BBQ News
Chefs Aaron Franklin and Tyson Cole take popular Austin restaurant to East Dallas
Two of Austin's biggest-name chefs are bringing their superstar collaboration to Dallas.
Chefs Aaron Franklin and Tyson Cole will open a second location of Loro, the Asian Smokehouse and Bar, in Old East Dallas at 1812 N. Haskell Ave., at the corner of Munger Avenue.
According to a release, the restaurant will open in late summer 2020.
Loro is an Asian smokehouse and bar that Cole and Franklin debuted in Austin in 2018. The menu features grilled and smoked meats, sides, craft beer, and batch cocktails.
The Austin location has an indoor-outdoor personality, where you can order food at the bar and sit inside or outside on a porch that's shaded by a canopy of hundred-year-old oak trees.
Loro is part of Hai Hospitality, the restaurant group that owns Uchi and Uchiba in Dallas, plus locations in Austin, Houston, and Denver. So for Tyson, Dallas is old hat. But Loro will be Franklin's first venture outside of his acclaimed Franklin Barbecue in Austin.
Like the original Loro, Loro Dallas will feature a variety of dishes created by Cole and Franklin that balance Southeast Asian flavors with traditional Texas barbecue.
"Collaborating with Aaron on Loro has been such a great experience, and the reception to the food, drinks, and atmosphere has been stellar," says Cole in a statement. "We hope Dallas will dig the complex flavor combination of Southeast Asian food with the richness of smoked meat just as much as they do in Austin."
Franklin notes in a statement that "Dallas has such a diverse food scene. I'm excited to have Loro be a part of it!"
That strip of Haskell Avenue is still somewhat sleepy but is in the early stages of gentrification; E Bar Tex Mex, the restaurant from Eddie Cervantes, opened a block away in 2012. The building where Loro is going was previously occupied by a tax and accounting firm, and is next to a sweet patch of green.
Loro Dallas will be designed by Austin-based firm Michael Hsu Office of Architecture. The release says that, like the original Loro, the Dallas location will recall the historic dance halls of the Texas Hill Country, with expansive dining space inside, as well as outdoor deck and patio seating.
