If you haven't heard much about Gas Monkey Garage founder and star of TV show Fast N' Loud Richard Rawlings, prepare yourself -- 2016 is going to be a big year. In addition to a forthcoming Gas Monkey-branded energy drink and a proprietary line of Hot Wheels toy designs, Rawlings is planning to launch a new restaurant in Dallas.
The yet-to-be-named concept will be different than Gas Monkey Bar and Grill in Dallas:
Expect a "fast-food casual drive-in, a little bit of rock and roll playing, big screen TVs," Rawlings says.
Details are still in the works, but Rawlings hopes to debut "the first one" by late summer. (Like most of his businesses, the incessant entrepreneur is looking to replicate this concept nationwide.) The plan is to start in Dallas and move outward, he says.
Hungry gearheads in Ft. Hood, Texas, and Mashantucket, Connecticut, also have something to look forward to. Rawlings is opening a new restaurant called The Garage in each of those places. He described it as similar to Gas Monkey Bar and Grill, sans the live music aspect. The one in Connecticut will open in the Foxwoods Resort Casino complex.
"It's more laid back ... just more of a bring your hot rod and hang out kind of place," he says.
Florida will soon be home to a piece of the Gas Monkey empire, too, when a bar and grill opens on Duval Street in Key West. Rawlings expects that to open in about three weeks. For now, long talked-about plans to open a location in Fort Worth are on hold, as Rawlings and company are still scouting real estate.
Can't wait to get you some of that?
There are plenty of ways to feel like part of the Gas Monkey family until then:
- Watch the latest season of Fast N' Loud; you can also join the crew for watch parties at the Dallas restaurant.
- Drink some Gas Monkey tequila.
- Buy a Gas Monkey license plate.
- Hit up a concert at Gas Monkey Live.
