Dock Local finally has a date. The lobster roll operation that’s been quietly building a following out of Legacy Hall, Harvest Hall, and The Exchange will open its Dallas Farmers Market location on July 16, taking over the space Rex’s Seafood vacated back in May after eleven years on Harwood Street.
Chef Brett Curtis built this thing out of a converted FedEx truck in 2016. A Maryland native who grew up around restaurant people — his grandfather, his father, his uncle all ran them — Curtis spent years wanting his own place before he ever opened one. The truck came first, painted with a pelican by his daughter Stephanie, running routes through Frisco, Plano, Prosper, and The Colony before the brand found its way into North Texas food halls. This will be Dock Local’s fourth DFW location and its fifth overall, with one more in Nashville.
The Farmers Market stall inherits the East Coast playbook that’s made the other locations work: the Maine Lobster Roll, the Dock-N-Roll mini lobster roll flight for people who can’t commit to one style, The Original Crab Queso, and the Lobsta Grilled Cheese, which is exactly what it sounds like and exactly as good as that sounds. There’s a raw bar going in too, along with rotating Chef’s Catch specials that will be exclusive to this location — something none of the other three DFW spots have.
The bigger addition is the bar program, which is new territory for Dock Local at this scale. The lineup includes the Blue Coastal, built on Bacardà rum and blue curaçao, the Lemonade Mule with Tito’s and ginger beer, a Dock Ranch Water that swaps between tequila and vodka with a TajÃn rim, a Blueberry Bourbon Smash made with Maker’s Mark, and a DockaRita that comes frozen or on the rocks with flavor options running from spicy to prickly pear. For anyone skipping the alcohol, there’s a Watermelon Paloma, a Cucumber Mint Cooler, and a Tropical Sunrise Spritz. The beer list leans into local breweries, which is the right call for a spot sitting inside one of Dallas’ oldest gathering places.
The space itself carries some history. Rex Bellomy Sr. opened the original Rex’s on Lovers Lane back in 2006, starting as a fish market before customers pushed him into the restaurant business. His son Beau grew up working the counter. When the lease came up for renewal this spring, the two sides couldn’t reach terms, and eleven years at the Farmers Market ended on a Sunday in May. Rex’s still operates its Northwest Highway location, so the brand isn’t gone from Dallas — just gone from Harwood Street.
Dock Local opens daily once it launches, running 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to midnight on Friday and Saturday, which puts it in position to catch both the market’s daytime crowd and whatever late crew wanders in on a weekend night. The address is 920 S. Harwood St. #150, Dallas, and the full menu will be up at thedocktexas.com as the opening gets closer.
