It used to be that Dallas proper was the only place to get a decent bite from a non-chain restaurant. Now, though, the foodie revolution is exploding all over North Texas, evidenced by the great restaurants opening all over Plano, Southlake, McKinney, and many of Dallas' other three thousand suburbs. As the latest suburb to jump into the foodie fray, Richardson will delight suburban palates with a new food park that will open later this summer.
Richardson is already known for its incredible Asian cuisine. Chefs from all over the city flock to Richardson for dumplings and dim sum, especially those that hail from larger cities with more robust Asian culinary scenes. Now, though, the city is jumping on the trendiest trend in the Dallas food world -- food trucks.
As CultureMap reported last week, the Richardson Food Truck Park will be built near the intersection of Arapaho and Highway 75. Founder Michelle Cheney told CultureMap that she chose the spot in Richardson's Interurban district in hopes of transforming the largely industrial area into something that resembles Fort Worth's food truck park, which is also snugly tucked into an industrial part of town.
An April 7 post on the Food Truck Park's Facebook page indicates that they have already received approval from the city's planning committee, and will present for final approval in front of the Richardson city council on April 27. If you live or work in Richardson and want to see more food trucks in your 'hood, you should probably make plans to show up for that meeting to voice your support to the elected officials who will make the final decision.
The Park plans to install playground equipment, making it infinitely more family-friendly than Truck Yard, the area's current major food park. Maybe now that this new park exists, parents will start taking their kids to Richardson instead of allowing them to run rampant while you're trying to get blackout drunk on frozen trash can punch. Cheney told CultureMap that plans for a live-music space may also be in the works.
The Food Truck Park hopes to open its doors in late June, after renovating the space and getting food trucks on board to make the pilgrimage north. Fortunately, there are already several great food trucks operating in Plano and other 'burbs, so it shouldn't be too hard to find vendors.
