20 July 24 - 30, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents desserts to Dallas since 2019. With a from- scratch business model, the locally owned spot makes all of its soft serve using milk from Texas dairy farms and fresh honey from local beekeepers. It’s churned in-house to spawn an ultra-creamy soft serve that melts almost instantaneously when it hits the tongue. Order in small cups, large waffle bowls or even sandwiched between layers of house-made cake. It’s all fresh and pure. Sugar Pine Creamery 6832 Coit Road, Plano Good-quality soft serve is something you could never find in Dallas, until Sugar Pine Creamery came along in 2019. They offer six different soft serves at any given time, two of which are always dairy-free. You’ll usually get a heads-up before they drop a new flavor on their website or Instagram account. Unique combinations and fun twists on clas- sics are their playground. Sapporo beer and cherry, cardamom mascarpone and taro are a few in the archive. If you can’t choose, you can also get two flavors swirled. Sweet Firefly 2701 Custer Parkway, Richardson Sweet Firefly is a locally owned ice cream shop that serves small batch and gourmet scoops, candied treats and adult ice creams from Cow Tip Ice Cream. Every month they have a new rotation of flavors announced on their Instagram, which is usually something unique like cotton candy, but they always have the classics like vanilla, cookie dough and butter pecan. With how generous the scoops are, you’d swear you know the staff personally. They’re very involved with the local community and can make a Dallasite feel at home in their suburban creamery. Sweet Pearl’s Ice Cream 305 Coneflower Drive, Garland Second chances are the foundation of Sweet Pearl’s Ice Cream. After owner Will Gibson suffered from a horrific bicycle accident, putting him out of work, he looked to mak- ing ice cream at home to keep himself busy. In just a few short years, it evolved into a thriving business. He makes regular, vegan and gluten-free flavors. Sea salt caramel, sweet pearl and Saigon cinnamon have the hearts of many ice cream aficionados. If you’re lucky, you’ll get to meet Pearl herself, the rescue dog that’s the face of the shop. Swirled Peace 309 W. Eighth St., Bishop Arts Swirled Peace serves plant-based soft serve with ample toppings to choose from. The spot is from Bishop Arts resident Sara Sagi- naw, who saw a gap for those looking for a plant-based lifestyle. So she leaned on her background in chemistry and created an ice cream shop for all. Swirled Peace even has a “magic menu” with THC-infused treats and teas for those 21 and up. Perhaps a magic THC milkshake with chocolate ice cream is exactly what you need today. Tongue in Cheek Ice Cream 526 W. Arapaho Road, Richardson, and 3505 E. Park Blvd., Plano The original Tongue in Cheek location is in the heart of Richardson, but there’s a new shop in Plano too. If you’re looking for big portions and cheap prices, this might be- come your new favorite ice cream spot. Try the best-selling banana pudding, a banana- flavored ice cream giving way to fresh wa- fers in each bite. Another popular option is the Caramel Crack, which comes with a rich caramel base and crispy chocolate balls sprinkled throughout. Ordering your ice cream is only the beginning of the fun here, though. Be sure to grab a spot on one of the swings while you eat. Swinging with a cone in hand makes an ice cream outing all the more fun. The Spelled Milk 712 W Davis St., Bishop Arts At The Spelled Milk, the “kid in a candy store” trope comes to life (or the dream City of Ate from p19 ▼ OPENING New Crush: Hendy’s On Hendrson HENDY’S OFFERS A COZY LOUNGE AMBIANCE, BOOZY COCKTAILS AND REFINED DISHES. BY ALEX GONZALEZ F rom the minds behind High Fives, Tiny Victories and Dou- ble D’s comes Knox-Henderson’s latest concept: Hendy’s on Henderson. The new bar and restaurant will open in the space previously occupied by Sfuzzi, just five months after the beloved Italian joint announced its closure. While Sfuzzi’s closure may have shocked Dallasites, owners Brandon Hays and Phil Schanbaum wanted to open a new space that would fit in with an evolving Knox-Henderson. Partnering with Hendy’s co-owners Cote Bona and Chris Carpenter of Eve- ning Entertainment Group, the four have created a space that captures the comfort and intimacy of a home setting while still being a fun place to party. We visited Hendy’s on opening night and were immediately captivated by a reading nook in the back corner, designed to emulate the feel of a living room. The space offers a couch and chairs for guests to sit and read or catch up for hours. The shelves are stocked with books, animal figurines, old photo- graphs and vintage Playboy magazines. Schanbaum himself sourced many of these items. “I’m a treasure hunter,” Schanbaum says. “I’ve got a couple of spots around town where I like hunting for gold. But we love hav- ing conversation pieces in the venue, something that’s unique, something that you know you see, something new every time you come in, but it also makes you feel like you’re at home. Somebody will be able to relate to some of the pieces that are on there, because it reminds them of their grandparents’ house or their family’s house. We want people to come in here and feel at home.” Other portions of the restaurant that catch our eye are a pool table in front of the reading area, a DJ stand backed by a shelf of vinyl records, rounded booths with boho-style seating and pil- lows, and a sign made out of golf tees reading “This ain’t no god damn country club.” The interior of the restaurant corresponds well with the vibe of Knox-Henderson. “We noticed that this bar crowd is tending to go to more laid- back kind of places,” Carpenter says. “So we opted to go with something a little bit more timeless and vintage, and then threw in some elements of sports. Throughout the years, we’ve seen what’s worked and what hasn’t in different markets, and we wanted to provide a little something for everybody.” As for the food, Schanbaum is known to bring quality to his concepts, as two-hour lines outside of Burger Schmurger would indicate. For Hendy’s, the guys partnered with Peja Krstic, owner of the Michelin-lauded Mot Hai Ba, to develop the menu. Need- less to say, expectations going in were high. We started off with the transfusion cocktail, made with Tito’s Vodka, simple syrup, Concord grape juice and ginger ale, ador- ably garnished with a golf tee and a grape ($11). This one is a lighter choice for those who want to take the edge off but don’t particularly enjoy the taste of alcohol. But while you’re here, we recommend keeping it as fun and festive as possible. Our favorite cocktail of the night was the Or- ange Julius, a callback to a ’90s mall classic. This drink contains Tito’s Vodka, coconut, orange juice, vanilla and orange cream candy. It tastes just like the namesake milkshake, with just a touch of alcohol. As for appetizers, the pretzel calamari was one of our favor- ites of the night ($18). Calamari is dredged in pretzel crumbs, which makes for a bit of a salty taste, but a dip in the tartare sauce helps balance the flavor. Another good starter is the beef tartare ($17). This isn’t a typical tar- tare plate served as a rounded pile of raw meat; Hendy’s take on beef tar- tare is a lovely arrangement of five lit- tle balls of sweet potato hash topped with tartare and garnished with po- tato crisps. For the mains, we’d be remiss if we didn’t recommend the lasagna ($22). Krstic’s take on the Italian dish comes in the form of spinach noodles with a hearty wagyu bolognese and a smoky bechamel over a leek sauce. Equally as good, and perhaps lighter fare, is the grilled salmon served over a rata- touille and a brown-butter vinai- grette. Over the past few years, closures of spots like Beauty Bar, 77 Degrees, Henderson Tap House and, most recently, Smithy have crushed Knox-Henderson. But the opening of spots like the backyard- style Lawnie’s, the hip-hop and R&B-soundtracked Charlotte and now Hendy’s ensures that the neighborhood doesn’t lose its heart amid redevelopment. Also soon to open from Schanbaum and Hays is Boogie’s, a cocktail and dance lounge in the space previously occupied by The Whippersnapper. Though Bona and Carpenter come from the nightlife world, their collaboration with hospitality vets Schanbaum and Hays proves to be the beginning of a new chapter for all four guys — delivering on quality food and cocktails and creating a fun, di- verse atmosphere in a more grown-up, cozy setting. “We’ve been coming around this area for years,” Bona says, “and we’ve seen how busy it is, naturally and organically, and the vibe here is great. We just knew we wanted to be over on this block somehow.” With Hendy’s, the Knox-Henderson renaissance continues. But be sure to RSVP for the house party. For the past few nights, this spot has been packed. Hendy’s on Henderson, 2401 N Henderson Ave. (Knox-Hen- derson). 5 p.m. to 2 a.m Tuesday through Friday; and 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Saturday and Sunday Pretzel-coated calamari and a boozy Orange Julius sound about perfect right now. Alex Gonzalez
