Yet Another Burger Chain Flirts With Dallas, But, For Now, Takes Its Meat to East Texas

By Robert Wilonsky Tue., May 12 2009 at 4:51 PM

Categories: Dish

Houston Press

In fast-food news, this note out of Denver: A burger chain called Smashburger announced today that it's expanding from one Texas location (a corporate-owned joint in Houston) to 75 locations in the coming five years, including 10 just-announced franchises in East Texas. A little digging on the burger chain's site also revealed that last September, official word was Dallas was next on the to-do list. In fact, eight months ago the Colorado company said it was but days away from signing its first local lease, with a second to follow shortly either in North Dallas or Plano-Frisco.

But ... unh-unh.

Jennifer Miller, the burgeria's spokesperson, tells Unfair Park today that while "Dallas is still a market for Smashburger," the deal announced last fall never came to fruition. Why come? "Nothing specific," she says. "It was just the nature of working through deals and things like that. There was nothing specific we can point to. ... In Dallas, we're just waiting for the right partner at this point." (Earlier today, another Smashburger exec told Unfair Park the chain has "perspective deals [we] hope to finalize" here sooner than later.) In other words, you want a Smashburger, drive to Houston. Or Tyler, later this year. Is it worth it? Our sister paper in Denver seems to think so; so too our Houston outpost.

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Daniel, knottygirl: Arc en Ciel is actually closed. I celebrated many happy occasions there and it was responsible for the first dim sum I ever ate. RIP.
Good Italian food that isn't upscale is pretty much unheard of in Dallas, that much is true. I haven't been to Vitto's, but those other places are so-so at best; in the case of Terilli's, it's barely adequate and hardly cheap. Dallas doesn't "get" Italian. Another thing Dallas doesn't do well: sandwiches. There's Jimmy's. There's Antoine's. There's Deli News way up north. That's about it. (I guess there are plenty of torta joints; for some reason I never get tortas.) The chains are all godawful -- as far as they go, Jersey Mike's is probably the best.
we have vitto's (bishop arts), Tolouse (knox), Terilli's (lower greenville) for italian. i know there are more, but those are the ones that come to mind right now. dallas has plenty of different types of food! just have to venture outside of your private bubble.
P.S. Psst. Maxim's, Arc en Ciel and any number of other places near Jupiter and Walnut, for Chinese. A word to the communist and un-Texan should suffice. Italian, though? This is NOT Italy, so why cook like it is???? ****** Is Arc en Ciel still there? I drove by Jupiter and Walnut last week and didn't see it. Mind you, it's a big strip center, so maybe that huge restaurant space for lease was another former restaurant? I did love the dim sum. There's nothing like freaking people out by ordering chicken feet. Heh heh. When I want my Chinese/Asian food fix, I drive to Richardson to that glorious huge strip center with Jeng Chi, Caravelle, and a host of other Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese restaurants.
Mmmm, The Big Guy knows his pizza. I'll just add that Scalini's and Lover's Pizza make pretty nice pizza also. Hard to beat Grimaldi's pizza, though. Besides that paper-thin crust, the cheese is to die for.
John Smith, you are a foul and stinking Communist, and unworthy of the state you, unfortunately for the rest of us, call home. Let me guess: You hate Texas barbecue, too, finding it inferior to the Carolina pulled pork you so cravenly crave. You make me sick. P.S. Psst. Maxim's, Arc en Ciel and any number of other places near Jupiter and Walnut, for Chinese. A word to the communist and un-Texan should suffice. Italian, though? <i>This is NOT Italy, so why cook like it is????</i> P.P.S. To all you falafel-and-curry-loving California she-men: Go to the "old downtown" part of Richardson for numerous cheap-fast-n-authentic Indian/Pakistani and Middle Eastern offerings. Hey, I have fashionable contempt for the suburbs. But while we urbanites weren't looking, that's where all the (non-Hispanic) immigrants moved. Now go get a Dijon burger, you pack of elitists.
About that fast food italian.. there was a Fazoli's for about two months on the northeast corner of McArthur & 635 about 6 years ago. It lasted all of a few months before it got turned into gas station. One of the few things that I miss from Lubbock.
@J.Smith try Pietro's Grimaldi's May Dragon However, The Big Guy would like to point out that a well executed Tex-Mex combo platter is capable of producing a sense of well being rivaling any known form of Pharmaceutical.
we got BurgerHouse...thats all we need.
Call me when it's In-n-Out Burger. Other than that, don't wake me up.
The food in Texas is great if you like lots of pepper, smothering it with cheese, and Tex-Mex jalapenos! How about some real flavor here? Let's get some good Italian and Chinese food, and REAL Italian pizza in Texas, this would give me good reason to actually go out to a restaurant. Hey, y'all, I have news for you... This is NOT Mexico! So why cook like it is????
How about fast food Italian? The thing we have too much of is Sandwich Chains....
speaking of Burgeria...what's the deal with that new burger place across the UT Southwestern on Inwood Road?
They offer nothing smaller than a 1/3 pound burger? Are they getting a kickback from some cardiologists' association or what? And I agree that we don't need any more fast food Tex-Mex or burger/chicken joints -- why can't we get fast food Indian, Thai, Jamaican, etc.?
Assuming Dallasites and Denverians are back on speaking terms after the series.
What the hell is it with burger chains and North Texas? In my neighborhood or nearby I've got Jakes, Kellers, Fuddruckers, et al. And for chains, we have <i>all</i> the usual suspects. I've been to more burger joints in my life than I can count, and I can't imagine what these guys think they're going to bring to the table. The only thing more useless that I can imagine would be a new Tex Mex chain. On the other hand, if someone would bring me a nice fast gyro place where I could go for lunch, then you might just get me there.