Dallas has been waiting for Clark’s Oyster Bar longer than it should have had to. The Austin institution opened in 2012, became one of the most copied seafood concepts in Texas, expanded to Aspen, Houston, and Montecito — and somehow Dallas kept getting skipped. That changes this fall.
Clark’s is coming to 4155 Buena Vista Street, just off Fitzhugh where it meets the Katy Trail, in a quirky 1960s office building set on foundation piers. That building is the whole story. MML Hospitality — the Austin group behind Clark’s, Perla’s, June’s All Day, and the Hotel Saint Vincent in New Orleans — is reimagining it with design firm Michael Hsu and Lambert McGuire Design, drawing inspiration from Gulf Coast stilt houses. White walls, teak wood, saltwater fish tank, blue and turquoise tones throughout. A marble oyster bar at the center. A patio built to be the best seat in the house.
The food is what built Clark’s reputation in Austin and it travels well. The raw bar is the anchor — freshly shucked oysters, crudo arranged in a rainbow arc that’s become the restaurant’s most photographed dish, caviar and blini, a clam chowder that is full-bodied and not shy about the cream. The lobster roll is buttery and generous. The cioppino is the thing you order when you want to stay longer than you planned. There’s a pan-roasted black Angus burger with Gruyère and shoestring fries dusted with rosemary that has its own following among people who showed up for the oysters and stayed for dinner.
Co-founders Larry McGuire and Tom Moorman have been building Austin’s best restaurants for fifteen years. When they opened the Houston location in 2023, Moorman said Clark’s held a special place among everything they’d built. “We have several restaurants and I love them all, but there’s something special about Clark’s.” Liz Lambert, the third MML partner and the hotelier behind Saint Vincent, brings the design sensibility that keeps the space from feeling like a chain even as the footprint grows.
The Dallas location will be the fifth Clark’s in the country. MML is also bringing Neighborhood Sushi to Oak Lawn and Swedish Hill, a café and bakery, near Knox Street — but Clark’s is the headliner. It lands at exactly the right moment, when the Katy Trail corridor is the most active stretch of new dining in the city and a proper seafood restaurant with a serious patio has been conspicuously missing.
Opening is expected fall 2026. Follow @clarksoysterbar for updates and check clarksoysterbar.com for the Dallas opening announcement.
