California-based Top Round Roast Beef is adding "y'all" to its drawl. A franchisee who lives part-time in Dallas, part-time in Los Angeles is shopping for addresses in Dallas proper right now.
Jason Napolitan in fact lives across the street from the original Top Round in California. After eating there once, he dreamt of a Texas expansion.
"The minute I took my first bite, I thought: This would be perfect for Texas. Those were the first words out of my mouth," he says.
Top Round is a fast-food restaurant mostly fixated in roast beef sandwiches. This is no Arby's, though. It's a small California company with just one restaurant so far. More are expected to open in Northern Cali, Eater says; expansions in other states are also underway.
Sandwiches at Top Round cost about $7 each and include the simple "Beef & Cheese" with beef, cheese "wizz" and sauce on a bun; to the more involved, Texas-sounding "Bar-B-Cue" with beef, fried onion and jalapeno straws, barbecue sauce and cheese on a bun. Then there are veggie options such as kale slaw and a grilled cheese; chicken sandwiches; hot dogs; fries and custard.
That Bar-B-Cue sandwich is Napolitan's favorite, Texas barbecue be damned.
The dessert selection goes beyond the typical chocolate and vanilla found at fast-food joints. Napolitan likes the Elvis concrete: custard mixed with bananas, salted peanuts and hot fudge. The pistachio shake is good, too, he says.
Dallas franchisees Jason and Michael Napolitan hope to open three Top Rounds: one in Dallas proper, two in the suburbs.
Ideally, he wants Texas Top Round No. 1 to open in fall 2016. But it's still early; no leases have been signed.
It isn't often that we know (or care) who the chef of a fast-food joint is, but this one puts a name on it: Co-founder Steven Fretz, who was named a "chef in the moment" in mid 2014 by the LA Times.
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