{"id":544413,"date":"2026-01-26T16:16:16","date_gmt":"2026-01-26T16:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/544413\/"},"modified":"2026-01-26T16:16:16","modified_gmt":"2026-01-26T16:16:16","slug":"new-restaurant-j-alexanders-is-open-in-dallas-fort-worth-and-looking-north-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/544413\/","title":{"rendered":"New restaurant J. Alexander\u2019s is open in Dallas-Fort Worth \u2014 and looking north next"},"content":{"rendered":"

Plano first, Prosper second. That\u2019s the Dallas-Fort Worth plan for an American bistro called J. Alexander\u2019s that originated in Nashville 35 years ago.<\/p>\n

The restaurant in West Plano, a ground-up build on the Dallas North Tollway near the Cinemark movie theater, opens at 3 p.m. Jan. 26, 2026, following a weekend of winter weather<\/a>. Employees from 23 J. Alexanders restaurants across the country have been visiting Collin County for more than a week, training local employees.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been a long time coming for us to get to Dallas,\u201d said Flannigan Clifford, regional director of operations. <\/p>\n

Texas has been \u201con the radar\u201d for at least a decade, he said. After the company opened two restaurants in San Antonio and one in Houston, the company is focusing on D-FW next.<\/p>\n

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\"Sushi<\/p>\n

Sushi rolls at J. Alexander’s are assembled by a chef, then finished by a “sushi robot” that’s new to the restaurant group.<\/p>\n

Smiley N. Pool \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

The restaurant\u2019s menu of burgers, steaks, seafood and sushi varies a bit among its 39 restaurants in 16 states. But \u201cthe No. 1 thing is consistency,\u201d said Nick Tzompanakis, vice president of culinary operations.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s an alum of Hillstone, a restaurant group considered by many in the industry as a gold standard for consistency in higher-end chains. Prep in J. Alexander\u2019s Plano kitchen starts every day at 6 a.m., when chefs start chopping vegetables and baking its famous carrot cake, to be served later in the day.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything another restaurant doesn\u2019t want to do, we do,\u201d Tzompanakis said. He\u2019s worked for the company since 2008.<\/p>\n

\"Diners<\/p>\n

Diners to J. Alexander’s in Plano walk in and immediately see a very large, U-shaped bar.<\/p>\n

Smiley N. Pool \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

Tzompanakis is training 30 chefs to work at the new Plano restaurant, where dishes like the Old Fashioned Cheeseburger need to be identical from Arizona to Alabama to Texas and beyond. Simple steps \u2014 like sauce slathered \u201cfrom coast to coast,\u201d Tzompanakis said, speaking of covering an entire brioche bun evenly \u2014 mean diners get the same bite every time.<\/p>\n

\"Thai<\/p>\n

Thai Kai Chicken Salad is a healthful option at J. Alexander’s in Plano.<\/p>\n

Smiley N. Pool \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

The team has added two menu items that are special to Plano: a bowl of Mardi Gras Pasta with crawfish, shrimp and andouille sausage tossed in Cajun alfredo sauce ($29); and Texas redfish with tasso cream sauce and rice ($36). These dishes might be added to other cities\u2019 menus after they\u2019re tested in North Texas.<\/p>\n

Other popular items at the restaurant, Clifford said, are appetizers like spinach queso and grilled artichokes served with r\u00e9moulade, each $16.<\/p>\n

Clifford described J. Alexander\u2019s as an \u201cupscale-casual restaurant,\u201d an uncommon phrase he said serves \u201ca very big niche that\u2019s untapped, between casual and fine-dining [food].\u201d <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The operators of J. Alexander’s are proud of the wine selection, which includes recognizable labels like Caymus, Veuve Clicquot, Daou, Cakebread and more.<\/p>\n

Smiley N. Pool \/ Staff Photographer<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a steakhouse, but steak options abound, with steak frites ($35), pineapple-marinated rib-eye with smashed potatoes ($49) and a New York strip with macaroni and cheese ($49).<\/p>\n

Prime rib is a favorite for Vincente Rubio, a 29-year employee of the company. He started as a dishwasher in Ohio and is now a trainer and a chef who has moved around the country, working at four different J. Alexander\u2019s. <\/p>\n

All the restaurants have open kitchens where diners can see chefs like Rubio in action.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you can see where you food is produced, it matters,\u201d Tzompanakis said.<\/p>\n

J. Alexander\u2019s is at 3980 Dallas Parkway (at Windhaven Parkway), Plano. It opens Jan. 26, 2026 \u2014 yes, during a snow day! Reservations recommended.<\/p>\n

A second J. Alexander\u2019s in Dallas-Fort Worth will be located at 1240 S. Preston Road, Prosper. It\u2019s expected to open in late summer 2026.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Plano first, Prosper second. That\u2019s the Dallas-Fort Worth plan for an American bistro called J. Alexander\u2019s that originated…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":544414,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5138],"tags":[5229,17925,7583,7371,7372,10548,13367,9733,9063,988,48921,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-544413","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fort-worth","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-burgers","10":"tag-collin-county","11":"tag-fort-worth","12":"tag-fortworth","13":"tag-plano","14":"tag-prosper","15":"tag-restaurant-news","16":"tag-restaurant-openings","17":"tag-restaurants","18":"tag-southern-food","19":"tag-texas","20":"tag-tx","21":"tag-united-states","22":"tag-united-states-of-america","23":"tag-unitedstates","24":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","25":"tag-us","26":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115962300753012502","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544413","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=544413"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/544413\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/544414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=544413"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=544413"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=544413"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}