Its East Dallas location is already a neighborhood favorite
Loro’s cheeseburger is more than a mouthful.
Loro Asian Smokehouse and Bar, the Japanese-influenced barbecue spot dreamed up by Franklin Barbecue pitmaster Aaron Franklin and Uchi chef Tyson Cole, is opening a second location in the Dallas area. It’s moving on up, with a new space in Addison’s Prestonwood Place that will open its doors on Wednesday, December 14.
Loro also has locations in Austin and Houston, where it opened in the Heights earlier this year. The Dallas location opened in 2021. Hai Hospitality CEO Tony Montero tells Eater Dallas the company has been looking — all the way from the Tollway to up Frisco — for the right location. This new location is where many restaurants, from Stirr to Vidorra to Yard House have opened additional locations outside Dallas proper.
A pair of brisket tostadas sit on a silver tray. A woman’s hand lifts one up, while another hand in the background holds a cocktail.
Loro’s brisket tostadas are a sharable bite featuring chef Arturo Hernandez’s favorite thing on the menu. Hai Hospitality
“When this site came available in that center, with all the energy, all the restaurants, and all the people, we knew we wanted to put a Loro there,” Montero says. The patio in East Dallas is a huge feature of the restaurant, and Montero previews that the Addison patio will be even bigger and have more trees, akin to its Austin location. “We were able to get a really cool space, where we’re going have this great outdoor space with a big, old patio [and] make it really fun, and an outdoor bar as well.”
The kitchen at the new Addison location will be led by chef de cuisine Arturo Hernandez, from El Paso. “My favorite dish is our brisket,” Hernandez tells Eater Dallas. “There is plenty of brisket in Texas, but our flavors are unique with the mild spice from our chili oil, sweetness from our pickled red onions and freshness from the Trinity herbs. You can’t go wrong.”
The menu will be the same as it is in Dallas, for the time being. Loro in Dallas recently changed its ordering system, offering a table order option; however, in Addison, it will be an order-at-the-bar situation, which is the Texas barbecue joint standard. “We feel like the guest experience and the vibe that you get from Loro seems to be created better with the line. [It generates] that excitement when you’re ordering and talking to the bartenders. It just gives a real cool vibe that we want there,” Montero says.
Watch for opening and happy hour parties, Montero advises. And for the first five days that Loro in Addison is open, Hai Hospitality will be giving away 100 Yeti tumblers to the first 100 guests each day, as well as a drawing for a party of ten in which one person will get to work with the pitmaster at the location to smoke their own brisket.