In late September, Restaurants America's Central Standard opened in the Design District. The Chicago-based group is also responsible for Park Tavern at The Shops at Park Lane and Primebar in Uptown. This is the second location for Central Standard. The first opened in Chicago earlier this year and features a menu of gastropub fare inspired by places from Fargo to New Orleans in the CST time zone.
The same theme bounds the Dallas Central Standard, and the menu that features a mac and cheese of the day (ham and cheese during my visit) Italian beef sandwiches, and a foot-long grilled cheese. You can get poutine heaped with pork, cheese curds, mustard, gravy and for good measure, a fried egg, and you can get a catfish po' boy, too. And you'll have plenty of room to stretch out when you do.
Like Park Tavern, Central Standard occupies a massive space, ready for some 500 patrons according to a press release. There's a massive square-shaped bar flanked by high-tops at the entrance, and booths and tables fill the remainder of the restaurant. It's all tucked in the bottom floor of 1400 Hi Line, a luxury apartment building that charges big bucks for a view of the Stemmons Freeway.
Hopefully the spot turns out to be a good one for Restaurants America's latest. Three other restaurants the group opened in Dallas (Mockingbird Taproom, Townhouse Kitchen & Bar, and Boca Chica) closed in the past year, and each of the closures was marked by a failure to pay rent notice and locked doors.
Maybe call ahead before you drive over there. Central Standard, 1400 Hi Line Drive, 214-752-0678, centralstandarddal.com
