Mexican restaurant El Molino Casa de Parrilla is scheduled to open in fall 2024 in Snyder Plaza in University Park, where barbecue restaurant Douglas Bar and Grill recently closed.
Restaurateur Hunter Pond has bought out Douglas investors and plans to open a redesigned restaurant in the location. Pond's company, Vandelay Hospitality, operates Hudson House, DL Mac's and Brentwood in Dallas and Park City, among others.
El Molino will be Pond's first Mexican restaurant.
Perhaps this signals that the Snyder Plaza restaurant will be taken over by the University Park restaurateur. Pond has moved the Vandelay Restaurant headquarters to Snyder Plaza at Hillcrest Road and Lovers Lane. Also within that complex, his company operates a New Orleans-style restaurant, Jack & Harry's, and his company East Hampton Sandwich. Bar Sardine, a small cocktail spot, is expected to open nearby in the coming months, Pond said. dallas morning news last week.
Vandelay, south of Hillcrest, is also home to Chicago-style restaurant DL Mack's and pizza and arcade Slider and Blues.
Pond will not open Montecito's, the waterfront Italian restaurant he planned to build in a new building in Snyder Plaza that once housed Peggy Sue Barbecue.
Pond and developer Jim Strode both confirmed that the contract had been terminated. Montecito chef Kashawn Cruel is still employed at Vandelay, and he is part of the executive training program, Pond said.
Isn't this starting to sound like a Snyder Plaza melodrama? To be continued. Foxtrot at Snyder Plaza closed in April 2024. This was a nationwide, company-wide failure. It was not a local issue and had nothing to do with the pound. But it's yet another restaurant change for the quaint and historic Snyder Plaza.
Parking is a major issue at Snyder Plaza.Lack of space is one of the reasons The Douglas closed, original owner said news, but it's a complicated topic among neighbors, business owners, and customers. Some say parking is no big deal, and besides, parking lots are often empty. Cars are starting to crowd the neighborhood's residential streets, SMU students may be taking up spots they shouldn't be, and customers who can't find space are choosing to leave the shopping center altogether. Some people say there are.
The pond is standing firm. “The parking lot at Snider is wide open. It doesn't matter,” he said.
And even if The Douglas can't, it seems eager to draw crowds to El Molino and other Snyder Plaza restaurants.
Now, back to El Molino.
The name brings to mind Il Mulino, an expensive Italian restaurant in New York City that failed to find a foothold in Dallas. (The restaurant was open from 2004 to 2006, but many Dallas residents will tell you it still has a bad name.) '' said he has no connection with Il Mulino. He gave it that name, so El Molino Means “factory” in Spanish.
The restaurant will sell wood-fired and smoked fajitas.
“That's going to be a specialty,” Pond said.
El Molino is located at 6818 Snyder Plaza in Dallas. It is scheduled to open in fall 2024.
