Neighbor Jeff Fairey, who has lived and worked in East Dallas for more than 20 years, plans to fulfill a long-time dream by opening a restaurant in the neighborhood.
A couple months ago, he purchased the property beside The Lot on Grand. (If you’re looking at The Lot from Grand, it’s the property to the left.) But it’ll probably be a while before he breaks ground — possibly a year or more.
Fairey builds homes in East Dallas and is the founder of Vintage Contemporaries, but ever since childhood he’s wanted to open a restaurant. He plans to do the design and build-out himself, although right now he’s still shopping around for concept ideas, trying to figure out what neighbors want.
He’s checking into purchasing even more property next door. If all goes as planned, he’ll have more than an acre of land to work with. There’s already a 2500-square-foot structure on the property, which he hopes to use in some way, although he’s not quite sure how just yet. A key part of the property is that it backs up to the Santa Fe Trail, which Fairey plans to take full advantage of.
He’s been fishing around, trying to figure out what kind of food neighbors want. But regardless of what cuisine he goes with, he plans to put a lot of effort into the venue and leave as much outdoor space as possible.
“I’m exploring as many options as possible,” he says. However, he’s gotten a lot of conflicting feedback so far, so in the end he figures he’ll probably end up simply doing “something great and people will come.”
