What is it about a Friday night that makes you want to grab a glass of wine or a beer, and catch a simple meal somewhere in your jeans. Somewhere close. The last thing you want to do is turn on the Viking. That’s why I am so psyched to see Preston Hollow Village filling up with a variety of restaurants and eateries. There’s Blue Sushi Sake Grill, the second location in Texas, following the first in Fort Worth, Modmarket, the first Dallas branch of the Colorado-based chain, following Flower Mound, Plano and Southlake, and there’s Vertskebap, the Austin-based wraps concept. There’s Blatt Beer & Table, part of the Omaha, Nebraska-based Flagship Restaurant Group, and the first Blatt outside of Omaha. (Wonder if Warren Buffett eats there?) Flagship is also the owner of Blue Sushi Sake Grill. Blatt is a craft beer bar and restaurant with “elevated beer hall fare” and a Germanic twist: housemade sausages, burgers, chicken and waffles. This is the stuff hearty Midwesterners eat when the mercury dips below zero.
And the Thai restaurant Pakpao recently opened their second location (other than the Dallas Design District) next to Frost Gelato. We popped in Friday evening and found one of our son’s high school buds, Tea Acuff, working with owner Richard Ellman. I was curious why he chose this particular location to move into Preston Hollow — really, the location is NOT Preston Hollow, but we will let that slip because on Friday, it seemed half of Preston Hollow was there… listen up ye restauranteurs of Preston Center: a grocery store brings out the consumers:
“There were several factors,” Richard told me via email. “One is a solid anchor in Trader Joes that would drive continuous traffic.”
No kidding: Trader Joe’s is probably the only grocer my husband sets foot in without me dragging.
Two, the shopping center is located off a major artery, N. Central Expressway, he said — not so good for NorthPark Mall security, but great for restaurants.
Number three, we cannot diminish the proximity to Presbyterian Hospital of Dallas, he said. Music to my ears. How convenient for patients to pop over here in between patient visits, or maybe find something for mom after she delivers?
If there is a number four, it’s that the center is adjacent to a relatively affluent and dense suburban population: Preston Hollow on the west, Park Cities to the south, Lake Highlands to the east.
“It was a very similar approach to that which I employed regarding our West Plano location, which is anchored by a theater and Eatzi’s, is located off the Tollway, and abuts Gleneagles/Willow Bend,” said Richard.
From a macro perspective, with one location in the Design District and one in Plano, Preston Hollow made perfect sense as it is somewhat in the middle, said Richard.
