Neighborhood bar St. Valentine will soon be serving bar snacks from the delicious corners of Boilermaker and Old East Dallas.
St. Valentine's is right around the corner from Jimmy's Food Store, a 57-year-old Italian grocery store that serves some of the best sandwiches in town. The bar is located across from Urbano Cafe and near the 50-year-old Dallasite Dive Bar. (Dallas residents in the area are still mourning the closures of nearby Lao and Vietnamese restaurants, Khao Noodle Shop and Mai's Restaurant, respectively, last year.)
St. Valentine's will move to Top Round, a former roast beef restaurant. We were wondering what the construction was all about.
This bar is a collaboration between two restaurateurs who have run some of Dallas' best cocktail spots. Gabe Sanchez founded Black Swan Saloon, which closed in Deep Ellum in 2020, and then worked at Midnight Rambler in downtown Dallas. and Ryan Payne, who opened Tiny Victories in Oak Cliff and also worked at Midnight Rambler.
The atmosphere at St. Valentine's is, as Sanchez puts it, “a second home.”
Saint Valentine is designed as a comfortable stay-at-home bar inspired by Valentine, a town of 130 people in West Texas. This name has two symbolisms. First, they loved the lore of a small Texas town said to have been settled by a railroad crew on Valentine's Day. And secondly, they like the story of the Roman priest Valentine. Valentine was beheaded for continuing to perform weddings even after the emperor had banned them.
“I thought, well, this is a little bit of rock and roll,” Sanchez says.
He and Payne had been thinking about opening a bar together for years. Plans for the Old East Dallas spot begin moving in mid-2022.
They are still hard at work developing their cocktail menu. They will be offering a tropical rum with pineapple rind called “Big Booty Trudi.” And they're excited about the Umami Freezer Martini, made with gin washed out of goose fat.
“In theory, this should be the coolest, slightly funkiest martini you've ever had,” Sanchez says.
St. Valentine's will feature food by Chef Jordan Edwards. The menu is thoughtful but not flashy, say the two owners. In addition to burgers, Edwards plans to make canned fish boards. Maybe some noodles too.
“It's going to be an eclectic take on what we think is good food,” Sanchez says. It can also be considered an appetizer for sake.
St. Valentine is located at 4800 Bryan St., Dallas. It is scheduled to open in November 2023.
