Unleavened Fresh Kitchen will rise this year in Southlake

SOUTHLAKE Unleavened Fresh Kitchen, a health-conscious Dallas restaurant, is coming to Southlake Town Square.

A publicist for the restaurant tells us that the owners are looking at a late 2017 opening. The location is on the west side of the square, near the less health-conscious Five Guys Burgers and Fries.

Unleavened’s web site describes the restaurant as “A fast, casual restaurant serving a completely fresh take on the classics.” The restaurant serves breakfast, lunch and dinner.

When we say, “health-conscious,” we mean that some of the items are health conscious. The largest section of the menu is devoted to “Wraps or Greens,” greens being that wrap ingredients served on a bed of greens. The Unleavened ($9.90 at the Dallas location) sounds fairly virtuous: chicken salad, currants, golden raisins, celery, chia, leaf lettuce, shaved carrot,garden sprouts, tomato, ranch. So does the vegetarian Farmstand ($10.75): Portobello, arugula, hot cherry peppers, grilled zucchini, pickled onion, feta, roasted eggplant, green goddess.

But there are also the Havana ($11.50), a variation on a Cuban sandwich with all the pork and ham that that entails, and the Weekender ($12.50), whose chief ingredients are buttermilk fried chicken and pepper bacon. The wraps/greens portion of the menu has 10 items in all, the most expensive being the West Coast ($13.50): corn-starch fried shrimp, arugula, iceberg, green onion, cilantro, shaved carrot, sliced avocado and sweet Thai chili aioli.

Sides — defined on the menu as “complements” — include hot items such as “Hoppin Juan” ($3.50): Mexican chorizo, Cotija, black-eyed peas and shaved kale, and cold items such as a quinoa and farro salad ($3.50) that also comes with shaved golden beet, dried cranberries, smoked pecans and lemon.

The quinoa and farro salad, by the way, is vegan, as are several other menu items, which are clearly marked as such. There are also several gluten-free items on the menu, also clearly marked.

A brekfast section of the menu, “Wraps or Hash,” includes the vegetarian Market Offer ($8.25): Portabello, egg, garden sprouts, tomato, avocado mash; but also the Dagwood ($8.25): pepper bacon, egg, potato, arugula, shaved cheddar. Although that sounds pretty modest for something called a Dagwood, we’re also pretty sure that something called a Dagwood isn’t one of the more health-conscious items.

The Southlake location has one of those applying-for-a-license-to-sell-alcoholic-beverages sign on its window already; the Dallas location sells beer and wine on tap.

The Dallas location (at 1900 Abrams Parkway in Lakewood) made Eater Dallas’ list of 25 Deliciously Healthy Dallas Restaurants early this year, and maybe we’re wrong about the Dagwood, because that’s the sandwich the entry focuses on (apparently the “greens” option is enough to make it healthy). Last year, Eater sang the praises of the açaí bowl, which really does sound appealing: it’s vegan, features gluten-free granola, and inclues açaí, strawberries, banana, agave, peanut butter, almond milk and chia mix. All that for $7.75.

Although you can certainly find less virtuous stuff in the area (see Five Guys, above), Unleavened will not be far from the soon-to-open Protein Fit Kitchen, which will be in the nearby Park Village shopping center and will likely have an emphasis on even more virtuous foods. Park Village is already home to a location of Modern Market, a chain that also promotes itself as health-conscious.

Granted, Park Village is across Southlake Boulevard from Southlake Town Square, and navigating the traffic between the two at certain times of day is probably not all that good for your health. Even closer to the future Unleavened location — really just a short walk away — is Pure Cafe, which is largely a juice/smoothie bar but does have a modest sandwich/soups/salad menu. So you’ll have a lot of options close to one another if you’re feeling virtuous.

Unleavened will open at 250 State St. in Southlake Town Square. There will be more info to come, but the Dallas location is open 7 a.m.-9 p.m. daily and 9 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday, to give you an idea of possible hours.

This story was originally published June 30, 2017 at 11:47 AM with the headline "Unleavened Fresh Kitchen will rise this year in Southlake."