Lake Highlands’ Dining Evolution Part 2: Ruin to Renewal

As the end of the ’80s rolled around in Lake Highlands, the neighborhood’s dining scene was in sad shape. Shakey’s Pizza Parlor and Next Door closed in relatively short order toward the middle of the decade, and chains like Pizza Hut had clearly gained the upper hand over locally-owned establishments in ZIP codes 75231, 75238 and 75243.

And if the ’80s were a victory for chains in Lake Highlands, the 1990s were a triumph.

“There was a very limited selection when it came to one-of-a-kind (restaurants), or mom and pops, or, ‘Hey, let’s bring in a new restaurant,’” says Will Buerhing, who grew up in Lake Highlands in the late 1980s and ’90s. “It was very non-existent at that time. And the selection they did have was Chili’s or whatever.”

The dominance of the chains over the neighborhood’s dining scene was exemplified by the more than six chain restaurants lining side-by-side on Vantage Point Drive on I-635 in the ’90s and 2000s. Vantage Point Drive became a symptom of the casual chain dining explosion seen in the United States in the 1990s. Chili’s Inc. became Brinker International in 1992 as the brand rose to the height of its success, and Red Lobster’s parent company made its initial public offering in 1995.

“It was a focal dining point in Dallas, where it was, like, Red Lobster and Outback and Olive Garden and Cheddar’s,” Buerhing says. “I think at one time there was a Mexican place. But there were six or eight big name chain, franchise restaurants that were there.”

However, the decade wasn’t a complete loss for independent eateries in Lake Highlands. In 1990, Hans and Clare Van Loenen opened Sweet Temptations Bakery near the intersection of Skillman Street and Audelia Road. The European immigrants’ business went on to enjoy popularity among neighbors, especially for their award-winning Rock Cake, and began serving hot food from ST Cafe soon after. In 1996, Dallas Diner opened in a former Dunkin’ Donuts building as Dallas Donuts and Ice Cream.

Perhaps the most significant addition of the decade came with the opening of Picasso’s on the north side of I-635 in 1990. The concept, through a relocation to Walnut Hill-Skillman and ownership changes, went on to become a beloved neighborhood staple for three decades before closing in 2020.

“It was well supported for a long time as a neighborhood pizza joint,” says Keith Whitmire, admin of the “You Know You Grew Up in Lake Highlands If…” Facebook group. “If it’s something good and quality, we support it. We just don’t have a lot of options, like you go to the suburbs, and they’re surrounded by fast casual places.”

Tiger Bulls, a popular burger joint at the corner of Forest Lane and Abrams Road, opened in 1993, giving students from the high school a prime spot for after school shakes. It was joined by Willy’s Market and Grill, another popular burger spot on Greenville Avenue.

As the early 2000s began, close to 20 years of decay, drives for dinner and closures had caught up to Lake Highlands. Retail sat vacant, neighbors could count the number of locally-owned sit-down restaurants in the neighborhood on their hands, and even some fast food spots moved towards closure (Braum’s).

Start of a return

While the effects of the decline from the ‘80s lingered into the 2000s, as the decade wore on, the tide slowly turned toward stagnation and eventually modest growth as a few local spots opened up.

In 2001, the Zhuta family opened Tony’s Pizza and Pasta on Northwest Highway. Twenty-four years later, the family establishment is a neighborhood institution beloved for its low prices and casual atmosphere.

“My family is right around the corner from there, the house we grew up in, and my older brother worked there from when he was in high school, on and off, up until really a few years ago,” says Madison Chapman, a Bell Boy from the LHHS Class of 2011. “And I worked there when I was in high school, and my little brother picked up shifts there.”

Another needed victory came in 2006 when a group of Lake Highlands neighbors, including current District 10 council member Kathy Stewart, opened Highlands Cafe at Walnut Hill-Audelia. Between that, the debut of Mi Cocina and Nancy and Robert Baker’s opening of White Rock Coffee on Northwest Highway, Lake Highlands was starting to get back on track.

“For a while there, I guess in the ’80s, in the ’90s, 2000s, one of the few decent places to sit down and eat was Mi Cocina, and the neighborhood supported that tremendously,” Whitmire says.

In 2008, Offshore’s Next Door opened on Audelia Road, bringing a watering hole to the neighborhood as Dallas began looking at dry area restrictions.

However the neighborhood wasn’t immune from the economic downturn in the later half of the decade. Development of the Lake Highlands Town Center stalled following the 2008 Financial Crisis, stifling a fertile ground for new eateries.

2010s

As the housing market thawed in the early half of the 2010s, Dallas homebuyers finally found out about Lake Highlands. ‘Dallas’ once-hidden gem,’ touting easy access to major thoroughfares and Richardson ISD schools, wasn’t a secret anymore. A whirl of remodels first, then listings and eventually new builds sent home prices skyrocketing as the area’s per capita income soared.

Another thing that happened? The area got younger.

“I think that you’ve seen that the turnover of the neighborhood, where the neighborhoods are a lot younger today than it was maybe when we first moved back into the neighborhood … It’s bursting at the seams.” says Alan Walne, who represented District 10 on Dallas City Council for eight years. “It’s a more vibrant, youthful area. You had a situation where folks had raised their families, and they were still living there, and older residents and all that were still living in the neighborhood. That, for the most part, has turned over.”

But as the neighborhood got younger and wealthier, questions began to arise over why Lake Highlands’ dining offering hadn’t quite caught up with the growth. Younger neighbors had moved from areas with more options, and while the neighborhood’s independent dining scene began the process of bouncing back in the 2000s, important corners still sat empty in 2010.

“In the 2010s, it presented an opportunity for people to find housing that was relatively affordable compared to other parts of Dallas and offered RISD schools, which has always been the appeal of the Lake Highlands area,” Cedar and Vine owner Brandon Carter says. “But I think when people started to move back of a certain age, maybe people that lived there before, people that are new to that area, and they are observing, well, ‘Hey, I lived out my 20s in Uptown, where restaurants were on every corner.’”

“For me, fast forward to having kids and moving to Lake Highlands, I’m kind of looking around going, well, I spent the last 10 years having restaurants on every corner. And I think a lot of other people my age did the same thing, like, why don’t we have all these conveniences?”

As the decade progressed, those conveniences began to arrive. The Zhuta family gave the neighborhood a spot to watch Nelson Cruz’s dominant ALCS run in 2011 with Go 4 It Sports Grill, and a group of White Rock Valley neighbors opened a Campisi’s-style pizza restaurant with Atomic Pie at Walnut Hill-Audelia that same year. Early risers also gained a new stop in 2011 when Jose Ramirez bought Divine Coffee Shop and reopened it as JJ’s Cafe, bringing migas and huevos rancheros to Northlake Center.

The demand was there. Growth was happening.

Then, in 2015, the strangest thing happened. A veteran of Michelin-starred heavyweights like The Inn in Little Washington opened a small taqueria at the corner of Walnut Hill-Audelia. The menu contained idiosyncratic fillings like braised short rib and fish tempura on housemade tortillas. Grammy Award-winning artist St. Vincent served chips n’ quac.

What had caused this improbable scene in a neighborhood proper that hadn’t supported an elevated concept since Vick’s Cafeteria in the ’60s?

While working in New York, Andrew Savoie met his wife, Amy, a Lake Highlands High School graduate who happens to be the sister of Annie Clark, aka St. Vincent. Savoie followed her back to Lake Highlands and after some time working as an instructor for the International Culinary School at The Art Institute of Dallas, decided to open a shop right down the street.

“To me, the restaurant that put us on the map was Resident Taqueria,” Carter says. “All the press that it got. When Andrew decided to do that restaurant concept in Lake Highlands, that really changed the trajectory of restaurants. I don’t know if that was part of his big master plan, but I think he was doing it more like, ‘Hey, I want to have a restaurant. I want to have it close to home. I want to do it for the community.’”

A restaurant for the neighborhood, by the neighborhood. It was finally clear that Lake Highlands was ready to support varied and higher-end independent eateries. After Shady’s opened in 2016 and became an immediate family favorite, Carter decided to ride the wave of momentum and finally bring some of the conveniences he’d been missing by opening Cedar and Vine.

“We wanted to kind of create a concept around the idea of, ‘How do we do something that you that we’re used to seeing around the corner from Lower Greenville, from Knox, from Uptown, all those places, how do we how do we get those things, all the things we like about those places, roll it into one concept and drop it in the middle of Lake Highlands, and so that was really kind of what we did,” he says.

For the first time in the memory of many, neighbors were finding linen napkins and wine lists in neighborhood restaurants. RM 20:20 Bistro, a higher-end French restaurant with Southern touches from Erin Willis, opened in the former Offshore’s space in 2018 with $40 steak frites plates and imported Bordeaux.

In 2017 and 2018, the Lake Highlands Town Center, long a symbol of the stagnation seen in the 2000s, finally saw major developments with the construction of the Lookout Apartments and ground level retail space. Taco Diner and Fish City Grill opened shortly after. And being Lake Highlands, it was only natural when national chains got in on the action with the opening of Jersey Mike’s.

These days, neighbors can rely on a myriad of locally-owned options when going out to eat. And yet, there’s still plenty of room for growth. While it may be a family neighborhood, Lake Highlands could always use more bar-forward dining options, and the Forest Meadow area has lagged behind in development.

But there’s always room for improvement. Six independent eateries now serve customers at Walnut Hill-Audelia. In 2008, there were two. The four restaurants in the Town Center are often filled with Lake Highlands families, while on Vantage Point Drive, Olive Garden sits as the proverbial last man standing.

So, what will the next ten years look like for Lake Highlands’ dining scene? It’s probably fair to say neighbors are ready for bigger and better.

“The demand is so pent up, it’s busting at the seams,” Carter says.

This is part 2 of a 3-part series on Lake Highlands dining.