After years of speculation, White Castle is officially moving dirt in North Texas.
The Ohio-based slider chain has advanced construction plans for its first Texas restaurant at Grandscape in The Colony, with state filings showing the project cleared key permitting hurdles and is tracking toward a spring construction start. The standalone restaurant is expected to span roughly 3,400 square feet and carry a price tag of about $2.1 million.
Plans call for a double drive-thru configuration — a strategic move in a market where car traffic is king — along with patio seating to capture foot traffic from Grandscape’s retail and entertainment anchors. Construction is projected to begin in early April, with completion targeted for late summer or early fall 2026, positioning the restaurant for a high-visibility debut.
Project documents list LMG Ventures as the owner, with Archall Architects overseeing design. The permitting status now reflects that regulatory review is complete, signaling the project is transitioning from paperwork to physical build-out.
For White Castle, founded in 1921 and widely credited as the nation’s first fast-food hamburger chain, the Texas entry is a notable geographic expansion. The brand has long maintained a stronghold in the Midwest and parts of the Northeast, leaving Texas — despite persistent consumer demand — conspicuously absent from its footprint.
The Grandscape site suggests a deliberate market-entry strategy: plant a flagship in one of North Texas’ fastest-growing mixed-use corridors, build brand momentum, and evaluate performance before broader expansion.
If construction proceeds on schedule, North Texas could see its first official sliders served by fall 2026 — marking the end of decades of out-of-state road trips and freezer-aisle substitutes.
