13 August 15 - 21, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents This Bird Grows Wings Shops at RedBird to bring Tom Thumb, Wingstop and more to southern Dallas. BY CARLY MAY GRAVLEY T he Shops at RedBird is a sleek and sprawling mixed-use devel- opment in South Oak Cliff. The property feels modern and new (and much of it is), but it’s the culmination of a decades-long legacy as a re- vitalization of the 107-acre property previ- ously occupied by the old Red Bird mall. Shopping is in the name, but the team be- hind the development has ambitions far be- yond retail “The former Red Bird Mall has been such a pillar for the community for decades,” says Terrence Maiden, CEO of real estate devel- opment firm Russell Glen and co-leader of the Shops at RedBird project. “It was a point of pride and a special place for people to gather together. Our vision for The Shops of RedBird is to reimagine the mall as a mixed- use development with quality amenities like a grocery store, luxury apartments, health- care, shops, education, entertainment, of- fice, quality restaurants and community gathering spaces.” A project years in the making whose first phase came online this year, the develop- ment is part of Dallas’ GrowSouth plan and aims to bring sustainable growth to Dallas’ economically depressed neighborhoods. “For the last several years, we have been working diligently to redevelop the mall into a project that the community would em- brace, but also serve as a catalyst for another project across southern Dallas,” Maiden says. “Our guiding ‘north star’ has been en- suring every decision made regarding the project is thoughtful and will benefit the area long term.” The Shops at RedBird is bringing a wide variety of services to the area, but some of the most exciting new additions are restau- rants. Chick-fil-A’s 3,000th store opened in RedBird last year and the Shops has since added the locally-owned Breakfast Brothers and a Starbucks. “The restaurants we have opened thus far have been a glaring example of how if you build something of quality, people will come,” Maiden says. “Starbucks RedBird is the fifth-most-visited store in the country. Breakfast Brothers, which is locally owned, is performing exceptionally and consistently busy. Our overall strategy consists of creat- ing a healthy balance of national, regional and local entrepreneurs as retail and restau- rant tenants for the project.” The “if you build it, they will come” men- tality expands to other businesses as well as customers. Several more dining destinations will debut at RedBird in the coming months. “We are under construction with a new Jamba Juice and Wingstop,” Maiden says. “We are also in advance conversations with several new businesses looking to open at the site, which we hope to announce soon. [...] We are now targeting to attract more fine-dining restaurant options for the com- munity.” In 2026, a Tom Thumb with a full-service grocery store and pharmacy will open at RedBird. The store will span 50,000 square feet, with roughly 30,000 square feet dedi- cated to shopping space, and is expected to create upwards of 90 permanent jobs. The area is classified as a food desert by USDA standards, and a new grocery store will provide a welcome source of fresh food to the community. “The long-awaited announcement for a grocery store is creating a lot of excitement and is a huge accomplishment for the proj- ect,” Maiden says. “It took a lot of effort and support from the City of Dallas [...] to con- vince Tom Thumb to bring a store to Red- Bird. We are excited to get the store open, which is scheduled for spring 2026.” Dallas City Council approved an incen- tive package to motivate Tom Thumb’s par- ent company, Albertsons Companies, to expand into RedBird. “This community has expressed its de- sire to have a quality grocery store that of- fers fresh foods for so long and attracting a grocery store has been one of our biggest priorities ever since we started to reimagine RedBird,” Dallas City Council member Ten- nell Atkins, Chair of the City’s Economic Development Committee, told WFAA. In terms of feedback from the commu- nity, Maiden says that there is one sugges- tion they’ve heard several times. “The input for the project has been very positive thus far from the community, just requesting more restaurant options,” he says. “The most requested restaurant from the community is The Cheesecake Factory.” Aside from the professional and financial stakes that come with being CEO, Maiden’s connection to this project is deeply personal. “I grew up in the Oak Cliff area near Shops at RedBird,” Maiden tells the Ob- server. “This project has great sentimental value for me and aligns well with our com- pany’s investment strategy of leveraging real estate to attract grocery stores and health- care to marginalized communities.” (Representatives of Dallas City Council- man Zarin D. Gracey, whose district con- tains The Shops at RedBird, didn’t return our request for a comment.) ▼ DEEP ELLUM DREAM DELAYED, NOT DEFERRED IF FOR NOTHING ELSE BUT THE CHOCOLATE TRES LECHES, VISIT NENA POSTRERIA POP-UP AT AMOR Y QUESO ON SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS. BY CHRIS WOLFGANG T he easy choice would be to give up, but giving up is not in Diana Zamo- ra’s DNA. Zamora has worked as a chef at restau- rants across Dallas, but her dream was Nena Postreria, a bakery and cafe inspired by reci- pes from Zamora’s mother. Reyna Margar- ita, who passed away in 2022 after a battle with cancer, taught Zamora many of her sig- nature desserts and influenced her career. Zamora planned to use proceeds from her mom’s estate to open the pastry shop on Bryan Street in East Dallas, and when we spoke to Zamora in late 2023, she had launched a GoFundMe to push the bakery across the finish line. While build-out slowly progressed, Zamora picked up a gig developing new menu items at Coupes in Oak Lawn and col- laborated with other restaurants for a series of Nena Postreria popups. But between fam- ily disputes over the funds from her mom’s estate and an investor who suddenly backed out, Zamora found herself out of money. In June, she was forced to pull the plug on the Bryan Street venture. “The shop thing sucks,” Zamora told the Observer in a text message after her an- nouncement. “People just suck in general.” Out of options, Zamora went back to what she does best — hustling. Nena Postre- ria sold savory pupusas at Doublewide in June and has been baking bread for a series with fellow pop-up artist Tejas BBQ+Tacos. There was a Nena Postreria sheet cake des- sert special served up at AllGood Cafe. In July, Zamora found a spot in Deep Ellum to sell Nena Postreria pastries for the time be- ing: Amor y Queso. “The important thing was to get some money coming in,” Zamora explained dur- ing our recent visit. “A lot of Sarah [Car- lock’s] business is preorder, so letting us in the space on the weekends catches some of the traffic and helps us both out.” The appeal of two woman proprietors helping each other out isn’t lost on Zamora. Carlock and Zamora, along with private chef Mollie Guerra, plan to use the Amor y Queso space as part of an effort called the Comadre Collective supporting their indi- vidual entrepreneurial ventures and provid- ing exposure for other minority-owned small businesses. For all of the negativity that surely ac- companied losing out on her planned brick- and-mortar, Zamora’s passion for baking hasn’t been dampened. Her enthusiasm is hard to miss from the moment you step in the door. “Hey! Do you like tres leches?” Zamora asked as we strolled into the shop on a re- cent Saturday just after lunch. “You have to try this one!” “This one” is a chocolate tres leches ($6) that borders on sublime. Zamora blends cof- fee into the three milks that soak the cake. Even though its chocolate and coffee flavor shines, the texture is textbook tres leches, light and airy. An almost too-ripe strawberry added a fruity twist, and Zamora’s icing work is exquisitely gorgeous. Zamora also talked us into trying the Dirty Tejana ($4), a blend of sugar-cane Dr Pepper, coffee and lime. We were admittedly suspect, perhaps scarred by our own Jordan Maddox’s experience with pickled Dr Pep- per earlier this year. The Dirty Tejana, on the other hand, goes down easy, with no weird mouth-feel later. Your humble author is about to make a statement that will cer- tainly result in a flood of hate mail from na- tive Texans, but he stands by it nonetheless: regular Dr Pepper is simply too sweet to drink on its own. Zamora uses the cane sugar stuff, which doesn’t taste as artificially saccharine as reg- ular Dr Pepper. After being cut down with the coffee and the acidity of the lime, the sweetness is tempered perfectly, with a fla- vor that can most accurately be described as caffeinated non-alcoholic Fernet. We drank the entire thing while enjoying our tres leches cake in the shop without hesitation. We also took home a four-pack of jumbo as- sorted cookies ($12), while promising our- selves that we wouldn’t eat them all in one evening. Promises are made to be broken, yeah? Zamora is still tweaking the Nena Postre- ria menu each week as she gets a feel for the weekend traffic through Deep Ellum. Courtesy of the Shopes at RedBird Terrence Maiden is an Oak Cliff native and the CEO leading the revitalization of RedBird. | CITY OF ATE | ▼ Dish >> p14
