18 December 19 - 25, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents mana Cerveceria. Marc Cassel of the be- loved Deep Ellum institution, The Green Room, and more recently, 20 Feet of Sea- food Joint is back in the kitchen. Chris Jeffers of Bosla and Smoke is on the team, as is Stephanie Houston, a longtime entre- preneur (she opened LaGrange in Deep Ellum years ago) and distiller. Additionally, Adam Mercado, whose CV includes Billy Can Can and Brass Ram, is the bar director. Brian McCullough, who was a barkeep at The Belmont (I know, the oldie- but-goodie hits keep coming) is lending his expertise to the beverage program as well. The Instagram post says the bar is up and running, “so come on in” but stay tuned for updates on the kitchen opening. We will. Far-Out, 1906 S. Haskell Ave. Tuesday - Thursday 4 p.m. - Midnight; Friday and Sat- urday 3 p.m. - 2 a.m.; Closed Sunday and Monday ▼ OPENING OLD SPACE, FAMILIAR FACE A LONGTIME DALLAS BARKEEP BRINGS MID-CENTURY HOLLYWOOD VIBES TO A REINCARNATED THOMAS AVENUE BEVERAGE COMPANY. BY CHRIS WOLFGANG E ddie “Lucky” Campbell knows a thing or two about bars. An innovator in Dallas’ craft cocktail scene, Campbell owns the Standard Pour on McKinney Ave- nue and Parliament, the craft-cocktail haven that’s a fixture on our Top 100 Bars list, on Allen Street. When Campbell and his team decided last year to branch out with a new establishment, they wanted to stick with what they knew. “We had looked in different neighbor- hoods at several places where brokers were saying, ‘Oh the walk-in traffic is bonkers,’ and we’d go look and wonder where the people are,” Campbell tells us. “I told my team, we should stick with something close by. Then three days later, this listing opened up.” The listing was for the former home of Thomas Avenue Beverage Company at Thomas Avenue and Allen Street, not far from Parliament. Since the original TABC closed in 2013, the building has been home to several restaurants. This time, Campbell thought he should bring back the iconic Thomas Avenue Beverage Company name. After checking with the Texas Secretary of State and learning the name was available, Campbell reached out to Russell Hayward of Ascension Coffee, who owned the previ- ous TABC iteration, for his blessing. Over the past year, Campbell and his crew have been renovating the 100-year-old building. We sneaked in a week before the grand opening on December 12 to see what Campbell has in store. Inside the white brick building, the vibe is mid-century Hollywood, with dark bur- gundy leather banquettes making up most of the seating against exposed brick walls. An impressive wood bar spans nearly the full length of the interior, and most people’s eyes will be drawn to a fantastic stylized Pegasus mural on the far wall painted by Dallas artist John Freeman, who has artwork at Camp- bell’s other establishments. Next to the mu- ral is a door that leads to a sprawling patio, with a new deck and a half dozen fire pits that Campbell’s team were firing up for the first time when we stopped by. “Here in Texas, you might get to use it 50% of the time,” Campbell says of the patio. “No one wants to be outside when it’s 103 degrees. But we’ve made it a lot of fun for the good days.” Campbell describes himself as a “drink nerd,” and on the beverage front, his finger- prints are all over specialty cocktails. TABC is infusing their own spirits like a thyme vodka, a shisito pepper tequila and a fat- washed bourbon as part of the nine signa- ture cocktails on the menu. Campbell tells us that number is fewer than he would nor- mally offer, but TABC is offering more beers and seltzers to keep in touch with what the neighborhood asks for. We had a chance to watch Campbell at work creating a few drinks for our photo- graphs, which, given his history in Dallas mixology, is something akin to watching Pi- casso doodle or hearing Chopin tickle the ivories. There’s a Karma Chameleon with thyme vodka, cucumber, ginger and honey- dew. There’s a nod to the Mambo Taxi called that Meringue Rideshare with black cherry sangria and a bourbon Old Fash- ioned smoked with applewood and made with the fat-washed bourbon, which Campbell describes as his signature drink for the new bar. The food menu gets plenty of attention, again with a focus on what Campbell be- lieves the neighborhood would enjoy eating. Under the guidance of chef Nate Edwards, the menu is stocked with paninis, pizza and pastas as well as some bar snack favorites. Texas Italian on the Menu “E verything has an Italian backbone to it, but with a Texas and South- west flair,” Edwards says. Edwards’ kitchen team was preparing dishes for photos on the day of our visit, and we had a chance to sample some gems after we snapped photos. There’s an elote aran- cini that pops with the sweetness of corn, wildly addictive house-fried potato chips with a blue cheese mornay sauce and pizzas that sparkle with a thin cracker crust. On the entree front, the shrimp and sau- sage bucatini has ground sausage from Jim- my’s; the burger is a thick and hefty blend of ground chuck, brisket and short rib dressed with a zesty “bastard” sauce; and the per- fectly cooked petit tenderloin in the steak frites is given a twist with par- mesan gnocchi standing in for traditional French fries. The new version of Thomas Ave- nue Beverage Company feels more grown up than we re- member, and the locals seem ready to fall in love with the new space. Campbell tells us the pedestrian traffic has been peeking in the windows with increased regularity of late in anticipa- tion of the opening. For the grand opening on Dec. 12, TABC will offer a complimentary glass of Cham- pagne, plus carriage rides to Parliament and Standard Pour. For Campbell, the reasons for reinventing TABC are steeped in his own history of drinking in this city. “To me, there are two iconic bars in Dal- las: the Loon and TABC,” Campbell says. “When I moved here and got a job at Jas- per’s in the Shops at Legacy, the last night of training, we went to TABC for drinks. So there’s sentimental reasons for me, too.” Campbell believes that his newest bar is keyed into everything the neighborhood wants, which happens to be his wheelhouse. “We do good at mature neighborhood taverns. We’re for grownups,” Campbell says. “Whenever I get outside of my lane, I get in trouble.” Thomas Avenue Beverage Company, 2901 Thomas Ave. Opens Dec. 12. Chris Wolfgang Eddie Campbell knows what Dallas likes to drink. City of Ate from p17 “WE DO GOOD AT MATURE NEIGHBORHOOD TAVERNS. WE’RE FOR GROWNUPS. WHENEVER I GET OUT OF MY LANE, I GET IN TROUBLE.” —EDDIE “LUCKY” CAMPBELL
