Khanh Nguyen started Zalat Pizza in Dallas back in 2015, and eleven years later the company is opening its 31st Texas location, this time in McKinney’s Heritage Village at 1720 N. Central Expressway, Suite 210, just south of Highway 380 on U.S. 75. For a brand that’s grown this far this fast, Zalat has held onto the same personality it launched with, which says something about how deliberately Nguyen has grown it.
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Khanh Nguyen was eight years old when his family fled Vietnam in 1975. His father was a general in the South Vietnamese army and the governor of a mountain province called DaLat — and when the country fell, a communist assassin was sent to kill them. The family’s escape plan collapsed at the last minute. What saved them was a bowl of pho. The cook at a roadside restaurant outside the city recognized Nguyen’s father, fed the family, hid them, and helped them find another way out. They made it through the Philippines and Guam before landing in Texas. Khanh grew up here, went to UT law school, became a corporate attorney, then a software startup CEO, then looked around at forty-something and decided he wanted to make pizza.
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by Steven Doyle
In celebration of National Pizza Day we have assembled a list of our favorite pizzas around town. We suggest you start now and by midnight you might be able to finish up a slice from each.
Here is a list of a few of our favorites in no particular order. Peruse our list and offer your favorites. Continue reading
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Crave was there at the start with Dalat when Khanh Nguyen was serving hot Pho bowls and Dragon Shots til 2am. We were there when we saw the first Zalat Pizza street sign go up next door on Fitzhugh with “Open til 4am” on it. We remember telling Khanh that it was a bold move to put 4am on the permanent street sign. His response was that he didn’t want to give himself the option to not stick to it. Dallas has followed Zalat over the past 8 years as their late-night, “luxury pizzas for the masses” concept has exploded from its original Fitzhugh location to now 29 locations across Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, and Austin.
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Khanh Nguyen’s cult classic pizza concept, Zalat Pizza, is growing to its 9th unit and will open at 3909 W Parker Rd, Suite 102, Plano, TX 75023 on Wednesday, September 30.The new location will function as another cloud kitchen for the growing pizza brand with a cult following, strictly serving delivery via third party delivery apps or takeout through Zalat’s website.
“Since the start of the pandemic our Plano locations have seen a huge growth in demand, so we have been actively looking for opportunities to expand in the area,” says Nguyen, CEO and Founder of Zalat Pizza.
Continue readingFiled under Steven Doyle
by Steven Doyle
In celebration of National Pizza Day (Sunday) we have assembled a list of our favorite pizzas around town. We suggest you start now and by midnight you might be able to finish up a slice from each.
Here is a list of a few of our favorites in no particular order. Peruse our list and offer your favorites. Continue reading
Filed under Crave, Steven Doyle
by Steven Doyle
Plenty can be written about Khanh Nguyen at DaLat. He is definitely the king of the late night menu, serving pho and plenty of other interesting Vietnamese items on into the night. Arrive at 1:59 and you will be welcome to order, whereas any other establishment would be sweeping and shaking you off to find bad waffles for your 2am fix. Many of the late night patrons are waiters, bartenders and chefs. Others arrive directly from the bars that surround the neighborhood. All are welcomed with a steaming bowl of pho, or one of the many other items that will definitely sooth your soul.
And damn those delicious little DaLat shooters which are Vietnamese meatballs seared and sunk into a spicy broth of sake, coconut and cream. Toss your head back for a moment of bliss. Continue reading
Filed under Steven Doyle
by Steven Doyle
More news from the King of Late Night, Khanh Nguyen who owns both DaLat, the interesting and quirky pho restaurant with the late night hours, and ZaLat, the pizzeria that has even later hours. Both restaurants are located on Fitzhugh. Today Khanh tells craveDFW that he plans another location, and actually signed a new lease just after midnight this morning. The new Zalat will be located on the northwest corner of Legacy and Independence Parkway in the Legacy Village Shopping Center at 7224 Independence Parkway. It will mirror the Fitzhugh location exactly and only serve take out and delivery. This is in a former Domino’s Pizza location. Continue reading
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