When I talk to friends about an exciting new restaurant, I almost never give an exact address. I say something like, “You know the old Blue Goose Cantina on Greenville Avenue? Across from the Dubliner? It’s going to become an American restaurant.”
They go, “Oh!”
And I go, “Yeah!”
And then we tell stories about the place that used to be there.
Inspired by those meandering conversations, here’s a list of familiar North Texas addresses that are (or soon will be) home to interesting, new restaurants.
What it is now: Le Margot
What it was: Corner Bakery in Fort Worth
We called Le Margot one of the most exciting new restaurants opening in 2023 because the team of restaurateurs behind this French cafe are making a significant — and delicious — investment in Fort Worth. Felipe Armenta (Pacific Table, Press Cafe, Maria’s Mexican Kitchen and more) partnered with MasterChef judge Graham Elliot, and they have plans to open at least five restaurants this calendar year.
Le Margot is a 160-seat restaurant with a wood-burning grill and traditional French bistro food. “Nothing intimidating,” Elliot clarifies: Le Margot’s menu is “French country food” like French onion soup, Lyonnaise salad, steak frites, pâtés and profiteroles. It moves into the Corner Bakery that closed on South Hulen Street.
The restaurant is named after one of Armenta’s daughters. Here’s Margot with chef Elliot:
Le Margot is at 3150 S. Hulen St., Fort Worth. It opens June 21, 2023.
What it is now: Bobbie’s Airway Grill
What it was: Dougherty’s Pharmacy in Preston Hollow
For more than a half-century, family-owned Dougherty’s Pharmacy served customers at Preston Road and Royal Lane in Dallas. The company had been around much longer — nearly 100 years — in other parts of Dallas. The pharmacy moved a few blocks north of Preston-Royal in 2021, and about two years later, an upscale neighborhood restaurant opened in its place.
Bobbie’s Airway Grill comes from the owners of il Bracco, an Italian restaurant in Preston Center. It’s named for Bobbie Quick, CEO Robert Quick’s mother, and the chefs make a mix of food you probably like to eat but don’t make much at home: buttermilk biscuits with marmalade; a Caesar (complete with Bobbie’s favorite accoutrement, fried oysters); a French dip; crabcakes; and more. The pharmacy’s “Airway” sign was refurbished and rehung, a nice nod to anyone who remembers the olden days.
Bobbie’s Airway Grill is at 5959 Royal Lane, Dallas. Bobbie’s opened June 2, 2023.
What it is now: Mexican Test Kitchen
What it was: Taco Diner in Dallas’ West Village
After well-liked Dallas restaurant Homewood closed in early 2023, its founder and chef, Matt McCallister, is back in the biz at Mexican Test Kitchen, CultureMap reports. The new restaurant in West Village was created by Mike Karns, the entrepreneur who operates venerable Dallas restaurants like El Fenix, Snuffer’s and Twisted Root. Mexican Test Kitchen’s menu includes healthy Tex-Mex options: tacos, salads, bowls and eggy brunch dishes. I’ve got my eye on the Crispy Rosarita bowl: grilled chicken, rice, sweet potato, greens, pickled red onion, crispy Brussels, crispy Tajin chickpeas and an avocado-jalapeño vinaigrette.
Mexican Test Kitchen opened in place of a short-lived restaurant named Honest Taco, but you probably know it better as the 20-year home of Taco Diner.
Mexican Test Kitchen is at 3699 McKinney Ave. (in West Village, near the movie theater), Dallas.
What it is now: Oak’d BBQ
What it was: Chamberlain’s Fish Market Grill in Addison
If you dined at Chamberlain’s Fish Market Grill on Belt Line Road in Addison (formerly Grady’s, remember that?), you know this restaurant is big. Chamberlain’s closed in 2020, and barbecue restaurant Oak’d is filling the space with barbecue, two patios, a 50-person event space, an area with foosball and shuffleboard, and dessert on display. It’s the second Oak’d in Dallas-Fort Worth; the first is on Dallas’ Greenville Avenue.
Oak’d BBQ is at 4525 Belt Line Road, Addison. It opened May 22, 2023.
What it is now: Sandoitchi
What it was: La Tarte Tropézienne near the Joule hotel in downtown Dallas
Japanese sandwich company Sandoitchi is using the former La Tarte Tropézienne bakery near to the Joule hotel as a Thursday-through-Sunday semi-permanent restaurant space, says Keith Tran, one of four owners and founders.
Sandoitchi became an early pandemic talker because of its craveable sandwiches sold in rotating locations around Dallas. Today’s menu in downtown Dallas includes egg salad, beef tartare, spicy truffle chicken katsu and more. The company even sells dessert sandos like a recent strawberry cheesecake sandwich with cookie butter and cream cheese chantilly cream.
Sandoitchi is at 1604 Main St., Dallas. It opened in April 2023.
What it will be: Lyla
What it was: Primo’s MX Kitchen on Dallas’ McKinney Avenue
Dallasites of a certain age still talk about the original Primo’s on McKinney Avenue, a see-and-be-seen bar in operation for nearly three decades. Margaritas were $2 on Tuesdays, yet customers showed up to show off: dressed to the nines, driving fancy cars. Primo’s closed in 2013 and was replaced by a few bars before it became Primo’s again. A new restaurant group resurrected the old favorite in 2020, but timing was bad with the coronavirus pandemic.
This address is getting a new life once more: Lyla is a Mediterranean restaurant that its operators expect to be “chic, beachy and beautiful,” according to a statement.
Lyla will be at 3309 McKinney Ave., Dallas. It’s expected to open in August 2023.
What it will be: A reinvented Grapevine Bar
What it was: Redfield’s Neighborhood Tavern in Dallas’ medical district
Grapevine Bar is leaving its longtime home on Maple Avenue. It has been one of the homiest, happiest spots to grab a drink in Dallas for more than 25 years. D Magazine reported that the Grapevine will move 2 miles away, deeper into the medical district, in the former Redfield’s Neighborhood Tavern. Redfield’s owners said in late 2022 that the bar “struggled to make ends meet since opening,” and its late owner was accused of homophobia.
Perhaps the Grapevine will give the address a new beginning. Founder Michelle Honea says their bar has always been a welcoming place, the kind “where you can walk in the door and see a real estate developer talking to a drag queen.” She promises that some of the most iconic parts of the bar will move, including the bathroom doors, the bar top and the front door.
The original Grapevine Bar is at 3902 Maple Ave., Dallas, for now, and is expected to move to 2213 Butler St., Dallas, in summer 2023.
What it will be: Cantina la Rosa
What it was: the Dallas Eagle gay bar
For 25 years, the Dallas Eagle was a legendary gay bar near the medical district. After it closed in 2020, Smoky Rose founder David Cash secured the lease and plans to open Cantina la Rosa in 2024. Not a Smoky Rose copy, the restaurant is more of an evolution of the East Dallas family-friendly hangout. The theme here is 1950s retro hacienda, and the menu is Mexican food.
Cantina la Rosa will be at 5740 Maple Ave., Dallas. It’s expected to open in spring or summer 2024.
What it will be: Goodwin’s
What it was: Blue Goose Cantina on Dallas’ Greenville Avenue
For nearly 40 years, Blue Goose Cantina served margaritas and Tex-Mex in the heart of Lower Greenville Avenue in Dallas. But it’s a new era on Greenville, and three restaurateurs plan to open “Americana” spot Goodwin’s there in 2024. They’re an all-star lineup: entrepreneur Austin Rodgers (formerly Town Hearth, currently Alamo Club and Mayer’s Garden), chef Jeff Bekavac (formerly Neighborhood Services and Cane Rosso) and real estate investor David Cash (Smoky Rose and soon-to-come Cantina la Rosa).
We like this explanation from Bekavac: Goodwin’s is intended to be “neighborhood-friendly, but sexy at night.”
Goodwin’s will be at 2905 Greenville Ave., Dallas. A cocktail bar will be next door, at 2909 Greenville Ave., Dallas. Both are expected to open in 2024.
What it will be: Hudson House
What it was: Corner Bakery in Preston Hollow
Corner Bakery filed for bankruptcy in early 2023, and at least a few vacant leases in D-FW are now being filled with new restaurants. American restaurant Hudson House is expected to move into the former Corner Bakery at Preston Road and Forest Lane in 2024. It will be Vandelay Hospitality’s third restaurant in the neighborhood: D.L. Mack’s is open in the former Neighborhood Services at Preston-Royal, and Anchor Fishbar is expected to open at the same intersection, in the former Cantina Laredo, later in 2023.
Hudson House’s menu is East Coast inspired, with oysters, salads, a lobster roll and more.
Hudson House will be at 11700 Preston Road, Dallas, and is expected to open in 2024.
