For years when asked where to dine in Plano and even further north of Dallas there were few choices. Certainly there are plenty of national chains to choose from, and plenty of Indian restaurants, some decent, some not so much. The choice for many suburbanites was to make a trek into the inner city of Dallas and its surrounding neighborhoods. However, in recent weeks there have been some moves to change that and actually bring some of the better restaurants to the burbs.
The first to come to mind is the Bishop Arts District BBQ haven, Lockhart Smokehouse that is operational and located in downtown Plano at 1026 E 15th. There you may already sample some of the best ‘que North Texas ha to offer. Now in Plano.
Dalat owner Khanh Nguyen tells us this week that he plans to open a second location of his kitschy Vietnamese restaurant on 15th as well. Then Chris Zielke sends word that he and his partner Chris Jeffers have eyeballed the old Snuffers location for an outpost of their famous West Dallas restaurant, Smoke. Once our jaws fell back into place, Dee Lincoln took cue and announced a second location for her Dee Lincoln’s Steak and Burger Bar. Holy Smokes, we note a trend.
Today, an eagle eyed craveDFW reader reported in to say she spotted a suspicious sign pop up on the corner of the Tollway and Parker, and we best check into the situation. Road trip!
There is a massive shopping center going into the corner of Parker called West Plano Village. Here you will find a plethora of new restaurants that were formerly relegated to the inner circle digs. Here is the list: Princi Italia, Mi Dia (from Grapevine), and Pakpao. The biggest shocker on the list is the latter, Pakpao. I reached out to Pakpao owner Tiffanee Ellman last week who asked me to sit on the information until this week and she would send along an official announcement. Still waiting on that and will update you with more information when that happens.
In addition to all this wonderful news, Kona Grill is opening their next location in the same shopping center. Kona Grill has about 20 locations across the country, and one located in NorthPark Mall in Dallas, as well as one in Fort Worth on Crockett.
So this all begs the question, what next?