Mole, mescal at the new Mesa in Grapevine

The new Mesa is far from its tiny beginnings in Dallas’ Oak Cliff neighborhood, and not only in miles.

Chef Olga Sosa’s newest Veracruz-style “Latin kitchen” is a little bit Mexico and also a little bit Tex-Mex, with more tequila and mescal drinks, and a lunch menu beginning next week.

Sosa and Raul Reyes’ Dallas restaurant is heralded for interior Mexico cuisine. The mole enchiladas are from a family recipe from Veracruz.

But Grapevine’s tourists aren’t always looking for lobster enchiladas, pork cochinita pibil, ropa vieja or snapper Veracruz.

So the new Mesa added a Tex-Mex section with chicken or beef fajitas and beef, chicken, fish or blackened shrimp tacos.

“We have a family restaurant — we cook authentic Mexican food with love,” Raul Reyes Jr. said this week.

“We hope people will be adventurous. But we added fajitas and tacos because we want everybody to find something they like.”

The blackened shrimp tacos were a popular Dallas special, he said.

So far, Sosa’s chicken mole, mole enchiladas and ceviche have been popular, Reyes said.

The Grapevine Mesa also will open an all-weather patio. It’s in a former steakhouse in the Grapevine Station shopping center, facing Great Wolf Lodge.

Mesa is open at 5 p.m. nightly for dinner this week and at 11 a.m. daily for lunch and dinner, beginning next week; 1000 Texan Trail, Suite 130, 817-329-1144, mesadallas.com.

Dinner downtown

Downtown Grapevine’s “Christmas city” also has a new dinner option on decorated Main Street.

Main Street Bistro & Bakery serves a full-service evening menu, featuring chef Fabien Goury’s roast duck, steak frites au poivre, short ribs and salmon meunière.

Those dinners are priced at $22-$28, with a grilled chicken Caesar or sandwiches starting at about $12-$14.

Main Street still has a bakery take-out side, but the bistro is now the centerpiece. Nightly specials include dishes such as gnocchi, bouillabaisse or trout almondine.

Main Street Bistro is open at 6:30 a.m. daily and serves dinner every night except Monday; 817-424-4333, themainbakery.com

Grapevine pizza

Armend’s Pizza and Pasta, a second location for a popular Southlake restaurant, is open inside a furniture superstore at 1900 S. Main St.

Armend’s, one of Southlake’s oldest and most established restaurants, took over the store pizzeria restaurant and serves lunch and dinner daily except Sundays, closing at 8 p.m.

It’s on Main Street south of Texas 114-121; 817-722-6178. The original is open until 9 p.m. daily except Mondays at 2315 E. Southlake Blvd., 817-251-0270, armends.com.

Any day now

Due to open this weekend or next week:

▪ Fuel City, the Haltom City convenience store-truck stop with a legendary taco counter and also an Original Fried Pie Shop; 1715 Haltom Road, fuelcity.com.

▪ Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken, the long-awaited first DFW location for the Memphis-based spicy chicken chain; expect lines, 1065 W. Magnolia Ave. at South Adams Street, gusfriedchicken.com.

▪ Tributary Cafe, promising fresh seafood dishes, po-boys, gumbos and shrimp remoulade by owner Cindy Crowder; open for lunch and dinner daily, 2813 Race St., 817-744-8255.

▪ Mercury Chop House’s new location is already open for lunch and dinner weekdays, dinner Saturdays and Sundays; 525 Taylor St. at Fourth Street, 817-336-4129, facebook.com/mercury.c.house.

This story was originally published December 14, 2016 at 4:36 PM with the headline "Mole, mescal at the new Mesa in Grapevine."