11 March 2-8, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Epic Undertaking Loop 9 BBQ, scheduled to open March 6 in Grand Prairie, is a new barbecue restaurant from Dallas restaurateur Larry Lavine. BY CHRIS WOLFGANG L arry Lavine may have made a name for himself as the founder of Chili’s, but the restaurateur has found a more recent passion in barbecue. Lavine’s latest venture is Loop 9 BBQ, tucked into Grand Prairie’s growing EpicCentral entertainment district. EpicCentral is a 172-acre park at the George W. Bush Tollway and Arkansas Lane, and it’s already home to the Epic Waters In- door Waterpark. A new hotel is under con- struction, and Loop 9 BBQ is one of several restaurants nestled along the boardwalk to provide a new entertainment and dining destination for locals and visitors alike. Loop 9 will open in a few weeks, but we were in- vited out to have a look at the space and talk to Lavine about his latest venture. As we sat over a tray of tortilla chips and delicious burnt-end queso, Lavine shared his excitement at being out in Grand Prairie and told us he was thrilled with the opportunity to be one of the first restaurant tenants. “I had a friend named Nick Galanos who used to be a big executive with TGI Friday’s. He knew the police chief in Grand Prairie,” Lavine said. “Before any of this was here, the chief had told him they wanted to do some restaurants. Nick said they needed to do bar- becue, because everyone loves barbecue. The city tried Ten50 and they liked it, and that’s when Nick called me.” Ten50 in Richardson was Lavine’s first go at a barbecue restaurant, but he’s no longer affiliated with the restaurant. “I didn’t know anything about barbecue,” he said of Ten50’s origins. “I studied it for years, and I like to say I sacrificed a lot of cows and pigs to learn it.” After leaving Ten50, Lavine opened an- other barbecue spot in Plano’s Legacy Hall called Carlton Provisions but struggled with the space limitations. At Loop 9, all of Lavine’s barbecue and restaurant knowl- edge are combined in a spot he’s truly ex- cited about. “Once you learn it, it’s not as hard as run- ning a regular restaurant because it’s prepped ahead and you’re not cooking to or- der,” Lavine said. “For it to work, for me, you’ve got to start with a great product.” For Loop 9, great product means prime- grade brisket, a custom sausage from Mey- er’s of Elgin, Texas, and heritage pork raised in Iowa. “We buy the best, we cook it right, re- spect it and try not to abuse it,” Lavine said. While we chatted with Lavine, we had a chance to sample some of Loop 9’s fare and came away impressed. We tried both lean and moist examples of the prime brisket, which were melt-in-your-mouth tender. Pork ribs were also solid, with a unique rub that finishes with just a tingle of heat. Lavine also wowed us with his choice of sides, all of which are made in house. The Mexican corn has a noticeable kick and two kinds of cheese blended throughout, while the mayo-based potato salad is a nice cool- ing counterpoint. Oddly enough, Lavine wouldn’t know about the potato salad, as he doesn’t eat mayonnaise. “That’s why our first burger at Chili’s only had mustard,” he told us. “I asked my team what mayo is the best, and they said Hellman’s, so that’s what we use in it, but I’ll take their word for it.” Loop 9’s cole slaw is a tangy vinegar- based version that we enjoyed, while Lavine admitted that the borracho beans were still a work in progress. “We had a bunch of stuff in here, and we just started over,” he said. “I think we’re missing a little salt.” We tended to agree, but the base is on point, with chopped brisket and peppers mixed with the beans. Loop 9 will also sport some unique fea- tures in a barbecue restaurant. The first is a line of house-made pies baked by Lavine’s wife, Ann. Pies and barbecue can be picked up to-go from a dedicated entrance that has a pie case full of the day’s offerings. Loop 9 will also offer a full bar that dominates the center of the dining room, something of a rarity in Texas barbecue. Loop 9 BBQ will be a seven-day-a-week operation serving both lunch and dinner, which also makes it stand out from the bar- becue crowd. There’s a massive patio facing the EpicCenter boardwalk and water fea- ture, and there’s plenty of space inside when the weather doesn’t cooperate. As is the case at many restaurants, rent and staffing presented some early chal- lenges, Lavine said. It’s certainly more af- fordable to open in Grand Prairie rather than in Dallas, and Lavine and team have made headway on the staffing front and will be ready to roll when the restaurant opens for business on March 6. Spending time with a restaurant legend like Lavine is a pleasure, as he’s seen and done almost everything there is to do in the restaurant business. And his passion for bar- becue isn’t limited to this new restaurant; we talked at length about other barbecue spots he enjoys across Texas. That devotion to barbecue is on display at Loop 9, and we look forward to adding it to our rotation of favorite barbecue spots to hit up in the area. Loop 9 BBQ, 2951 S. Highway 161 (Epic- Central), Grand Prairie. Open daily beginning March 6 ▼ FAST FOOD OLD DOG, NEW TRICKS TWO HANDS FRESH CORN DOGS DRESSES UP THE FAIR STAPLE WITH A VARIETY OF KOREAN-INFLUENCED FLAVORS. BY DANNY GALLAGHER E xcept for the addition of a stick, corn dogs probably have not changed much since they were invented in 1939. Some are made fresh, like those at the Fletcher’s Corny Dogs stands at the Texas State Fair. Others sit in freezers for those nights when we’ve come down from being drunk just enough to operate a microwave. But they’re all pretty much the same thing. That said, there’s nothing wrong with changing a traditional recipe to explore un- charted territory. It’s something every chef should try to do with their signature dishes. Without experimentation, we wouldn’t have things like pizza rolls, Doritos Locos tacos and the McRib. One place that puts a much needed twist on a very traditional Texas idea has started garnering a serious following. Two Hands Fresh Corn Dogs takes the breaded and deep-fried, all-beef sausage on a stick and adds some new flavors and toppings with a Korean cooking style. Four locations beckon: the Irving Mall, Asia Times Square in Grand Prairie, Murphy and Arlington. If you live in Dallas, be prepared for a drive. The franchise started in Los Angeles and has expanded across the Southwest and South, where corn dogs roam like buf- falo once did across the lost American prai- rie. The fact that it’s Korean fried and available as the “Classic Dog” or in a variety of other flavors makes a visit to one the North Texas shops worth the trip. It’s lighter than the usual breaded corn dog and has a great crunchy texture and buttery taste all by itself that finishes with the meaty taste of all-beef sausage. Two Hands also offers more than just ketchup and mustard for toppings. (Ketchup should never be considered for corn dog toppings.) There are seven varieties, and I tried five of them along with a “Classic Dog,” followed by a very long nap. The most popular, based informally on the choices made by the sizable line of peo- ple waiting ahead of me, is the Potato Dog, a starch-covered dish that looks like Willy Wonka made an Everlasting Gobstopper big enough to merit adding a stick. Potato and corn dog are an interesting pairing, since the potato is crispy on the outside and fluffy on the inside and the tastes goes great with a corn dog. It’s like someone combined the usual corn dog and fries combo meal in one convenient form for eating. It’s just hard to see myself eating a whole one unless it’s right before bedtime or any setting that doesn’t require me to operate heavy machin- ery while I’m digesting it. My favorite was the Crispy Rice Dog, which is just what it sounds like. It’s a Korean fried corn dog covered in crispy rice. The big selling point is the sugary coating. The Crispy Rice Dog is a complex, interesting mix of fla- vors and textures that tastes like a beignet on the outside and an all-beef hot dog on the in- side of the battered treat. It starts sweet and finishes savory, and it’s amazing that a corn dog can do something like that so well. You can also get it with ketchup and mustard as a standard option, but tell them to just give you some packets or nix it altogether because it doesn’t need any help. The Injeolmi Dog refers to the Korean sweet rice cake that’s not for anyone with a gluten allergy. It’s also a great choice be- cause of the way it mixes the sweet and sa- vory, but it does so differently from the Crispy Rice choice. The sweet side of it isn’t as strong, so it mixes more with the savory part in a unique way. It’s worth a try, and it’ll make you explore more of the delicious dishes that come from Korean cuisine. The Two Hands Dog is a good try for a dif- ferent flavor, but it didn’t wow me like the oth- ers. This corn dog is spattered with sweet ranch sauce. I’ve got nothing against ranch, but it just doesn’t taste as good when it’s warm. The Spicy Dog is my least favorite. I love spicy, but like a lot of “spicy” fast food, with this dog the spice just comes from the sauce, and it’s completely maxed by the crushed Flaming Hot Cheetos dust that coats the whole thing. The kind of spicy you get from Korean is some of the best spicy food in the world, but this just replicates what fast food considers spicy. The good news is that you’ve got plenty of other choices that are much more satisfy- ing and delicious. The only thing that could make Two Hands perfect is if each location had some kind of mobile nap station. Two Hands Fresh Corn Dogs, 2625 W. Pio- neer Parkway, No. 213, Grand Prairie. Chris Wolfgang Loop 9 BBQ is a new barbecue restaurant from Dallas restaurateur Larry Lavine. | CITY OF ATE | ▼ Dish >> p12
