DALL — June 2012
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The Radar Biz
What’s Cookin’?
The reigning chain restaurant king brings his crowd-pleasing genius to West Dallas’ Trinity Groves incubator project.
Imagine a 20-acre site alive with unique restaurants, specialty shops, art galleries, live music, a theater and trees lit with tiny white lights.
You’ve just peered inside the mind of restaurant kingpin Phil Romano, whose vision for the new Trinity Groves project sprouting on the west side of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge is precisely this.
“We’re trying to bring people back into that area,” Romano elaborates. “As you come over the bridge, you’ll see a multitude of trees, a patio area that seats 200 people, a critical mass of restaurants and complementary things, like a chocolatier, a cheese maker, a fish market a produce market.”
He and his partners in West Dallas Investments LP, Butch McGregor and Stuart Fitts, are cooking up a restaurant incubator to beget eateries that could influence tastes nationwide, and they’ve got a stack of applicants.
“We want new, different and creative restaurants down there that won’t be the same thing as anybody else has,” says the man who launched Fuddruckers, Romano’s Macaroni Grill, Nick & Sam’s and more. “We should be creating over 1,000 jobs.”
Applicants with big ideas and good cooking will get professional guidance to build 2,500-square-foot restaurants in existing buildings along Singleton Avenue. West Dallas Investments, which will charge Minimal rent, takes a 10 percent share if the concept hits big and expands.
Newbie restaurants could pop up as fast as one per month, and don’t be surprised if some of this process winds up on a reality TV show.
“We can film it from beginning to end, and people will learn how to open a restaurant,” Romano says. Noted chef Sharon Van Meter is moving her cooking school and event space here in late July, renaming it 3015 Trinity Groves. She’ll be able to throw parties for as many as 500, while her new Beignet Bridge Club cafe will be open daily offering beignets, colee and sandwiches.
Babb Brothers Barbecue & Blues and Four Corners Brewing Company both aim for August debuts. Babb will serve Kansas City style smoked barbecue and throw the occasional blues concert, says owner Mike Babb. His Arlington catering company, the Rib Man, is already a fixture at corporate tailgate parties at Cowboys Stadium.
And Four Corners Brewing Company expects to be rolling out kegs and serving free tastes of its specialty beers by August.
“We could have had it up and running six to nine months ago in a warehouse, but we felt this was worth waiting for,” notes brewmaster John Sims. “We wanted to be part of it.”
The reigning chain restaurant king brings his crowd-pleasing genius to West Dallas’ Trinity Groves incubator project.
Imagine a 20-acre site alive with unique restaurants, specialty shops, art galleries, live music, a theater and trees lit with tiny white lights.
You’ve just peered inside the mind of restaurant kingpin Phil Romano, whose vision for the new Trinity Groves project sprouting on the west side of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge is precisely this.
“We’re trying to bring people back into that area,” Romano elaborates. “As you come over the bridge, you’ll see a multitude of trees, a patio area that seats 200 people, a critical mass of restaurants and complementary things, like a chocolatier, a cheese maker, a fish market a produce market.”
He and his partners in West Dallas Investments LP, Butch McGregor and Stuart Fitts, are cooking up a restaurant incubator to beget eateries that could influence tastes nationwide, and they’ve got a stack of applicants.
“We want new, different and creative restaurants down there that won’t be the same thing as anybody else has,” says the man who launched Fuddruckers, Romano’s Macaroni Grill, Nick & Sam’s and more. “We should be creating over 1,000 jobs.”
Applicants with big ideas and good cooking will get professional guidance to build 2,500-square-foot restaurants in existing buildings along Singleton Avenue. West Dallas Investments, which will charge Minimal rent, takes a 10 percent share if the concept hits big and expands.
Newbie restaurants could pop up as fast as one per month, and don’t be surprised if some of this process winds up on a reality TV show.
“We can film it from beginning to end, and people will learn how to open a restaurant,” Romano says. Noted chef Sharon Van Meter is moving her cooking school and event space here in late July, renaming it 3015 Trinity Groves. She’ll be able to throw parties for as many as 500, while her new Beignet Bridge Club cafe will be open daily offering beignets, colee and sandwiches.
Babb Brothers Barbecue & Blues and Four Corners Brewing Company both aim for August debuts. Babb will serve Kansas City style smoked barbecue and throw the occasional blues concert, says owner Mike Babb. His Arlington catering company, the Rib Man, is already a fixture at corporate tailgate parties at Cowboys Stadium.
And Four Corners Brewing Company expects to be rolling out kegs and serving free tastes of its specialty beers by August.
“We could have had it up and running six to nine months ago in a warehouse, but we felt this was worth waiting for,” notes brewmaster John Sims. “We wanted to be part of it.”
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