Romano's Macaroni Grill Restaurants

Snappy Salads Chris Dahlander Expands His Chain While Striving to Keep a Personal Touch

A proper salad can be so much more than just a salad. It can have layers, depth, a mix of distinguishing ingredients as unique and special as the creator itself -- your soul in a bowl. Well, maybe that's a stretch, but for a fast healthy lunch, a tailor-made salad can stave off dullness. That's the ... More >>

Houston-based Ignite Restaurant Group Buys Romano's Macaroni Grill

Dallas restaurateur Phil Romano opened the first Macaroni Grill in 1988 and thus began the schooling of waiters around the country on how to write their name upside down. (That was a thing the waiters once did there. Not sure exactly why, but people seemed to like it.) In 1989, just a year after op ... More >>

Hofmann Hot Dogs To Open Restaurant in Trinity Groves

Earlier this year we reported that the Zaccanelli Food Group, who includes Frank Zaccanelli, Phil Romano and Roger Staubach, purchased the Syracuse, New York-based Hofmann Sausage Company. See also: - Hofmann Sausage is Bringing Snappy Grillers to Dallas - Shepard Fairey Caught In the Act Hofmann ... More >>

Jack Mac's Swill & Grill with Jack's Pie on the Side Takes Over Tiramisu This Summer

Gubbins got the scoop on a new restaurant going in Tiramisu at 19009 Preston Road (between Frankford Road and the PGBT). Jack MacDonald will transform the spot to Jack Mac's Swill & Grill. McDonald previously owned the Press Box in downtown Dallas and was also involved with Iron Cactus, Romano's Ma ... More >>

EatZi's is Expanding to Grapevine and Plano, but It's Not Going National Again

Nation's Restaurant News reported yesterday that eatZi's will open two new spots in the 'burbs. The first will open on May 17 in Grapevine and will occupy 10,000 square feet "of freestanding retail space in a former Luby's Cafeteria site." The Plano store will be a newly constructed 10,000 square- ... More >>

An Interview with Victor Tango's Bartender Rich Allison. (Notice We Didn't Say "Mixologist.")

A couple weeks ago we met Abraham Bebell, the bar manager at Oak in the Design District. At the end of the interview, I asked Abe who in the local restaurant and bar scene I should meet next. He told me about Rich Allison, bar manager at the very popular Victor Tango's on Henderson. He quickly profe ... More >>

Phil Romano on Plans Along Singleton: "We Want it to Be an Evolution, Not a Revolution."

​Spent a few hours today with Phil Romano, Stuart Fitts and Larry "Butch" MacGregor at their Singleton Boulevard HQ at the foot of the Calatrava bridge. It's the brick building painted red -- one of three on that side of the bridge now decorated with Shepard Fairey's handiwork. When I pulled up a ... More >>

Oak Chef Jason Maddy on Starting at McDonald's, Tiny New York Kitchens, and More

Jason Maddy is the executive chef at the recently opened Oak in the Design District. Maddy grew up in Austin and, after attending culinary school in New York, worked at David Bouley's Danube, then the Driskill in Austin. A few years ago he was recruited by John Tesar to work at the Mansion, where he ... More >>

Chef Matthew Dunn Joins MCrowd

​More changes afoot at MCrowd. Three months after Chief Executive Officer Greg Good's replacement with Michael Cox, Matthew Dunn -- former Stephen Pyles and Central Market chef and famously one of the few Dallas chefs to cook at the James Beard House -- joins MCrowd as director of culinary ope ... More >>

Need a HotelHouse in North Dallas?

​About three years back we stumbled across the mother of all modern manses being built where Northaven Road turns into E. Ricks Circle, only to discover it was the future residence of country singer Darren Kozelsky. Hadn't thought of it since, not till I drove past it again a couple of weeks ago. ... More >>

Scott Romano: Going Whole Hog
At a Downtown Jewel

Photo by Robert BostickScott Romano​Since the Observer recently named Charlie Palmer at The Joule the city's Best Fancy Restaurant in this year's Best of Dallas issue, we thought now would be a good time to get a look at the man behind the kitchen, executive chef Scott Romano. Like many of th ... More >>

Come On, Get Happy! We've Found 50 Local Bars That Will Help You Do Just That.

Tam's Egg Roll

Brinker Makes a Run for the Border and Offloads Yet Another Chain to SF Firm

​Surprising(ish?) news late today: Brinker International just announced that a year and a half after it unloaded its majority interest Romano's Macaroni Grill to San Francisco-based Golden Gate Capital, it's selling On the Border to the equity firm as well. For how much? The press release doesn't ... More >>

And The Winner Is...

​Sorry--it's getting on in the afternoon. I should have started this sooner, but I've been working out some statistics.See, last week one of our dozen or so readers, TLS, failed to make our list of non-winners. She then vowed to sprinkle her comments with the word "cougar" until she reached the s ... More >>

Norman Brinker, Dead at 78

Kristina BowmanThe 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; ... More >>

Chewing the Fat: Servers Split $270k Tip Pool

Think your server deserved a good tip? How 'bout the manager back there chatting up that cute trainee all night? Or the chef who overcooked your burger? The question of who gets a hand on your tip dollars just cost Dallas-based Brinker International a good $270,000. The company behind Chili's and Ma ... More >>

Even in a Lousy Economy, Brinker Finds Someone to Buy Macaroni Grill

And then there were three. Eleven days after analysts predicted Brinker International would indeed unload Romano's Macaroni Grill despite the lousy credit market, it's happened -- for about $88 million, which doesn't seem like a lot of pasta for a chain with some 220 eateries worldwide (as in, Egypt ... More >>

Woodshed Trip

Folks Sue Brinker, Claiming Its Guiltless Food Is a Little Too Guilty

First the Stock's Downgraded. Then, Some Chili's Abruptly Close.

Families of Slain Soldiers Bond Together to Bind Their Wounds

Avian Boo-Hoo

Open Arms

Clueless

No one knows who murdered Brent Gutheinz. Thanks to a sloppy investigation, it's likely no one ever will.

Tank Up the Vote

Suburbs looking to get wet

Flaunting Royals

"Sophisticated" Medici set to open in October

Lobster Ruckus

When restaurateurs mix with lawyers, things get messy

Lobster Crypt

Romano closes Lobster Ranch

Romano Flies Solo

Eatzi's founder breaks from Brinker International

Tropic of Groceries

Dallas' pent-up lust for exotic foods has finally been met with the opening of Central Market. Will shopping ever be the same? Will our appetites?

Bib Rustle

At Lobster Ranch, the main course claws its way to the top

The Romano Empire

The master showman knows how to turn theme-park dining into sensual drama

Everybody Loves Romano

How can Phil Romano, the "Steven Spielberg of the food business," become even more successful? By opening more restaurants, making more money--and feeding the homeless.

Tale of Three Cities

Dallas independent restaurants learn from Addison, eye Frisco

Nick Gets Fired Up

Phil Romano stays cool when We Oui chef Nick Badovinus jumps ship

Poo Poo

We Oui is a no-no

Close to perfect

Nick & Sam's is poised for greatness. Will it take the final step?

Hash Over

Share fare

At Cappellini's, more is not always the merrier

Cattle call

Looking for a good, reasonably priced steak? Texas Land &Cattle Co. has your beef