas Swim Kids space, which will become Haystack Burgers and Barley.
Check out this map, which gives a layout of the shopping center.
A patio has already been constructed for Haystack, and about 80 people will fit inside the new restaurant, which is expected to open in October 2019. Husband-wife team Jenny and Kevin Galvan operate Haystack Burgers in Richardson and Dallas and plan to open restaurants in Frisco, Lakewood and Far North Dallas.
Haystack is known for its burgers and milkshakes, and Kevin Galvan says it'll be yet another kid-friendly restaurant in a neighborhood full of families. Galvan gets the need: He has a 19-year-old, a 16-year-old and a 2-year-old.
"I think Hillside is going to have a great mix of restaurants," he says.
According to a story in The Dallas Morning News, the center had about a nearly nearly 450,000 residents living within 5 miles, as of 2017.
Hillside Tavern, a bar on the southeast corner of the intersection, next to Dream Cafe, will likely open soonest: April 2019.
It'll be a laid-back bar, where "all we're missing is our very own Norm," says Alexa Conomos. She's a former WFAA anchor whose husband, Bradley Anderson, is opening Hillside Tavern with his brother Brooks Anderson and chef Nathan Tate.
White Rock Coffee, the tiny drive-through in the middle of the shopping center, will remain. And for anyone making dinner plans, Manny's Uptown Tex Mex, Olivella's Neo Pizza Napoletana and Dream Cafe are sticking around, too, Kampf says.
Information was not available about the retail tenants at Hillside Village.
Renovations to Hillside Village have included new exterior facades, new landscaping and a new parking lot. "We're really excited for the renovation to be completed," Kampf says.
Update on March 29, 2019: This story incorrectly spelled Mark Hajdu's last name. We regret the error.
For more food news, follow Sarah Blaskovich on Twitter at @sblaskovich.
