Moon Wok, Daily Stop and Cowboy-Style Philly’s open at Skillman/Royal

A lot of action has taken place lately at the corner of Skillman and Royal in Royal Highlands Plaza. Daily Stop convenience store, Cowboy-Style Philly’s cheesesteaks and Moon Wok all have recently opened their doors. Graham Irvine of JAH Realty, which owns the shopping center, says Daily Stop has two locations in Irving and one in Duncanville, and is a “nice, clean little business” — a typical convenience store that also carries beer and wine. Nearby Moon Wok offers large portions of casual Asian cuisine at a low price-point.

Cowboy-Style Philly’s opened in the former Burger Spot space. Owner Sean Mathis, originally from Oak Cliff, is excited to bring his Arlington-based cheesesteak shop to Lake Highlands. “I want to hire LHHS students and get involved with the community,” Mathis says. Mathis drove trucks and cooked pre-game meals for the Dallas Cowboys for four years before saving enough money to open his first Cowboy-Style Philly’s restaurant in Arlington in November 2009. His hard work has paid off, and the Dallas Farmers Market has asked him to open a third location Downtown in October. The menu includes eight different types of cheesesteaks: original, chicken-fried chicken, blue cheese crumble, lemon pepper, the audible Philly (veggie-only), barbecue, the time out Philly (hot! hot! hot!), and shrimp and lobster. Cheesesteaks are served with waffle fries, sweet potato fries or onion rings. For dessert, Mathis has scoops of Blue Bell and is working on a deep-fried oreo recipe. Order a “Project 24” (chicken strips with French fries for $4.25), and Cowboy-Style Philly’s donates 24 cents to former Pinkston High School football player Jared Williams, who was paralyzed while making a tackle at a football game in 2009. Williams’s mom is a good friend of Mathis.

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Moon Wok, 8670 Skillman, 214.221.8888

• Daily Stop,9901 Royal, 214.553.8600

• Cowboy-Style Philly’s, 9090 Skillman, 214.343.2439

 

Business buzz:

“We sell plenty of food at a good price.” —a sign near the cash register at Moon Wok, a new Asian restaurant in Royal Highlands Plaza

Cajun restaurant opening in Casa Linda

Alligator Café owner Ivan Pugh is opening a second location of his popular Cajun restaurant in the former Frankie’s Little Europe space in Casa Linda. The original Alligator Café at Live Oak and Carroll has been a best-kept secret in East Dallas for years. The new location will have the same tried-and-true menu as the original plus baby-back ribs, pulled pork, crab claws, voodoo jambalaya and more. “We’re adding more pork dishes to the menu to make it more Creole, plus a full bar, more jazz and blues bands, and a patio,” Pugh says. Pugh describes the intended atmosphere as that of a “nice restaurant in the French Quarter.” He adds, “I chose this location because I liked the look of the building and the area’s high traffic,” Pugh says. “This one is going to be even better than the first. This gets my creative juices flowing … You’ve got to keep going further in life, and I’ve been bored.”

Alligator Café, 4416 Live Oak, 214.821.6900

ViewPoint Bank moving into former WAMU space

A part of the many changes at Walnut Hill and Audelia, Plano-based ViewPoint Bank has announced it will move into the former WAMU bank building in Lake Highlands Plaza this fall. “Our branch in the Albertson’s at Ferndale and Northwest Highway has been very successful, and we’ve been looking for a location in the area for years,” executive vice president Mark Hord says. ViewPoint currently has 23 branches and is actively expanding. The bank prides itself on being involved in its communities and plans on supporting Lake Highlands as well. “Our marketing group and retail division will work on getting plugged into the community,” Hord says. “In the past, a part of our outreach has been to offer financial education in local schools.”

• ViewPoint Bank

New stores for The Shops at Park Lane

The Shops at Park Lane has announced that Charming Charlie, a women’s accessories boutique, and Park Grill, a Chicago-based restaurant with American cuisine, have signed leases and will open by the end of the year. Charming Charlie is a Houston-based boutique that carries jewelry, handbags and other accessories that are priced on average between $5-$50. Park Grill will be the first DFW restaurant for its parent company, Restaurants-America, whose concepts include Townhouse Restaurant (coming to Galleria Dallas this fall) One North and Primebar. “The Shops at Park Lane has experienced a great deal of growth this year and the sales of our existing retailers continue to exceed their expectations,” says Greg Karlen, president of Northwood Retail, The Shops at Park Lane’s property management company. “We are thrilled with the project’s progress, and welcome these two new retailers to our development.”

The Shops at Park Lane, Park and Greenville