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Restaurant News

News Bites: A Rodeo Bar Revival, Dakota’s Readies Its Return, and Revolver Is Out in Fort Worth

SideDish’s weekly digest of need-to-know dining happenings in Dallas.
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A bunch of burgers.
Kathy Tran

Welcome to SideDish’s weekly dispatch of need-to-know News Bites, from quiet closures to opening updates and everything in between—and back to coronavirus updates!

The Adolphus Revives Rodeo Bar

The ’80s are back—think smash burgers and blue plate specials and not frizzed-out bangs and leg warmers. The Adolphus Hotel is bringing back the era of Rodeo Bar, which opened in 1981 and delivered four decades of service in a space that “expressed a true Texas swagger,” according to a press release. This could be a neat redo or a bizarre little time-warp. In either case it’s an idiosyncratic facet of the Adolphus and it’ll be fun to see the approach to nostalgic Americana fare, how the grit and playfulness of the throwback menu will translate today, where a sense of humor will meld (or collide) with the classic Texas vibe of its original. Expect low-key cocktails and casual-slash-elevated food when the refurbished 95-seat Texas tavern opens at 1321 Commerce Street sometime this fall. Dallas Morning News has a few more details in its report.

Dakota’s Reopens Next Month

Pencil it in: The subterranean downtown restaurant will unveil version 2.0 on September 13. (We had originally heard and reported a July comeback, but openings are always a moving target.) Under the new ownership of Meredith McEneny, Dakota’s has undergone a kitchen renovation and menu updates via chef Ji Kang (Sloane’s Corner, Pizza Leila, two of McEneny’s husband Tim’s restaurants). Kang has beefed up the amount of sides on the menu and added mains like lobster and king crab rigatoni, beef Wellington, and, for lunch, steak frites for $19.84, a reference to the restaurant’s debut year. Much like the five-tiered granite waterfall, Dakota’s classic steak house charm is very much still intact. Reservations are open now for lunch or dinner.

Beer Me, Says Tacodeli

I’m paraphrasing slightly, but the sentiment remains. Tacodeli will launch a menu of beer and cocktails on August 24 for the first time in its 22-year history. What kind of drinks? You wonder, presumably. Tacodeli’s menu of house-made agua frescas can be swirled into a lineup of frozen margaritas (watermelon, horchata, and a seasonal rotation). The new drinks menu also features margaritas on the rocks and a paloma. Both will be available to-go. Essentially the libations will go well with tacos as well as Tacodeli’s new dinner dishes like mole de pollo.

Revolver Taco Lounge’s Fort Worth Comeback Lasted Two Months

So why was Revolver’s return to the city where his tacos began short-lived? DMN’s Sarah Blaskovich asked chef-owner Regino Rojas just that. The curt, if unsatisfying answer: “Rojas says business was slow in Sundance Square. He didn’t want to comment further,” reads the article. After much hubbub about Revolver reopening in Fort Worth, this time at Sundance Square in a former Taco Diner space, it seems Rojas wants to focus on the success at his two Dallas locations (Deep Ellum, of course, and the new spot inside The Exchange Hall). “I need to defend the ground that feeds me,” he told The Dallas Morning News. “Dallas is home.”

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