15 March 14 - 20, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN THIS NEIGHBORHOOD Oak Cliff’s Elmwood aims to add businesses and retain its community charm while dodging gentrification. By Carly May Gravley T he way Will Rhoten (known to the music scene as DJ Sober) de- scribes his neighborhood, you would think he was talking about a small town. “I’ve lived in Elmwood since 2007,” Rho- ten says. “I bought my house 17 years ago. ... Just the feel of the neighborhood kind of re- minded me of where I grew up in Fort Worth, ... that feeling like a lot of the people that lived on my block and everything had been there forever.” Rhoten is the owner of Herby’s, a burger joint on Edgefield Avenue in Elmwood. It’s been open for only a few months, but if you didn’t know any better, you’d think it had also been around forever. The interior is retro, but not pretentious. The checkered floor, bright yellow details and old-fashioned menu board give the place a warm, nostalgic atmosphere. So does the jukebox in the corner, which has a selec- tion of music curated by Rhoten himself. The day we visited, it was spinning a Coc- teau Twins record front to back. A mural in the window depicts a cartoon version of Rhoten’s dog, Herby, for whom the restaurant is named. Everything about the place feels deeply personal. Before sitting down with us, Rhoten was working the counter, clearing tables and visiting with guests. Friends and neighbors would frequently stop by to say hello and congratulate him on the success of Herby’s. As we sit down to chat over one of Herby’s signature smash burgers, Rhoten is subconsciously still working, brushing crumbs off the table into his hand. “I was just talking to a friend who stopped in who moved away from Elmwood and back to Elmwood,” he tells us. “I was talking to him about how when I first moved here, I didn’t really see any younger people out and about, and now there’s people who live on my street who come to my events and my parties.” Elmwood is a neighborhood in West Oak Cliff that either despite of or because of its homey charms is becoming a rising restau- rant destination in Dallas. That might explain the grow- ing number of young people head- ing down to his neck of the woods to hang out. “I think the di- rection it’s headed right now is great,” Rhoten says of his neighborhood’s growth. “And I hope to see like more useful spaces in the neighbor- hood, you know?” If You Lived Here, You’d Be Full By Now I n the past year, a handful of food-related businesses opened on Edgefield Avenue. Though vastly different on paper, these spots share similar goals in fostering com- munity in their neighborhood. B-Side Coffee, an indie-trendy cafe that strives to be community-oriented and fam- ily-friendly, opened around the same time as Herby’s. It’s notable for being the only cafe in Dallas that brews Big Bend Coffee Roast- ers, a brand out of Marfa. It’s also known for its unique hours (6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.), which allow it to double as an evening dessert spot. Its interior is dark, calming and exqui- sitely designed and includes a children’s play area in the back corner. “I wanted cozy, dark colors. That’s just like what I’m natu- rally drawn to,” says co-owner Whitney Marsh, an interior de- signer who deco- rated the place herself. “Kind of li- brary meets little reading nook meets good coffee kind of thing.” In the short time it has existed, the coffee joint al- ready has the feel of an established neighborhood hot spot. It’s somehow the perfect place both to work and to bring your kids. Completing this killer three-unit run of businesses is Olmo Market, a shop that’s constantly evolving. It got its start a little more than a year ago selling grocery items and hot foods. Now it’s the home of legend- ary local chocolatier CocoAndre, whose new building in Bishop Arts District is still being fixed up. It’s a sweet little moment of synergy, as both businesses are owned and operated by Cindy Pedraza. “I think my whole vision now is to make it more like the markets that I would see in Mexico that I’m so drawn to,” Pedraza says of Olmo’s future. What has remained consistent at Olmo Market is its connection with the commu- nity, which was innate before the shop even opened. Pedraza’s parents have lived in Elm- wood for years. “My dad walked his little dog everywhere in the neighborhood, and my dad is not pre- dominantly, you know, English speaking,” she laughs. “He speaks English now and then, but it was funny to see that he would talk to everybody.” From the get-go, customers would ask Pedraza about her father and his dog, estab- lishing an immediate familiarity. “That’s the thing about Oak Cliff — that when you go to a lot of the small businesses, they make you feel like you belong there, like they try to interact with you,” she says. “Be- cause you know you’re gonna see them somewhere in the neighborhood some- where later.” Pedraza is proud not only of the relation- ships she’s formed with her customers but also of the milestones Olmo Market has been a part of. “I’ve actually had customers that are like, ‘I just moved here. I didn’t have any friends, but because of your places, I made a friend,’” she says. “That’s just the kind of welcoming space that we’re fostering in the neighborhood.” >> p16 | CITY OF ATE | t Dish Carly Gravley In the Oak Cliff neighborhood Elmwood, businesses take root. Edgefield Ave. N Lulu’s Herby’s OLMO MArket B-Side Coffee
