OAK CLIFF ADVOCATE VOL. 19 NO. 8
PROFILE
6 Building Eno's Pizza Tavern FEATURE
4 Rodeo Cold
12 Under the sea DINING
18 Trades Delicatessen
SPECIAL SECTION 10 Best of Food + Drink
Trades Delicatessen offers a selection of fresh-baked bread, including baguettes.
Read more on page 18. Photography by Lauren Allen.
BEST PILATES STUDIO IN OAK CLIFF
2022
2023 2024 2025
THREE YEARS AGO, brothers Ian and Eric Fletcher were taking on the brunt of the summertime heat in the pool. As all Texas summers suggest, a beer was needed. Their father grabbed one and handed it over to Ian.
“Sorry, it’s not cold,” he said. “It’s rodeo cold.”
Rodeo cold? The brothers had never heard the phrase. The beer had been in the freezer, but now the ice had melted and the beverage was somewhere on its way to being room temperature.
Rodeo cold.
“My brother said that’d be the name of our next concept,” Eric says.
That cool breeze you feel on Ross Avenue? Well, it’s Rodeo Cold. The 1980s Texas-themed backyard bar, launched by Ian, Eric and Robert Drummond, has started rounding up regulars after a soft opening back in December.
Ian and assistant general manager JR Teamah live in Oak Cliff on the edge of Bishop Arts. They moved from Austin two years ago.
The feeling of a neighborhood bar is something their team was eager to capture, especially since they were taking major inspiration from Ian and Eric’s dad, Stan Fletcher. They had the opportunity to open a bar on Ross about three years ago.
“My dad started off at the original Chili’s as a bartender in 1978. The original Chili’s on Greenville Avenue was a neighborhood bar,” Eric says. “We wanted to have kind of an ode to him and Chili’s.”
On Wednesdays, you can find a team setting up microphones in the bar for a weekly event they call “Showtime at the Rodeo,” aka their take on karaoke.
Their karaoke gives you 30 seconds to impress the crowd, whether it be a stunning stage presence or revealing the voice of an angel, before you’re liable to getting an assortment of plushie vegetables playfully thrown at you — the bartenders prefer the term “gently tossed.”
The best ideas happen when you least expect it
Story by AYSIA LANE
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From the deep-fried beef balls called Wrangler Danglers, their summer activity called Chicken Shit Bingo (yes, there are live chickens) and the Trinity Shiver shot, you’re bound to find something that may pique your interest or at least make you crack a smile.
Their lighthearted and comedic approach to their Texas theme juxtaposes their approach to curating a pleasurable experience for patrons. After all, this isn’t their first rodeo.
“We have Green Light Social. We started in Austin eight years ago,” Eric says. They moved the concept to Dallas in 2022.
Their dad was yet another kind of inspiration when they thought about the level of service they wanted to bring to Ross Avenue.
“I remember going with him in the ’90s to that original Chili’s, and still regulars would recognize him. He was working for corporate at the time, but still people — 15 years later — recognized him, and it always stuck with me.”
The bar feels familiar, like coming into a warm house on a cold day. A warm house that offers free chili after midnight. The decor alone feels as if it’s been there for years, with a cowboy boot, vintage or western decor and string lights nestled into almost every corner your eye can reach.
High tables fill the space in between the bar and booths. The wall is almost entirely covered in hand-picked vintage frames, western photos, LED signs and the occasional animal head.
The space feels lived-in, and the kicker is: the front portion is only onethird of the entire establishment. The outdoor portion of the property brings
the rest of the backyard bar to life with cornhole, life-size beer pong and human foosball soccer.
Ultimately, the trio behind the bar wanted this concept to be an extension of their growth and stage of their lives.
“My brother, myself and my partner, Robert, we can do the nightclub scene. We’re good at it, but we wanted something that, as we get older, we enjoyed going to ourselves, and we’ve always wanted to do a neighborhood bar.”
Rodeo Cold, 3826 Ross Ave., 214.446.9296, rodeo-cold.com
Eno’s Pizza Tavern was an early part of the Bishop Arts District renaissance, housed in a cozy two-story space on the main drag. It’s a family restaurant that doesn’t feel like a family restaurant.
The bar is the centerpiece at Eno’s, and chalkboards highlight wines by the glass and beers on tap. Wooden floors, brick walls and ample seating welcome in guests for date night, family dinners or a casual lunch.
The pizza achieves that cracker-thin style and features farm-to-table ingredients. Toppings on their specialty pizzas include locally sourced pork belly, pancetta, sport peppers, fennel, artichokes, parmesan, mozzarella and goat cheese.
In a lot of ways, Eno’s is reminiscent of the Sunday nights after church when the Spillers family would pile into the car and set out on a mission: finding the best cracker-thin crust pizza in Dallas.
“We found a few niche spots throughout the Metroplex, and then some of those changed over time, but Eno’s is a nod to our childhood,” co-owner Shane Spillers says.
Spillers was born and raised in Dallas. After graduating high school, he completed his degree in information and operations management from Texas A&M University, which makes him a “huge nerd,” he says. He came back to Dallas, where he spent nearly a decade working at the Public Policy Research Institute, Deloitte and Ernst & Young. Spending much of his time travelling for work, he felt he was losing touch with his community in Dallas.
That was until his family opened Eno’s in 2008, as the Great Recession forced small businesses to close. His parents, interior designers Allen and Donna Spillers, spent much of their time working in and around
restaurants. His brother Matthew, who trained at the Culinary Institute of America, helped guide the menu. In fact, the name comes from Matthew’s study abroad trip to Italy, where he fell in love with the concept of an enoteca.
“In Italy, this is a place where locals go to gather to drink the best stuff that they can get access to beer, wine — mostly wine — and the best local-produced food,” Spillers says. “So everything is centralized, localized, and it’s all about community and celebrating the things that they do all in their backyard. And that’s really what Eno’s is.”
“Oak Cliff as a community is one of the most talented groups of people you will ever meet, the most fun people you will ever meet and the most real people you will ever meet.”
Cracker-thin style pizza. Craft beer. Community. That was the Spillers family recipe for Eno’s.
“I give credit to my parents. My dad passed earlier this year, and it’s just my mom now, but without their vision and willingness to partner with my brother, who was the culinary genius behind what we did, Eno’s would not be an experience in the same way,” Spillers says.
Before diving into the restaurant industry, Spillers took
his experience as a self-proclaimed foodie and aimed to see the other side of the table. He worked as a server for about five weeks, which he says was just enough to learn about the job — and that he was not good at it.
“Making the transition to the restaurant industry, I was able to learn what I needed to learn,” Spillers says. “It’s like a duck gliding over water. There’s a lot of hustle beneath, right? You can’t really see what’s going on. And all you really see at the surface is this beautiful thing that’s happening. And that’s, to me, what hospitality is like when it’s done well, and I fell in love with that. I learned a lot about myself. I learned a lot about people in that process.”
Over the next few months, his family began to ask him for advice on the business and financial side of things.
“I had the opportunity to help them answer some questions and really think about some things. And that opened the door to really understanding that, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s a real need for this business, this hospitality business, this pizza concept,’ to really dial in a few key things that they were just not aware of that I could help out with,” Spillers says. “I
The Pineapple Fresca pizza at Eno’s includes pineapple, country ham, fresh jalapeños, arugula and parmesan salad on their classic cracker-thin crust.
was like, ‘Listen, I’m looking to try to change my career path.’ And so I made a pitch to join the family business.”
Spillers delved deep into the restaurant world in Bishop Arts, leaving the full-time corporate world in 2010. He co-founded Oddfellows, a now-favorite brunch spot, that year. He launched the short-lived brew-focused Union Bear in 2012 in the West Village.
Still co-owners with his mom, he says moving into the family business from the corporate world was fun, but a big shift.
“It was exhilarating, because now I feel like I’m actually doing something to better the community,” Spillers says. “It was just like, I know the next best step that I need to take, and it’s going to be joining the family business, not really knowing, like, one year, three years, five or 10 years beyond that. But it was just a very clear, active, moving forward in the right direction.”
From the get-go, Eno’s included community events in their operations. One of Spillers’ favorite events is iBike Rosemont, a partnership with the Rosemont Dad’s Club.
“It’s the coolest thing in the world. You have
100, 150 kids and their dads or parents riding from Rosemont to Eno’s, where they’re going to get a free root beer float if they just show up on their bicycle,” Spillers says. “Our staff is super excited about it. There are T-shirts that are printed, but you’re not going to see this in the newspaper. You’re not going to see it on social media. You’re not going to see it anywhere, unless you’re a part of that closeknit community.”
Eno’s also partners with local elementary schools for a rotating art wall inside the restaurant.
“Oak Cliff is just incredibly special. And it’s not without the intentionality of a lot of people that have been very protective about making Oak Cliff as amazing as it is, and as open and receptive to building community and just doing special things,“ Spillers says. “Oak Cliff as a community is one of the most talented groups of people you will ever meet the most fun people you will ever meet, and the most real people you will ever meet.”
The door opened for them to introduce locations in Forney and Coppell. The goal is to have 10 locations by the end of the decade.
“There’s just so many different ways that Eno’s is a part of the fabric of the community,” Spillers says. “I think one of the things that we look for as we expand, and as we grow, we think of Eno’s as a community cornerstone, that third place that people are going to go. It’s not home, it’s not work, it’s that other place where they’re going to gather. We look for locations in different markets where we can genuinely and authentically and neatly be that for a community.”
Eno’s celebrated its 17th anniversary in July.
“It’s a kaleidoscope of emotion,” Spillers says. “It’s been a journey. Over the past 17 years, we’ve had some really just incredible successes and and we’ve had so much fun in that process. But at the same time, we’ve lived through COVID. We’ve lived through some really challenging business environments and team adjustments and family stuff. It’s a massive celebration. Seventeen years in the Bishop Arts District, we’re a dinosaur.”
Eno’s Pizza Tavern, 407 N Bishop Ave., 214.943.9200, enospizza.com
BEST BAKERY
WINNER - VERA'S BAKERY
2ND - POTPOURRI BOULANGERIE
3RD - CRETIA'S EATERY AND BAKE SHOPPE
BEST BBQ
WINNER - LOCKHART SMOKEHOUSE BBQ
2ND - ODOM'S BAR-B-QUE
3RD - SMOKEY JOE'S BBQ
BEST BRUNCH
WINNER - ODDFELLOWS
2ND - TRIBAL ALL DAY CAFE
3RD - THE MIXING BOWL BREAKFAST TACOS
BEST BURGER
WINNER - COUNTRY BURGER
2ND - HUNKY'S OLD FASHIONED HAMBURGERS
3RD - CHIP'S OLD FASHIONED HAMBURGERS
BEST CATERING
WINNER - HARDEMAN'S BBQ & CATERING
2ND - BEYOND THE BOX CATERING
3RD - D JACKSON BBQ & CATERING (CLOSED)
BEST CELEBRATORY DINNER
WINNER - WRITTEN BY THE SEASONS
2ND - PARADISO
3RD - STOCK & BARREL
BEST CHINESE
WINNER - SUM DANG GOOD CHINESE (TIE)
WINNER - MR. WONG'S CHICKEN & RICE (TIE)
2ND - CRISPY CHICKEN & RICE
3RD - LUCKY RICE
BEST COCKTAILS
WINNER - TINY VICTORIES
2ND - REVELERS HALL
3RD - CASABLANCA
BEST COFFEE
WINNER - HOLA CAFÉ
2ND - XAMÁN CAFÉ
3RD - ESPUMOSO CAFFE (TIE)
3RD - PEABERRY COFFEE (TIE)
BEST CRITICS CHOICE
WINNER - WRITTEN BY THE SEASONS
2ND - NORA (CLOSED)
3RD - RESTAURANT BEATRICE
BEST DESSERTS
WINNER - COCOANDRÉ CHOCOLATIER & HORCHATERIA
2ND - EMPORIUM PIES
3RD - CAKE BAR
BEST DONUT SHOP
WINNER - THE SALTY DONUT
2ND - OAK CLIFF DOUGHNUTS
3RD - KIM'S DONUTS
BEST FROZEN TREATS
WINNER - PALETERIA LA SUPER
2ND - PICOLÉ
3RD - MELT ICE CREAMS
BEST HEALTHY BITE
WINNER - TRIBAL ALL DAY CAFE
2ND - ANN'S HEALTH FOOD CENTER & MARKET
3RD - RECIPE OAK CLIFF
BEST ITALIAN FOOD
WINNER - LUCIA
2ND - PARADISO
3RD - CIBODIVINO MARKETPLACE
BEST JAPANESE/SUSHI
WINNER - ZEN SUSHI
2ND - OSAKI SUSHI & HIBACHI
3RD - SUSHIYA
BEST KOREAN
WINNER - BBBOP SEOUL KITCHEN
2ND - KIM'S HOUSE GRILL & BBQ
3RD - MOONBOWLS
BEST LATIN
AMERICAN CUISINE
WINNER - GLORIA'S LATIN CUISINE
2ND - LA CALLE DOCE
3RD - ALEBRIJES CAFE
BEST MEXICAN/TEX-MEX
WINNER - LA CALLE DOCE
2ND - GONZALEZ RESTAURANT
3RD - EL RANCHITO
BEST PATIO
WINNER - PARADISO
2ND - CASABLANCA (TIE)
2ND - CIBODIVINO MARKETPLACE (TIE)
3RD - ENO'S PIZZA TAVERN
BEST PIZZA
WINNER - HOME RUN PIZZA
2ND - ENO'S PIZZA TAVERN
3RD - NEONY PIZZA WORKS
BEST PLACE TO WATCH A GAME
WINNER - PHD - POUR HOUSE DALLAS
2ND - CANNON'S CORNER IRISH PUB
3RD - THE 303 BISHOP ARTS
BEST SANDWICH
WINNER - NORMA'S CAFE
2ND - CHEESESTEAK HOUSE
3RD - METRO DINER OC
BEST SEAFOOD
WINNER - MARISCOS LA REYNA
2ND - SUNSET CRAB SHACK
3RD - CATFISH CONNECTION
BEST TACOS
WINNER - TAQUERIA EL SI HAY
2ND - CESAR'S TACOS
3RD - EL TIZONCITO
BEST THAI
WINNER - CHAN THAI & PHO 88
2ND - KA-TIP THAI STREET FOOD
BEST WINE LIST
WINNER - NEIGHBORHOOD CELLAR
2ND - NOVA
3RD - CIBODIVINO MARKETPLACE
Voting for Best of Shopping begins August 6. Shopping winners will be featured in our December issue. If you have any questions regarding Best of 2025, please email cbryan@advocatemag.com.
We worked with Bart during one of the hottest housing markets in recent history. Bart stuck with us through several offer cycles, and each new house he found was better than the last. His background in architecture and construction is a huge plus. He always has a flashlight in the car and is ready to crawl down below a house. You won’t be disappointed with his skills and work ethic.
Thanks Bart for everything! -Maggie M.
BART THRASHER Realtor® bartthrasher@dpmre.com 469.583.4819
Three Oak Cliff seafood restaurants serving fresh catches and bold flavors
The intimate Hugo’s Seafood Bar making waves in Oak Cliff
Two Hugos, Hugo Osorio and Hugo Galvan, recently teamed up to open Oak Cliff’s newest seafood spot.
Osorio grew up in the neighborhood and started out in the restaurant industry his senior year of high school, going on to bartend at spots such as Bolsa and Perry’s Steakhouse. Osorio is the bar manager at Hugo’s and has learned his craft through working at several Oak Cliff favorites like Lady Love Lounge and Sound.
Galvan was born in Mexico and started his career in the restaurant business early at age 15. He came to the states and opened his own place, Cafe San Miguel, by Knox Henderson. After a couple more endeavors, he decided he was done opening restaurants and decided to work for people he admired.
That was until he met Osorio.
“I told him, if I open another place, I will open another place with you, but I’m not going to open another place with anybody else,” Galvan says. “We saw this place, and it seemed like the right place to open something small, something where we can dedicate more time and more service to the guests.”
Hugo’s Seafood Bar opened in mid-December and seats no more than 30 guests at a time in a small space.
“Bottom line, we wanted to do this very neighborhood type place, and I think that so far, we’re accomplishing that,” he says.
Located on the edge of Bishop Arts on Davis Street, the tiny space has a bar and a single row of tables. The moody interior is dimly lit with a forest green ceiling and an exposed brick wall. The vibe is upscale enough for a date night but is still suitable for a casual dinner.
“This space allows us to spend time with the guests, to get to know them,” Galvan says. “This place is too small for us to miss a thing.”
The restaurant does not take reservations, and its emphasis is quality seafood in an intimate setting.
“I think that we got a great menu,” Galvan says. “I
wanted to do seafood — I’m very passionate about seafood, but that requires a lot of attention because seafood needs to be high quality. Seafood needs to be fresh. We’ve been doing a lot of work on that side in the kitchen, getting fresh oysters, live lobsters, Japanese scallops and those kind of things.”
The oyster bar menu offers East Coast oysters by the half dozen ($22) and dozen ($40). The House Royal Oysters are $45 for a half dozen and $80 for a dozen made with lemon juice, uni, royal caviar, salsa macha oil and chives. The $7 oyster shooter includes aguachile, fresh oyster and trout roe.
For the table, there’s beef tartare ($18), lobster croquettes ($16) and scallop aguachile ($22). The Ultimate Hugo’s Tostada includes jumbo shrimp, scallops, octopus, tomato aguachile rojo, avocado and pepper assortments. Mains include a cheeseburger ($18), lobster roll ($24) and a 12-ounce prime New York strip ($45).
Guests come in to have dinner and lunch on the weekends, but after the evening rush starts to slow down, the space transitions from being a restaurant to more of a bar.
“We wanted to become more personal,” Osorio says. “I think many places, they just are more focused on the aesthetics of the restaurant. They just forget about service. I think that us, we are a little bit more the opposite way, we did this place with our budget, but we want to make sure that we become very personal.”
Classic cocktails are $14 and include selections like a tequila smash, gin sour and gin martini while craft cocktails are $15 and include selections such as the Blame It On The Juice, made with Tanqueray Gin, Blanc Vermouth infused with honeydew, suze, lime and milk wash. A refreshing Ice, Ice, Babyyy! is made with Reyka Vodka, kiwi, green apple oleo, lemon and sparkling water.
The wine list focuses on whites and bubbles that pair well with the oysters. Most bottles cost between $40 and $80.
Galvan says that since opening, they have been much busier than they anticipated.
“I was just projecting it’s gonna take some time, but it didn’t,” Galvan says. “Almost immediately, we started to get some traffic after we opened, and these last two months, they’ve been very good.”
“We’re planning to stay here for a long time,” Osorio says. “I feel like we’re in a great position where we can manage to be consistent. People in the neighborhood, they’ve been gr ateful.”
Hugo’s Seafood Bar, 334 W. Davis St., 214.242.8651, hugoseafoodbar.com
Pesca blends seafood comfort food with bold flavors
I n Trinity Groves, chef and restaurateur Jesus Carmona’s latest venture, Pesca Coastal Classics, blends approachable seafood classics with a modern twist, featuring coastal flair from different areas with Mexican inspiration.
Carmona was also the owner of Tacos Mariachi, which earned a visit from Guy Fieri for an episode of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives on the Food Network in 2018.
Carmona was born in Mexico City, moved to Dallas at age 17 and has called it home for the last 30 years
He has been involved in the restaurant business from a young age since his father owned a restaurant in Mexico City.
“I have a passion for the restaurant business,” Carmona says. “I grew up in the business, and that’s what I do, and that’s what I love to do. I tried to do so many other things. I had a construction company, cleaning company, and then I came back to the restaurant business.”
West Dallas is where Carmona started his first restaurant after working in kitchens led by chefs John Tesar, Avner Samuel and others for years.
Tacos Mariachi didn’t survive the pandemic, but in 2021, Carmona opened a different taqueria, Milagro, right next door. Pesca is his third venture in West Dallas, placed right on Singleton Boulevard. The restaurant officially opened for business last December.
“I wanted to do a little more of everything, do a concept that will work for the area, because I’ve known West Dallas for the past 10 years,” Carmona says. “I don’t want to be Green Point, but also don’t want to be the Flying Fish. I want to be in between — people coming to a nice ambience, clean and beautiful place, good food and service.”
Carmona describes Pesca as a casual, everyday place. The design features natural wood tones, ocean-inspired colors and nautical accents with bold pops of color.
At Milagro Taco, Carmona says he is known for his seafood tacos. That, a trip to Cabo and his love for seafood helped build Pesca’s menu.
“I knew I wanted to do coastal classics. When I say coastal classics, from fish and chips to a good clam chowder, a good catfish, we have a good lobster roll, so I wanted to do something authentic. Something people are familiar with, but I put my own interpretation,” Carmona says.
Customers can begin their experience with an oyster or
smash.
shrimp shooter, priced $6 to $7 each. The Amazing Tortilla Soup ($6 for a cup, $9 for a bowl) uses the same guajillo broth from Milagro, and shrimp enchiladas with poblano cream sauce ($22) round out the Mexican-inspired dishes.
On the dinner menu, chef specialties include a linguini frutti di mare ($26) with shrimp, calamari, clams, linguini, tomato, basil and garlic sauce, and a classic golden fish and chips ($19). A grilled salmon succotash ($29) with bacon, sweet corn and bell pepper as well as shrimp crepes ($22) round out some of the classics.
Another specialty is a choice of fish, served grilled or a la plancha with the vegetable of the day. Options include salmon, mahi mahi and Texas red snapper.
Agave-based cocktails are another highlight — the Pescarita comes with La Vieja Taberna Tequila, guava and blood orange while the Guilty Pineapple is made with Ilegal Mezcal, La Vieja Taberna Tequila, pineapple, poblano and lime.
For those who aren’t fans of seafood, Pesca also offers chicken piccata and two-patty smash burgers with bacon jam.
Brunch is served Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and offerings include steak and eggs ($24), cuatro leches French toast ($14), a crab meat omelette ($16) and more.
While things were a bit slow after opening around the holidays, they started to pick up as the warm weather came through, Carmona says.
“You know this area, as the weather gets nicer, the people walk. They’re looking for things to do and restaurants to try,” Carmona says. “Trinity Groves has lots of events going on, so it’s a great place to be.”
Pesca , 3011 Gulden Lane #107, 469.206.9920, pescacoastalclassics. com
Tucked in the heart of Oak Cliff, Sunset Crab Shack is a community hub, creative space and reflection of lead manager Luis Molina’s lifelong roots in the neighborhood.
Since opening its doors in 2021, the restaurant has grown from a modest six-person operation into a multi-location success with a diverse menu that goes beyond just crab boils.
Molina has been in Oak Cliff his whole life and a part of Sunset Crab Shack since its opening in 2021. He graduated from Texas Tech University with a bachelor’s degree in education and was teaching for about five years before pivoting to the restaurant industry.
The restaurant started small but has slowly grown over the years with more menu offerings and a solid customer base. About four months in, the team unveiled an upstairs area and later opened a back porch which serves as a sports yard. The restaurant also hosts a live band every Sunday plus watch parties on the back porch.
The Sunset Sports Yard has its own social media page and hosts events to stay on top of the trends — such as Love Island watch parties in July with themed drinks.
Starting with that staff of six, Sunset has now grown to over 30. They opened new locations in Pleasant Grove and Grand Prairie three years ago.
“We’ve been pretty steady, and all three
“I’ve been really focused on the community, giving back,” Molina says. “I was volunteering everywhere I can. And my love for the industry has always been like that — to meet new people, talk to new people.”
locations are very different; it’s one concept, but it’s very different,” Molina says. “Here in Oak Cliff, we’re just trying to reach out, obviously to any seafood lovers, but since the demographic is a little bit different here, we incorporated a little bit of Mexican food dishes. So we have a ceviche. We have had our mojarras that we just introduced about a month ago.”
Sunset strives to be a place for families. In addition to live bands, they bring in comedians and host different events including arts and crafts nights and small-business pop-ups.
“It’s important to me because that’s how I’m able to connect with people, and that’s how we grow,” Molina says. “We do have a lot of regulars and it’s just cool, because you get to see families where their kids were little whenever they used to come, where we started, and now they’re older. So it’s cool, being able to not just see the business grow, but see our families and regulars grow too. We actually have a family that comes every week.”
The atmosphere is casual, and you won’t feel out of place in your flip flops or T-shirt. Sunset is best known for its boils during crawfish season.
“We have a little bit of everything so people don’t get tired of the same thing,” Molina says. “We have food for people who may not be a fan of seafood, like wings and burgers.”
The “Build Your Own Boil” allows the guests to choose their own meats, seasonings, heat level and add-ons. Classic entrees include fish tacos ($14.99) and grilled catfish ($14.99). Handhelds include a catfish po’boy ($11.99), a shrimp po’boy ($13.99) and the Sunset Burger ($12.99).
The Sunset Special is $149.99 and includes 1 pound of shrimp, 1 pound of king crab, 1 pound of snow crab, half a pound of sausage, three red potatoes, three eggs and three corn on the cob.
“We’re very well-known for our boils, and obviously, when crawfish season comes, we’re well-known for crawfish. That’s our busiest season of the year,” Molina says.
As for the future, Molina has a building in the heart of Oak Cliff, which he plans to make into a different concept but with the same seafood flair.
Sunset Crab Shack , 534 Sunset Ave., 214.946.5650, sunsetcrabdallas.com
On a quiet Oak Cliff morning, just as the first bagels hit the oven and the espresso machines hiss to life, Trades Delicatessen hums with a strange kind of magic — equal parts oldschool New York deli, neighborhood gathering spot and, on some Sundays, full-on rave.
Jason Roberts and Amy Wallace Cowan are the minds behind Trades Delicatessen. They were already operating Oddfellows and Jaquval in Bishop Arts. All three are located on Seventh Street, in a literal lineup.
Cowan’s pandemic pivot was a market run outside of Oddfellows, and soon that idea became Trades.
“People loved it. We got to know a lot more neighbors, because they were coming in to get their toilet paper and soap, the basics, as well as some food and things like that,” Cowan says. “And somehow or another, it became like, ‘Oh, we could brew beer, and we could have this market, and we could combine it all.’ And we were interested in vertical integration, so baking our own bread, smoking our own meats, making our own salmon, products that we use on the menu at Oddfellows and at Revelers. But we didn’t want to just have a production facility. We wanted to have a storefront.”
When they started, it was going to be a place where they were making beer, baking bread and roasting coffee in one big space. Cowan realized that Oak Cliff may not have the density to support a market like that, as she had seen similar places come and go on Davis Street. So they pivoted to not keep it all in one space, but to chase that New York deli dream and make sandwiches the star of the show.
“A lot of delis feel like they’re 100 years old,” Cowan says. “We wanted clean bones and kind of a timeless style.”
Trades opened at 312 W Seventh St. in February 2024 and offers a menu of breakfast bagels, schmears, bagel sandwiches, and hot and cold deli sandwiches. A soup and salad menu round out the lunch offerings, and decadent chocolate cake and a s’mores Trades Delicatessen in Bishop Arts offers plain, everything, blueberry, onion and poppy bagels with a variety of schmears.
cookie with a toasted marshmallow in the center highlight the dessert options.
Gastropub and brewery Jaquval, which opened in December 2023, shares a kitchen with Trades, and an open wall makes it easy to flow between spaces.
“I love it. It plays well with my attention span to have a lot of different things to hop around and pop into and work on,” Cowan says.
Sandwiches are piled high, with some fan favorites including the French dip ($18.99), the Italian ($15.99) and the turkey melt ($15.99). Trades proudly bakes their own breads and bagels, smokes their meats and fish, and roasts their coffee beans on-site.
Open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day, Trades is a deli lover’s dream.
“The sandwiches are all-day fair; people get them for lunch and on their way home for dinner,” Cowan says. “Another thing people really like is you can get breakfast all day, so people in the service industry waking up at 2 p.m., they can enjoy breakfast later.”
The deli recently started offering meats by the pound, so guests can grab meats and breads to make their own sandwiches at home.
A unique experience that Trades has recently implemented? Raves.
To the right of the entrance, you might notice signs that read, “Rave at a deli? What the helly?” along with photos of guests holding baguettes high in the air as they jam to a DJ.
Videos of a Sunday morning deli rave were a huge hit on Instagram. Noely Paniagua, the executive assistant of Trades and a raver, pitched the idea after seeing the video of a rave in a European deli on Instagram.
While the owners of Trades were hesitant at first as they did not want to disrupt sales, they were convinced. The event was Trades’ most profitable Sunday and now they announce when the next rave is on their Instagram.
Having no prior restaurant experience to now having multiple ventures in Oak Cliff that bring the community together in unique ways, Cowan says she is grateful to add another successful endeavor to her list.
“Every day is a little scary, right?” Cowan says. “But it’s fun. I really love the people I work with. That makes a lot of it work. ”
Trades Delicatessen, 312 W. Seventh St., 972.589.3525, tradesdeli.com.
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