Dallas News Blog

Kimberly Thorpe

If you haven't been to the Spaghetti Warehouse in a while, it looks exactly as it did the last time you were there.

​The Spaghetti Warehouse celebrated its 37th birthday on Wednesday with an all-day draft special and a Beatles cover band -- and, if you were born in 1972, a slice of cake was on the house. Granted, 37 isn't exactly a round number. And Wednesday isn't exactly the most happening of nights in the West End (where, come to think of it, 2009 isn't exactly the most happening of years). Still, the restaurant made the effort: balloons out front, special events on the menu. Come one, come all.

"I'm here for the anniversary party," we said at the door last night.

"You're looking at it," said a waitress. Behind her, a few families ate peacefully, while waitresses moved calmly between the tables refilling glasses of soda from a pitcher.

Upstairs, Glass Apple, a Beatles cover band, played to a small audience of diners; most had no idea it was the restaurant's anniversary. But rest assured: The restaurant has maintained its campy flavor -- though now it's almost like Disney World's Haunted House, as though the dark corners and old casino-style carpeting possess an anachronistic, stylistic flair.

The general manager, 49-year-old Kevin Walker, a lifelong local, was on hand, moving from table to table. He's been working for Spaghetti Warehouse for 10 years, but at the West End location for two.

"The biggest thing that hurt us was when the West End Marketplace closed down," Walker said during a break as he shared a booth with Unfair Park. "People thought the West End closed too. But obviously we're all alive and well down here."

​I've had today's date circled on my calendar since October 7: This was to be the day Bob's Steak & Chop House went on the auction block. And ever since this morning, when we got word that there was at least one heretofore unmentioned notable interested in taking Bob Sambol's Lemmon Avenue eatery at a deep discount, I've been trying to reach both Sambol and Robert Milbank, the Dallas attorney who took over as trustee after the U.S. Trustee deemed Sambol too conflicted to best represent the interest of his creditors. Several messages later, and no luck.

Finally, moments ago, I got hold of Sambol at the restaurant, and he says today's auction "was abruptly ended because of a lot of misunderstanding or clarification of terms." There are presently two bids on the table: one from BSCH Management, which is owned and operated by Bill Lenox (Sambol's partner back when he opened the Lemmon Ave. location in December 1994) and Omni Hotels Corporation; and one from Del Frisco's. The Del Frisco's bid of around $240,000 is slightly higher than BSCH's, but, according to Sambol, Milbank ended today's proceedings because of myriad questions over the bidding process. It's scheduled to resume on November 23.

Till then, Sambol says, "It's business as usual, and I am still at my restaurant, and I am looking forward to sticking around." Which may not be as simple as it sounds, because while Lenox's bid includes a caveat that will allow Sambol to remain at his namesake eatery, Del Frisco's does not.

"I am hoping that no matter what happens," Sambol says, "I get to keep running this restaurant."

​Dallas-based 7-Eleven's had a few proprietary wines on shelves for some time, among them Sonoma Crest and Thousand Oaks, but today comes word that the convenience store's actually in the private-label business thanks to a partnership with its Japanese sibling, Seven-Eleven Japan. And, whoa, Yosemite Road is quite the bargain: Says the press release, both the Chardonnay and a Cabernet Sauvignon will sell for $3.99 a bottle. Who needs a Trader Joe's, anyway?

"We prefer to think of it as value," says 7-Eleven spokesperson Carole Davidson, when Unfair Park said of the Napa Valley-produced product, "Wow, that sure is cheap." She also laughed. "But, yes, it is inexpensive. ... We do have a couple of proprietary labels, but they're a little higher-priced than this offering."

Like, what, $4.99?

"$9.99," Davidson says. "What's different this time is we've used our global scale, to the extent we're lauunching this in Japan today -- effectively, last night. We expect this to be in 15,000 outlets under the Seven & i Holdings Co., Ltd. of Tokyo. We'll have it in 2,000 stores in the U.S.; the rest will be in Japan. They have department stores and supermarket chains where we expect the wine to be sold." She adds that the move into a private-label wine jibes with "aggressive" efforts over the last year to brand most everything edible in the joint with the 7-Eleven name.

The wine won't be available in the U.S. till next week. But expect a taste test on City of Ate sooner than that. Got that, FTC?

​So, no, Bob's Steak & Chop House on Lemmon Avenue didn't go on the auction block September 30, as we said would happen back in mid-August. Legal whatnot delayed the sale of Bob Sambol's bankrupt eatery. But yesterday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Harlin DeWayne Hale gave the okee-doke to go ahead with an auction on November 4, with the opening bid starting at the $215,000 now being offered up by BSCH Management, LLC. And, of course, longtime Friends of Unfair Park are well are that BSCH is owned and operated by Bill Lenox (Sambol's partner back when he opened the Lemmon Ave. location in December 1994) and Omni Hotels Corporation, with whom Lenox went 50-50 back in January.

After the jump is Hale's order allowing the sale to proceed. He also spells out how the auction will work: Interested parties have till close of business on November 2 to submit bids, and on November 4, interested parties will get together in attorney Robert Milbank's downtown office for The Big Sale. (Milbank, you'll recall, replaced Sambol as the Chapter 11 trustee, per the U.S. Trustee's wishes.) Six days later, all goes according to plan, Hale will make it final. I've left messages for Milbank and Doug Skierski, who's actually Milbank's legal rep during these proceedings. Maybe I should call Mike Modano too. And Norm Hitzges.

​Seems like forever ago that Plano-based Metromedia Restaurant Group shuttered Bennigan's and Steak & Ale -- but, nope, it was just July of last year. A few Bennigan's locations resurfaced shortly thereafter, when Richardson-based Bennigan's Franchising Company, LLC assumed the position and reopened 100 eateries, half out of the country. But now comes word that both Bennigan's and Steak and Ale (founded by the late, great Norman Brinker) may yet live on ... in your grocery store, per an agreement with Los Angeles-based Global Icons. And what's on the menu? You guessed it: "Among the signature dishes under consideration are Bennigan's Turkey O' Toole and Monte Cristo sandwiches and the Death by Chocolate dessert; or Steak & Ale's Kensington Club sandwich, the herb-roasted prime rib or Hawaiian chicken."

Patrick Michels

Former Cowboys cheerleader Terra Watson has moved her booming business down to Expo Park

​Former Dallas Cowboys Cheerleader Terra Watson spent the last 12 years designing and manufacturing pro-team dance and cheerleader uniforms -- including her former teammates' Christmas presents to Cowboys fans, which are still on Santa's to-do list. But business isn't boom-boom-booming the way it used to; one client, the Dallas Desperados, took a season-long time-out. Which is one of the reasons why Watson's moving from the sports arena to the ... breastaurant.

After all, they're all the rage in this busted economy; back in March, Nightline came to Arlington and found it so hard to choose between Hooters, Bone Daddy's and Twin Peaks. Watson counts the latter among her clients; also on the list is Cadillac Ranch, which doesn't have a local outpost.

"Why wear a T-shirt when you can wear something that is actually flattering to a woman?" Watson says, citing but one reason why she's designing the eateries' unis. "That's my goal with the breastaurants: I want that niche." So far, so good: This week she moved to a bigger studio space in Exposition Park.

​Courthouse News this morning draws our attention to the plight of Brwa Aziz, a dentist in Iraq for whom the mission has not been accomplished. Aziz, you see, enjoys sinking his teeth into North American fast food. He's already serving up smoothies, as a franchisee of Canada-based Juice Zone, and for the past year he's been trying to open up a Wings-Pizza-N-Things outlet in the third-largest city in Iraq. The Wings on Fire? That's the lip-smacking, tongue-scorching taste of freedom.

But in a lawsuit filed in Dallas County District Court, Aziz claims the Northwest Dallas-based fast-food chain -- founded by the man behind Pizza Inn way back when -- has taken a small fortune in franchise fees and purchase orders (close to $200,000) and refused to send him the start-up materials. Aziz also says he's spent more than $170,000 to prep the location that's costing him $7,000 in monthly rent (!) while he waits for the stuff to be sent from the warehouse. (Quick, someone get Troy Aikman on the phone! Wingstop to the rescue!) Aziz, incidentally, has a local lawyer: Sheldon Goldstein.

​Newspapers 'round the country are filled this morning with obituaries, such as this one from The Washington Post, mourning Norman Borlaug, who died Saturday at the age of 95 at his Dallas home. All the obituaries more or less read the same: father of the "Green Revolution," Nobel laureate, the man who saved hundreds of millions from starving to death. The man who fed the world.

But in 2002, former Dallas Observer food critic Mark Stuertz profiled Borlaug for this cover story, which chronicled Borlaug's battles with enviroactivists who damned his efforts as "a Western public relations stunt designed to fatten the agro-industrial complex, not feed the hungry." Why? Because he advocated using chemical fertilizers and genetic alterations. Far as they're concerned, it's organic or nothing.

What does Borlaug say to those who advocate such agricultural methods? "God bless you," he says. "Use all of the organic matter you want. But don't deceive the world into believing that we can feed 6.2 billion people with organic matter alone. If we tried to do this, we would plow up all of these marginal lands, cut down much of our forests, and much of that would be productive for just a few years. Without chemical fertilizer, forget it."

Mark won a James Beard Award for his piece, which is worth a revisit this morning.

​Since last we visited the bankruptcy case of Bob's Steak & Chop House on Lemmon Avenue, there have been a couple of notable developments -- among them, the appointment yesterday of Dallas attorney Robert Milbank Jr. to take over as the Chapter 11 trustee, replacing owner Bob Sambol per the U.S. Trustee's wishes. Which is hardly the headline. This, however, is: On Friday, attorney Mark Ralston, who's handling the bankruptcy for Sambol and his Silveroak Holdings, filed with the court documents outlining the reasons why BSCH Management, LLC -- which is owned and operated by the Lenox Restaurant Group, Ltd. and Omni Hotels Corporation -- should be the so-called "stalking-horse" bidder when Bob's goes up for auction. That will most likely take place on September 30.

"Lenox," of course, is Bill Lenox, Sambol's partner back when he opened the Lemmon Ave. location in December 1994. And should no one file an objection with the court by a September 18 scheduled hearing, Lenox becomes the lead bidder for Bob's at the auction. Meaning: If no one else wants the joint -- and interested parties have till 5 p.m. on September 28 to submit bids, along with documents that show they can foot the bill -- it'll go to Lenox and Omni, which bought a 50-percent stake in the brand name in January.

So, what's the starting price for a bite of Bob's? Says the term sheet, the gross purchase price begins at $150,000. Plus, the new owner will assume "administrative priority liabilities for employee wages and related taxes, alcohol and beverage taxes, sales taxes and Chapter 11 professional fees not to exceed the sum of $50,000." And, yes, one of the stipulations of the deal is that Bob stay with Bob's: "Purchaser desires that Robert J. Sambol remain involved in the management and operation of the restaurant after the closing of the transaction on terms and conditions that are acceptable to both parties." Sambol couldn't be reached this afternoon; no doubt we'll talk to him later today, however.

Much more after the jump, including the entirety of the filing.

​A couple of weeks back, we mentioned that the U.S. Trustee handling Bob's Steak & Chop House's Chapter 11 reorganization wanted Judge Harlin D. Hale to appoint a Chapter 11 trustee to replace owner Bob Sambol. Because, see, as far as Willliam Neary's concerned, Sambol -- operating here as Silveroak Holdings, Ltd. -- has far too many conflicts to best serve the "interests" of the myriad creditors to whom he owes money. Among the conflicts: Lee Thompson's gone-missing $300,000 investment in Bob's, which led to the criminal indictment by the Dallas County District Attorney's Office.

After the jump, you'll find Sambol attorney Mark Ralston's response to Neary's motion, which was filed on Tuesday. Ralston says, in essence, that Sambol had always been up front about the criminal case and, for now, it's nothing "more than [an] allegation of wrongdoing by Mr. Sambol." He also dismisses Neary's other concerns, including the possiblity of Sambol's selling out to former partner Bill Lenox. Writes Ralston, "The fact that a party formerly involved with Silveroak may be interested in acquiring Silveroak's business does not in and of itself mean that it is the best interests of creditors to appoint a chapter 11 trustee."

Now, back to the criminal case pending against Sambol. Because there is an update.

The first Whataburger in Corpus Christi

​Right -- this should probably be over on City of Ate, but I'll be damned if I'm not going to make this inexplicable (on my part) Esquire subscription count for something, so here goes. For the September issue, which just landed in the mailbox, editors asked chefs (and TV-show hosts) from 'round the country what their favorite fast food is, and the winner is ... In-N-Out Burger, which, last we checked, is "evaluating" the Dallas market, but no promises. No less than Alton Brown and Thomas Keller and Charlie Palmer said it's the bestest.

But locals figure into the "honorable mentions" category: Stephan Pyles, Esky's chef of '06, likes him some Taco Cabana, while Dean Fearing name-checks Sonny Bryan's Smokehouse. Tim Love, on the other hand, says, "What a burger." Is it lunch yet?

Julie Powell

​Word is the Dallas Museum of Art still has overflow-simulcast tickets left for tonight's appearance by Julie Powell, the former blogger-turned-book author whose moniker makes up one half of the movie title Julie & Julia, starring Meryl Streep as Julia Child and Amy Adams as the Austin native who spent a year cooking her way through Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking. My review of Nora Ephron's adaptation of both Powell's book and Child's sparkling memoir My Life in France will appear in next week's paper version of Unfair Park, as the movie opens August 7.

But Powell's in town today -- hey, look, she had tacos for lunch -- and about an hour ago we sat down at her hotel to talk about having one's life story merged, at times rather uncomfortably, with that of a cultural icon who taught the world to cook and taught a self-proclaimed government drone "what it takes to find your way in the world," as Powell writes in the book. Below is our interview, fresh out of the oven. And for those playing along at home, you can still find her blog -- The Julie/Julia Project -- resting comfortably right here.

The original Vern's Place

 A Friend of Unfair Park sends the bad news:

I went to Vern's in Deep Ellum for lunch today and found it closed!  No more home cooking.  The hand-lettered sign said they're out of business.

A Deep Ellum landlord who just went by the place confirms it, and the owner of a nearby restaurant says yes, sadly, it closed Tuesday, matter of fact. The venerable, beloved palace of soul food formerly known as Vern's Place had recently moved to Deep Ellum, and word from several quite-full Friends was that the home cooking was as good as it had ever been. (The original spot was an old favorite of mine, given its proximity to my father's auto parts store in Fair Park.)  But Deep Ellum business owners to whom Unfair Park spoke this evening said business hadn't been good, despite the recent offering of a $5 lunch special till the end of the month, and rumors abounded that the place was about to close. The phone number there no longer works.

Far as I can tell, there are no 99 Ranch Market groceries in Texas -- most are way out west, in California, Washington and Nevada (with the stray site in Atlanta). To the relatively short list, add Plano: GlobeSt.com reports this morning that the 25-year-old Asian grocery store chain will take over 60,000-plus square feet at Spring Creek Parkway and N. Central Expressway -- site of a former Albertson's, matter of fact, acquired two years ago by Centennial Real Estate Co. LLC and Westmount Realty Capital LLC during The Great Grocery Site Sell-Off of '07.

No word on when the store will open, and there are 45,000 square feet in the shopping center left to develop -- should be easier with a new anchor, sure. And, yes, seems that people do love this place; like, really love it. Mmmm, bakery: "Fast and convenient for these modern days." Wonder how Asia World Market, Saigon Taiepei and H-Mart feel about this.

It's been almost two months since Silveroak Holdings, Ltd. -- better known as Bob's Steak & Chop House -- filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas; on this otherwise slow news morning, well, it seemed like a good time to check in. Which, as you'll see from the doc below, is putting it rather mildly: On Tuesday, the U.S. Trustee in charge of the case, William Neary, filed papers asking Judge Harlin D. Hale to appoint a Chapter 11 trustee to replace owner Bob Sambol, who Neary thinks has far too many conflicts to adequately and appropriately serve the "interests of creditors."

Among the issues: the $300,000 Lee Thompson loaned Sambol for the cigar bar, which never happened and instead led to a criminal indictment against Sambol; and the increasing likelihood that Bob's on Lemmon Avenue will be sold -- perhaps to Bill Lenox, Sambol's former partner and the president of Bob's Steak & Chop House, the franchising entity that recently sold a 50-percent stake to Omni Hotels. Lenox, according to the filing, has been providing the original Lemmon location with money during the bankruptcy proceedings, and Neary considers a possible Lenox acquisition a conflict of interest: "Lenox has indicated that it will participate in bidding on the Debtor. As Sambol and Lenox have a lengthy history, it is likely that Sambol will negotiate a position for himself when the Debtor is sold." Neary believes the creditors would be better served by someone without ties to Sambol buying Bob's.

Concerning the missing $300,000, Neary is particularly concerned. He writes, "At a minimum, an inability to explain the disposition of a $300,000 investment is 'incompetence' or 'gross mismanagement.' Combined with the indictment, questions of fraud and dishonesty arise." Hale should have a decision by August 10, the next scheduled hearing. I've been unable to reach Sambol this morning and will update when we talk. Till then, the filing follows after the jump.

Update at 2:30 p.m.: Several Friends of Unfair Park have also directed our attention to the Texas Alcohol Beverage Commission's delinquent list, where Bob's makes an appearance. Notes the site, "No sales or deliveries may be made on or after the effective date below," which is July 8.

Houston Press

Just two months ago, Jennifer Miller, the spokesperson for Colorado-based Smashburger, told Unfair Park that the chain's anticipated expansion into Dallas, announced 'bout a year ago, didn't happen for one simple reason: "In Dallas, we're just waiting for the right partner at this point." Looks like they found one: Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Leonard Davis's BIGG Capital Holdings, LLC has signed a 30-unit deal with the Denver-based chain to open joints "in the Dallas area," with no further details offered in the press release save for the fact that Davis will own the burgerias, but Smashburger will be responsible for the day-to-day operations.

Says Davis in the press release, "I've had great success in the NFL, and my career with the Cowboys continues to drive me. But I wanted a business opportunity that made sense with my life after football. Smashburger has all the right things in place to be a huge success in Dallas and nationwide. They have a great management team and a compelling concept, and the burgers are hands down the best I've had."

Kimberly Thorpe

By late Thursday, set-up was nearly completed for this weekend's annual Taste of Dallas Festival in the West End. So be warned: Ross Avenue (past Lamar Street) is already blocked off and will not be reopened until Monday. There are plenty of small parking lots in the area; however, DART may be the smartest way to arrive.

What to expect? Mostly the same as last year, except there will be NBC5's "DFW's Got Talent" contest. Get there at 3 p.m. today and Saturday to perform before judges. Finalists move on to the next round on Sunday and compete to win $5,000. And Jason Kidd will make a cameo during the NBA and Sprite's Slam Dunk Showdown.

Patrick Michels

The decor recalls great moments in Texas music history. Also, that time Kelly Clarkson sang at a Cowboys game.

It happened yet again. Late last week, a Friend of Unfair Park in the retail real-estate business heard that California-based In-N-Out Burger was "finally coming to Dallas." It was 'round this time last year that D's Nancy Nichols heard the same thing via a commenter on SideDish. Wasn't the first time someone engaged in a little wishful blogging; won't be the last.

But, no. Ain't happening. At least, not at this moment. Which isn't to say it the Irvine-based burgeria with locations in California, Utah, Nevada and Arizona won't make a move into the Dallas market at some point, just not any time soon. Still, Carl Van Fleet, vice president of planning and development for In-N-Out, knows precisely why these rumors keep cropping up every year or so.

"We are evaluating as part of our long-term growth planning a variety of markets, including Dallas, and part of that evaluation involves investigating sites," he tells Unfair Park. "We've been doing that, but no deals have been signed. We continue to look at and evaluate a variety of markets, but by no means are we coming there imminently. Just doing our long-term growth planning and evaluating ... and investigating some sites in the process. Again, nothing happening beyond that at this stage."

And now, about that Walt Disney development in Frisco ... or, perhaps, not.

Haven't seen much work being done in the former Baby Gap in Preston Royal Shopping Center, where, back in November, the missus espied a Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission private-club permit application hanging in the window for something called Taco Mundo. But on the occasion of tonight's official opening of Carolina's Mexican Cuisine on Rosemeade Parkway -- the first of Mi Cocina co-founder Carolina Galvan-Rodriguez's latest offerings -- it seemed like a good time to find out  when the joint's opening. Turns out, very soon.

Says publicist Sharon Adams via e-mail, "Taco Mundo is opening July at Preston Royal. We have a tentative date of the 14th. The event will benefit Heroes for Children." She also forwarded along a sneak preview of what to expect when it opens. It's after the jump.

Kristina Bowman

The News is reporting that Norman Brinker died this morning while on vacation in Colorado Springs; he turned 78 last Wednesday. Brinker, of course, is the Colorado-born chairman emeritus of Brinker International -- and the man who, in 1984, took Larry Lavine's Chili's concept public; what began as a bar and grill on the corner of Greenville Avenue and Meadow Road became the foundation for such brand names as On the Border, Maggiano's and Macaroni Grill. Brinker's also a former Olympian, having been part of the 1952 U.S. Olympic Equestrian Team while he was serving in the Navy.

A former Jack in the Box general partner and Pillsbury Restaurant Group chairman, he's also the man behind Steak & Ale, the book On the Brink: The Life and Leadership of Norman Brinker and the Norman E. Brinker Institute for Hospitality and Restaurant Management at the SMU Cox School of Business. Wrote former Brinker International exec Lane Cardwell only last year, Brinker "is responsible for a lot of what we take for granted today across the casual dining category."

Seemed only fitting this morning to re-run this photo, taken in the green room shortly after Carl Reiner and Martin Short squared off at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center in September 2008 as part of the Brinker International Forum.

Yesterday in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Dallas, Silveroak Holdings, Ltd. -- better known as Bob's Steak & Chop House -- filed for Chapter 11 reorganization. Bob Sambol and his attorney, Mark Ralston, say the bankruptcy filing has nothing to do with Lee Thompson's claim that Sambol owes him $300,000 -- a claim that, in March, resulted in a criminal case being filed against Sambol by the Dallas County District Attorney's Office. Rather, Sambol and Ralston tell Unfair Park this morning, the filing is the result of a failed Bob's Steak & Chop House in Denver, which opened to decent reviews in 2005 but shuttered not long afterward. As the Denver Post put it last year, when referring to another steakhouse that closed in the same spot, Bob's "featured a giant glazed carrot with your meal. Denver shrugged."

Says Sambol, "When we opened in Denver, I took a beating." And it only got worse: While he no longer had the restaurant, he still had the building -- and the lease, which he's been paying ever since. Both Sambol and Ralston say the resulting debt is now close to $1.9 million, with $380,000 of that owed to Fort Worth-based Frost Bank. (The entire 24-page bankruptcy filing, with a list of 20 creditors holding the largest unsecured claims, can be found after the jump. Ralston says a more detailed pleading will be filed later today; we will update accordingly.)

"Bob has been carrying that debt burden for the last five years and it became insurmountable to continue to pay expenses on the Denver debt and the Dallas restaurant," Ralston says. "The restaurant needed to continue as an ongoing concern and needed to restructure its debt."

Indeed, the Lemmon Avenue location -- the only one with which Sambol is associated -- will keep its doors open during the bankruptcy process. Says Sambol, "It's business as usual." Which, lately, ain't what it used to mean.

Late yesterday I came across this story in which Which Wich CEO Jeff Sinelli expressed a certain angst over his Dallas-based sandwich chain's decision to offer the so-called Which Wich Super, a 15-inch, low-priced variation on the standard 8-inch offering. Sinelli was speaking on Sunday in Chicago at the National Restaurant Association Restaurant Hotel-Motel Show -- specifically, he was there for a panel titled "Top Restaurant CEOs Reveal Successful Sales Driving Menu Strategies for Overcoming Tough Economic Times" -- and he said, yeah, the offering was doing well, but that didn't make it, ya know, right.

I just called to ask at which locations the giant sandwich was being tested; the story said four, but not at which Which Wiches you could buy the sucker (not that I am so inclined, swear). Sinelli himself called this morning to offer the whereabouts: the downtown Dallas corporate location, as well as shops in Southlake, Fort Worth and in Arizona. And, again, he expressed his concern for even deciding to go big.

"We received a little bit of pressure to introduce a larger sandwich, and this is my own personal conflict," he tells Unfair Park. "I believe people have a responsibility to eat what they want to eat and how much, but we have the responsibility not to put something reckless out there. Which is why I  want to make sure we're not rolling it out till I've had [enough time to] look at the data and social consciousness of it before giving it to the other 80 stores."

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.

We've been hearing in recent days that Del Taco is looking to move into the Dallas-Fort Worth area; sources say their business folks have been scouting would-be sites around town, as the Lake Forest, California-based chain considers -- yet again -- making its return to Texas. Barbara Caruso, Del Taco's very patient spokesperson, won't confirm the company's local look-see. All she'll say is, "We are scouting lots of markets right now, but I don't have any details." But she does tell Unfair Park that "if there's a move into Dallas, I'll know within the next 60-90 days," and promises to call back "when there are more details."

Ahem, not if there are more details?

"As soon as I know something," she says, kinda chuckling, "I will call you."

Till then, you're always free to visit the latest fast-food chain that's moved into North Texas: the oddly named HotBox Pizza out of Indiana, which today opened its first Texas location in Denton -- and plans "to open 10-15 additional HotBox locations in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area within the next five years." Also, notes the Pizza Marketplace item, "The first 100 customers to enter the store, located at 214 E. Hickory St., on May 2 will receive one free pizza a month for 12 months." Be sure to order The Hot Chick.

GlobeSt.com has local restaurateur Ed Bailey's latest set of plans for Dallas-Fort Worth dining domination, and they include four more Bailey's Prime Plus steak houses (including one in that Park Lane development) and three more Patrizio locations ... before the end of 2009, no foolin'. And there could even be more helpings in Southlake and Fort Worth, if the proposals look well-done.

You should see the conceptual rendering for Bailey's -- thing looks like a national monument to meat. So, how's Ed doing it when, um, others aren't faring as well in the meat-and-glazed-carrot biz? Says Bailey, it's all about catering to the ladies: "A lot of women aren't Fred Flintstone. They don't want a 20-ounce, in-bone rib eye." Those are also the women who don't enjoy a post-meal cigar washed down with a glass of 16-year-old Nadurra.

I just spoke with Nicholas Cariotis, chief of the Check Division/Task Force on Identity Fraud at the Dallas County District Attorney's Office -- and the man charged with prosecuting Bob Sambol, who, as we mentioned this morning, has been accused in an indictment of stealing $300,000 from investor and (former) friend Lee Thompson. Cariotis walked Unfair Park through the series of events that led to the grand jury handing down an indictment yesterday. I also spoke with Heath Hyde, Sambol's attorney and a former Dallas County assistant district attorney, who maintains that this is a civil matter and not a criminal case.

An arrest warrant for Sambol will be issued no later than the middle of next week. Unfair Park has learned that today, Judge Larry Mitchell of the 292nd District set Sambol's bond at $15,000. Because of the amount of money at stake here, it's considered a first-degree felony, which carries with it a sentence of up to life in prison should Sambol be convicted.

Hyde does not dispute that in early 2007, Sambol took $300,000 from Thompson with the promise that he would invest the money in the restaurant and use a portion of that money to expand the landmark Bob's Steak & Chop Shop on Lemmon Avenue. Hyde says Sambol didn't expand simply because of the downturn in the economy; indeed, he tells Unfair Park, Sambol instead used the $300,000 to keep the restaurant's doors open, simple as that.

"Everyone who drives down the toll road can see all the empty steakhouses by the side of the road," he says. "The bottom line is, this is a civil matter over money and how it was used, but there wasn't any intent on his part to steal money from the man. This is a business deal that hasn't worked out too well. No one's at fault except how business has been in the last year. Most of Bob's business was business people who had people in from out of town, and there haven't been a whole lot of those in the last year."

After the jump, the Distict Attorney's Office's side of things.

Given the reaction of Friends of Unfair Park and Friends of Bob Sambol's this morning, he's perhaps the least likely most-wanted man in town, but there's no disputing a Dallas County grand jury's true bill indictment that landed in our in-box this morning: The namesake of the 16-year-old Bob's Steak & Chop House on Lemmon Avenue has been accused of stealing more than $200,000 from an investor, Lee Thompson, who says he gave Sambol the dough to help expand the landmark eatery last year -- an expansion that never took place. The indictment was filed March 24, after which a warrant for his arrest would have been issued.

But Sambol tells Nancy Nichols he's turning himself in this morning and then headed to the restaurant as usual. "The guy got angry, and he wants his money, and I don't have the money to pay it back," Sambol tells Nichols. "I am not going to prison."

Update: And now, a word from Mr. Thompson via his attorney via Tim Rogers. Let's skip to the end: "Despite Mr. Sambol's numerous debts and obligations, he continues to cling to an extravagant lifestyle including membership at the exclusive Dallas National Golf Club."

Tom Colicchio is staying in Victory Park; Paciugo, alas, is not. Days after next-door neighbor Quiksilver caught a wave out of there and N9NE Steakhouse put a fork in it, the Dallas-based gelato emporium, among the very first tenants to open in Ross Perot Jr.'s increasingly ghosttown-like development, also shut its doors. Not surprisingly, "market conditions in Victory Park" led to its closing, says Ugo Ginatta, Paciugo chairman and chief executive officer, who tells Unfair Park that from the very get-go, he didn't think opening a location in Victory Park was a wise decision.

A franchisee, though, had faith in Perot's vision and convinced Ugo and wife Cristiana, Paciugo's founders, that he could make a go of it there. And though he stuck it out for years -- the location opened in November 2006 -- a rent dispute with Hillwood eventually led to his being locked out over the weekend.

"Sales were close to zero most of the year," says Ginatta, who adds that only Dallas Mavericks and Stars game brought in customers. "And after the problem with the gentleman and the landlord, the decision was best for everyone to give up. I must say, we were against him opening there ... but he was absolutely sold on it. And we were led to believe by the developers that it was supposed to be very glamorous, very busy. But we had many complaints: The die-hards were going there, but they felt like they were going to a deserted place."

Bravo

Tom Colicchio and Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi

As Victory Park proves less and less victorious in recent months, stories have circulated that Tom Colicchio was considering moving out of the W and plying his Craft elsewhere. To which the Top Chef head judge says: Not a chance. Indeed, Colicchio tells Unfair Park he's got two years left on his deal with Hillwood, and he has recently reworked the terms of his agreement with Ross Perot Jr., who owns the W, and Starwood Hotels, which operates it. Since its opening in June 2006, Craft had been leasing the space from Hillwood, whereas now, he says, "they pay us a fee off the gross."

"We've always been in control of the restaurant, even though it was a management deal, just like the other deals I have" in Las Vegas and Atlanta, he tells Unfair Park. "We control what's on the menu, we control the food we're purchasing, we control the staff. But the terms of the deal have changed. We're just not paying rent. And we're staying there."