Eastside Social's owners hope this coming-soon bar feels like a "picnic on a roof."
The second story of Eastside Social on Lowest Greenville in Dallas will open first, likely in late June, says co-partner Jonny Valenti. A month or two later, he and his team plan to open the first floor, which will have vintage arcade games: "everything from Ms. Pac-Man to Skee-Ball," he says. Both will be family friendly.
Valenti and his colleagues own Laurel Tavern, located nearby on Greenville Avenue, and its private side room, the Wah Wah Room. The private room opened recently and is modeled after a 1970s-style recording studio; Laurel Tavern is a neighborhood bar that opened in mid 2018 in Dallas and originated in Los Angeles.
Most of the partners in Laurel Tavern and Eastside Social are from California, though they say they intend upon making Dallas a new home. They operate three restaurants in California and sold four others two years ago, Valenti says.
Eastside Social is "an amalgamation of different places and ideas," Valenti says.
"When we had the opportunity to do something on the roof, doing some kind of social house just made sense," he says. The address, at 1928 Greenville Ave., was once home to Nora, an Afghan restaurant where Food Network chef-lebrity Guy Fieri filmed part of an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. (Nora is moving and re-opening in Oak Cliff.) Valenti says he and his partners jumped at the chance to open a second bar/restaurant on Greenville Avenue.
"We realized there weren't a lot of rooftop-style bars available in Dallas, and that this might be a really good opportunity for us," Valenti says.
Eastside Social will also have a patio out front, overlooking Greenville Avenue.
He describes it as a "neighborhood hang," where customers will find a full bar in addition to a menu of finger food: fried chicken sandwiches, wings, poppers and the like.
Valenti and his team are considering opening other bars in neighborhoods like Deep Ellum, but he says they liked the family-friendly atmosphere in Lower Greenville for a place like Eastside Social.
"We actually love being near Trader Joe's," Valenti says, speaking of the grocery store very close by. "All of our places are near a Trader Joe's. That played into the calculus for us, because they do their homework."
Eastside Social will be located at 1928 Greenville Ave., Dallas, and is expected to open in late June 2019.
