Thirsty Lion Gastropub & Grill announced its plan of expansion into the Texas market over the next three years. The emerging regional gastropub based in Portland, Oregon, will open its first Lone Star State location in the Dallas/Forth Worth market in 2017. Plans to expand with an additional eight locations through 2018 and 2019 in Houston, Austin, and San Antonio are also in the works.
“The response has been extremely positive with every new opening and we’re very excited about the growth in the coming years,” says Thirsty Lion CEO John Plew.
Irving, located in greater DFW, will mark the first Texas Thirsty Lion location at the highly anticipated Music Factory project. The project will offer 250,000 square feet of entertainment, retail, and restaurant space, including a movie theater and amphitheater. It will also feature 100,000 square feet of office space. A second DFW location is scheduled for 2017, and final details on this project will be released soon. By carefully selecting highly visible, quality sites in major markets, Thirsty Lion plans to continue their impressive expansion, ultimately adding four stores per year for the next three to five years.
Recently Thirsty Lion opened two new locations in Arizona and Colorado. In May, the new SanTan Village location in Gilbert, Arizona, opened its doors, making it the third location in the greater Phoenix market. The new Colorado location in the Cherry Creek neighborhood of Denver opened on June 14 and is the second location in market.
Thirsty Lion’s culinary commitment is to provide an eclectic variety of cuisines, with an emphasis on local ingredients and bold flavors. A seasonal menu will focus on the changing season’s offerings, featuring unique ingredients including fresh seafood, quality meats and local vegetables and fruits. At each location the bar features a large selection of craft beers on tap, many of which are local to the city. The gastropub also features unique craft cocktails that use combinations of fresh fruit purees, juices, and premium liquors, as well as 25 different wines by the glass.
“We work hard to combine quality ingredients and scratch recipes to create menu items that satisfy the ‘foodie’ in all of us,” says Thirsty Lion Executive Chef Keith Castro. “The flavor profiles are complex, yet blend well in their simplistic approach to create ‘craveable’ food.”
