A 25,000 square-foot restaurant, bowling alley and karaoke bar with an indoor putting green, dart boards and board games opens June 29 in Deep Ellum. If that sounds like a lot of stuff in one place, that's exactly the idea at Punch Bowl Social on Main Street in Dallas.
It'll be the 17th Punch Bowl Social in the United States, the result of a rigorous expansion after the original debuted in Denver in 2012. Another Punch Bowl Social in North Texas is expected to open in Fort Worth's West 7th neighborhood in July.
Although there's a lot to do at Punch Bowl Social, CEO and founder Robert Thompson says it's a restaurant first.
"When we lay out bowling lanes, we never lay them out all together," Thompson says. "There are two here, four over there, two here. ... You can sit at a high-top near a bowling lane and have a full meal — or you can reserve a table [in the restaurant]."
Menu items include burgers, salads, tacos and loaded fries. The Knockoff Burger, a gussied-up Big Mac, is one of the most popular items, Thompson says.
The $5 million project lands in Deep Ellum during a big boom in construction, when new restaurants, bars and even high-rises are becoming more of the norm in a neighborhood that used to pride itself on its worn-down character. Thompson hopes to bring a little of that history into his brand-new project by infusing pieces of decor that remind customers of Deep Ellum's jazz and punk past. Those elements "celebrate how Deep Ellum has its roots in live music," Thompson says. (Plus, Thompson likes punk rock.)
The "eater-tainment" complex will hold as many as 1,000 people.
Thompson told The Dallas Morning News in 2017 that "what we do best ... is repurpose outdated or dilapidated structures." Punch Bowl Social in Deep Ellum will be located at Main Street and Good-Latimer Expressway, in a building that Thompson says has "grit," like the original in Denver.
"It feels like a distillation of our original DNA," he says.
On opening weekend, Punch Bowl Social will sell $20 tickets so customers can eat, drink and try out the games for a flat fee. Proceeds will go to Foundation45, a non-profit group started after the suicide deaths of Dallas men Frankie Campagna and Adam Carter. The two were fixtures in the music scene in Deep Ellum, and "45" symbols — named for their band, Spector 45 — can still be found throughout the neighborhood.
Punch Bowl Social will be located at 2600 Main St., Dallas, and is expected to open June 29, 2019.
Look inside Punch Bowl Social in Deep Ellum
