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Dallas restaurant Stampede 66 closed in Dallas and is moving to Allen

This story has been updated with additional information.

Dallas chef Stephan Pyles' restaurant Stampede 66 closed on Saturday, Oct. 13, as CultureMap first reported. A press release confirms the closure and says the restaurant will move to Allen.

The 6-year-old restaurant was created in homage to Star Canyon, one of Pyles' popular Dallas restaurants in the '90s. Stampede 66 is a Texas-focused restaurant, both in cuisine and decor, and served as a place to take visitors who had just arrived in the Lone Star State. The magenta-colored prickly pear margarita (served steaming, thanks to a bit of dry ice), was a popular order, as were menu items like chicken-fried buffalo and chili pie.

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After it opened in Dallas, our restaurant critic at the time gave it four stars in 2013, and it later became an important part of our city's evolution of Modern Texas cuisine.

Stephan Pyles' food at Stampede 66 was known for being dramatic in presentation. Here's a...
Stephan Pyles' food at Stampede 66 was known for being dramatic in presentation. Here's a lovely lemon tart with cactus pear meringue.(DMN file photo)

The new Stampede 66 will be inside a new Marriott hotel in Allen called Delta Hotels Dallas Allen & Watters Creek Convention Center. The restaurant is expected to open in January.

In a statement, Pyles cited specific reasons why Stampede 66 didn't work at that Dallas address: "While we love Uptown and downtown Dallas, this particular part of Uptown is saturated, surrounded by vacant real estate, constant construction lane closures and neighboring high rise construction that has made it harder and harder for doing business."

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Stampede 66's closure was abrupt when compared to when Pyles closed his Stephan Pyles restaurant in 2016: That closure was calculated — and openly discussed ahead of time. In the case of Stephan Pyles' eponymous restaurant, he closed it after 10 years so he could open the upscale Stephan Pyles' Flora Street Cafe. (That restaurant was awarded five stars in 2017, and Pyles has continued to be a top-tier chef in Dallas.) At the time, some of the beloved dishes from Stephan Pyles, like the Heaven & Hell Cake, were moved over to Stampede 66 for Pyles' many regular customers.

Pyles is not commenting further about the closure. A peek inside the restaurant shows some napkins were still folded on tables, as if they were ready for guests. But it is indeed closed, a spokeswoman confirms.

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The new Stampede 66 in Allen is part of a bigger project. Pyles is opening two other concepts in the same hotel: a cocktail spot called Canyon Bar and a grab-and-go place called Provisions 66.

Pyles is currently executive culinary partner with Benchmark Global Hospitality, a group involved with many hotels in Texas and beyond, including the new hotel and conference center on Texas A&M's campus and Hotel Contessa in San Antonio.