Eureka to debut first Texas restaurantEureka to debut first Texas restaurant

Eureka! Restaurant Group will debut Monday its first Texas location, a 4,100-square-foot unit in Dallas.

The restaurant will be the 14th for Hawthorne, Calif.-based Eureka, which was cofounded in Redlands, Calif., in 2009 by Paul Frederick and Justin Nedelman. A 15th unit will open in the first quarter of 2015 in Austin, Texas. The company has 12 restaurants in California and one in Seattle.

Frederick, a managing partner in Eureka, said the Texas units will continue the brand’s “innovative bar program, live music, sports programming and a well-rounded dining experience.”

The Dallas unit is located in a new building along the city’s trolley line, and is at the larger end of Eureka’s sizes. Eureka Dallas will have 200 seats, with floor-to-ceiling doors that open to a patio.

The restaurant is located in the Uptown area of the city, which has a largely Millennial population. Many of Eureka’s other locations are near college campuses or tech centers.

The restaurant will continue to emphasize local products as it expands into Texas, Eureka’s culinary director A.J. McCloud said during a preview, including grits, coffee and beer.

Craft beer appears not only at rotating taps, but in some menu items, such as the porter mustard served with the polish sausage Lollipop Corn Dogs appetizer.

Eureka’s menu offers 10 burgers, ranging from an original, priced at $9.50, to a Bone Marrow Burger with marrow-porcini butter, broiled onion, mustard aioli, roasted tomato and fries, priced at $16.50.

Locally brewed beers are featured prominently. Photo: Ron Ruggess

The chain has added several tacos to its menu, such as Beef Cheek Tacos with pickled red onion, guacamole, cotija cheese and chipotle hot sauce, priced at $9 for two.

Stone-ground grits from Waco, Texas, appear in the Beef Ragu Grits, priced at $18, with shaved horseradish and fine herbs.

On the beverage menu, Eureka will offer 40 American craft beers on tap, small-batch whiskeys, regional wine and weekly live music.

The concept will also offer televised sports and “Steal the Glass” events, where local breweries provide glassware that customers can take home.

Eureka offers more than 40 small-batch American whiskeys, displayed on the back-lighted bar. Photo: Ron Ruggless

Eureka has said about 35 percent of its sales come from the bar, where guests can order off-menu items like hard-to-find Pappy Van Winkle whiskey. Such whiskeys are typically priced at $50 to $80 per two-ounce glass, but the restaurants often sell out, the company said.

The average check for lunch is about $12 to $14, while dinner is $18 to $24. Restaurants average about $900 in sales per square foot, or more than $2.7 million per unit at the smaller end. Units are typically 3,000 square feet to 4,000 square feet.

Eureka! Restaurant Group plans to have more than 50 units by the end of 2020.

Contact Ron Ruggless at [email protected].
Follow him on Twitter: @RonRuggless