Stealthy NADC Burger is expected to open on Dallas’ McKinney Avenue in August 2025.
The Austin-based burger joint founded on handshake deals and unused kitchens will open a two-story, permanent restaurant in the former Playground Bar in Uptown Dallas.
Co-founder Philip Frankland Lee’s original plan for NADC was to pop up in empty kitchens attached to venues or bars whose patrons seek quick, late-night food. NADC Burger’s first North Texas restaurant is inside Big Laugh Comedy Club in downtown Fort Worth. You’ve gotta go looking for it.
The Dallas address is different: It’s a “permanent” restaurant, CEO Gavin Humes confirmed to The Dallas Morning News.
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He has high hopes for the neighborhood.
“The McKinney Avenue corridor is surprisingly underserved in the area of fast-casual food done at a high level,” Humes said in an email. “Uptown gives us visibility and a centralized Dallas location to grow from.”
NADC Burger’s menu is tiny. There’s one Wagyu cheeseburger (available to customize, though the chefs don’t recommend it), plus a kids’ cheeseburger, French fries and loaded fries. (NADC Burger)
NADC stands for Not A Damn Chance, and chef Lee co-owns it with skateboarder Neen Williams.
Notably, NADC has just one main menu item, a Wagyu smashburger with American cheese, secret sauce, onions, pickles and “slightly tamed jalapeños.” The burger is gooey and messy, the kind you can greedily eat in just a few minutes.
Customers can customize their burgers, Humes told The News, “although we wouldn’t recommend it.”
Another option is fries, which come sizzled in beef tallow or the option to get them “Beast Mode,” with cheese, pickles, jalapeños and special sauce.
The menu also includes a kids’ cheeseburger.
And, new to the NADC model: The Dallas restaurant will have a full bar. (Often, the business relies on nearby bars operated by other entities.)
The Dallas restaurant will be the eighth NADC Burger in the United States, the fourth in Texas and the second in Dallas-Fort Worth.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, founder Lee has become known for his nontraditional restaurants. The tiny Sushi by Scratch omakase restaurant is tucked inside a hotel room on the eighth floor of the Adolphus in downtown Dallas. (Yes, really.) He has more than a dozen restaurants that are small, hidden or both.
This new model in Dallas, a full-bar restaurant with a lease, is a test for the company.
Humes called Dallas “a key market.” He plans to open more restaurants in Dallas and in Texas at large.
“It’s not a matter of if, just when,” he said. “When we find the right space, we move fast.”
NADC (Not A Damn Chance) Burger is expected to open at 2908 McKinney Ave., Dallas. The Fort Worth restaurant remains open at 604 Main St. (inside Big Laugh Comedy Club).