"Yeah, I hate that we were kind of positioned like that," says Andy Hooper, the CEO of Hooper Hospitality Concepts (HHC). When the restaurant first arrived in Dallas, a few publications, including this one, focused on the fact that Hooper and his team are from Vegas. We ran an article with a headline noting its Vegas-like Strip vibe.
But even back in Sin City, Hooper has moved away from the illustrious Strip.
"All of our restaurants currently in Las Vegas are off the strip; they're in the suburbs," Hooper says.
A New Dallas Steakhouse
In Dallas, Hooper and his team wanted to change the typical visuals of a steakhouse, replacing ubiquitous masculine wood paneling with New Orleans charm. While the atmosphere is still moody, bright art decks the walls. It's technically an Italian steakhouse with plates of pasta leading the menu along with big-money steaks sourced from Texas farms (more on that in just a bit).But still, opening a new restaurant in a city as fickle as Dallas can be tricky. The Saint was sucked into the riptide of clubstaurants nearby on Good Latimer Expressway (think Dallas Blonde and Sayaa). But a visit in 2023 did, in fact, feel a bit clubish with Kanye blasting on the portable speaker on the bar, which Hooper says was due to a faulty (and now fixed) sound system and too many employees hopping on the aux, which has since been locked down.
Back then, a showy dish on the menu fell flat. And a manager standing guard out front seemed like a doorman — but he wasn't (the manager liked to hang out in front on occasion). But it all fit the bill of clubstaurants so into the riptide it floated.
And while those showy dishes aren't gone, a deeper dive into the menu shows an arc toward being a true local steakhouse. The steak section leads with a 40-ounce wagyu tomahawk chop for $195, sourced from the ranch Wagyu-X in Midlothian. The New York Strip is from Outpost 76 in Sulphur Springs. Other dishes have similar origin notes.
Dallas-native chef Jacob Williamson manages a dry-aged meat program at The Saint.
"All of our beef is from boutique wagyu ranches around Texas," he says. "The furthest is about 90 miles away at Outpost 76 in Sulphur Springs."
He aims to source both locally and responsibly as much as possible, which adds to the price tag, but he says the benefits are worth it.
"Texas wagyu is usually Black Angus or other American cattle crossed with Japanese wagyu genetics," Williamson explains. "The result is beef with higher fat content, more flavor and a multitude of health benefits."
Comparatively, Williamson explains, most other beef on menus is "commodity beef" raised and finished in different places all over the U.S. and more readily available and cost-effective.
The menu also offers six pasta dishes served in Sinner and Saint portions, the latter being a small portion priced around $23 each. A Gnocchi Bolognese is made with Texas wagyu beef, and the carbonara has house-smoked wagyu beef bacon.
A Proper Jazz Brunch
Eight months after that original visit, we returned for their Proper Jazz Brunch (Sundays only, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.). A local jazz trio played against the back wall, with nary a mimosa tower in sight. The music was nice but not overwhelming. Hooper says being so close to Deep Ellum, they want to bring in more local bands, and they're even transforming part of the dining room into a lounge to regularly host live music.Service was friendly and genuine. Our server was training someone else that day, something Hooper says he had to revisit after opening. In Vegas, he says, it's easier to get experienced servers, but here he learned that the training time needed to be extended to get the level they're looking for.
We started with a bowl of bone marrow fries ($16), a dish that comes with a blow torch. Half of a bone is stuffed with a mix of marrow and house-rendered tallow, then frozen. When ordered, a blow torch is held just a few inches away and the marrow and tallow drips over the fries. This is done at the table: dinner and a show. As we ate the fries we scavenged for drips of the rich sauce at the bottom.
A wild mushroom and aged fontina quiche ($18) is served with a bit of arugula and a truffle vinaigrette. Maybe we were just so hungry for brunch, but here again, this was a spectacular dish: moist and a bit jiggly in the middle with a crisp buttery, slightly puffed crust holding it together.
The Texas wagyu Benedict comes with wagyu beef belly ($18) and a thick wagyu hollandaise lying over the dish like a heavy blanket. The focaccia on the bottom never stood a chance, which was fine. We didn't order it for the bread.
French toast waffles, a nice brunch dessert we shared at the table, come topped with amaretto caramel syrup and macerated berries (there's a mix of blueberries and cherries; the latter were amazing).
As we were leaving the dark dining room around 2 p.m. on that Sunday, we said something about returning to the bright sun and heat outside, to which a server responded with a laugh, "Yeah, it's like Vegas in here, no windows." We laughed.
The Saint, 2633 Gaston Ave. Sunday – Thursday, 5–10 p.m.; Friday – Saturday, 5–11 p.m.; Sunday brunch, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
