It’ll open in place of Teppo, a longtime sushi joint on Dallas’ Greenville Avenue.
5:00 AM on Jul 21, 2022
Jimmy Park, the charismatic chef from the 1-year-old Dallas restaurant Shoyo, has plans to open another new Japanese eatery. The as-yet-unnamed restaurant will take the place of former sushi spot Teppo, which closed a few weeks ago on Greenville Avenue.
Shoyo is one of the most sought-after restaurant reservations in Dallas, with just 12 seats. It’s an exclusive experience where dinner costs $175 per person and includes 16 courses of carefully-prepared raw fish. Park’s coming-soon restaurant 400 feet away on Greenville Avenue will be much more accessible, with 30 to 40 seats and — most likely — no long wait list.
It will not be an omakase restaurant. Omakase is the Japanese word that means “I’ll leave it up to you,” and describes a restaurant where there is no menu and customers eat dishes created at the chef’s whim. Shoyo’s new sibling restaurant will be a more straight-ahead sushi spot, with nigiri and sashimi on the menu and a lively bar atmosphere, Park says.
“The concept is more for people who can’t get into Shoyo,” Park says.
Perhaps it’s a little bit like another sought-after restaurant in Dallas, Carbone. Next door is its sister restaurant Vino, which is easier to get into, but similar.
For Park, Shoyo will remain a special-occasion spot — a place for birthdays, date nights and anniversaries.
“The next restaurant will be more like: ‘Let’s go eat before we go out,’” Park says.
Park did not intend upon opening a second restaurant so soon after he launched the first, but he says the Teppo space became available and he saw an opportunity. “Let’s keep up the momentum,” he says.
The new restaurant will also serve as a hangout for Shoyo guests who aren’t quite ready to leave. Guests at the first seating, at 5:45 p.m., are eventually asked to move along so the chefs can get the dining room ready for the second seating of diners, at 8:15 p.m. But sometimes, they don’t want to leave.
“You know Dallas people: They like to sit and wine and dine,” Park says. (And that’s especially true after a 16-course dinner; it can feel odd to leave quickly after such a refined evening.)
“I can now say, ‘If you want to hang out, you can go down to my other restaurant, which is just half a block down,’” Park says.Related:7 restaurants selling Dallas’ most expensive food
Park has hired his best friend William Yoon to run the kitchen at the new restaurant. Yoon previously worked at Sushi Den in Denver and at Las Vegas fusion restaurant Jing.
And where will hungry diners find Park, who is a significant part of this sushi show? He plans to remain at Shoyo. People who spend hundreds of dollars on dinner expect the guy who created the restaurant to be there, Park says.
Master sushi chef Shinichiro Kondo, who currently works alongside Park at Shoyo and is its executive chef, will become the chef overseeing both restaurants. (Even though Park created the restaurant, he still considers himself Kondo’s student.)
The new sushi restaurant is expected to open in early 2023. Park plans to close Shoyo for two weeks so he can help the staff find a rhythm at the new spot. Then, he’ll be back behind the sushi bar at Shoyo.
“Without Shoyo, we wouldn’t have had this opportunity,” he says.
Jimmy Park’s new, as-yet-named restaurant is expected to open in February 2023 at 2014 Greenville Ave., Dallas. His existing restaurant Shoyo remains, at 1916 Greenville Ave., Dallas.
Snagging a reservation at Shoyo takes some planning; find details here.
Sarah Blaskovich, senior food reporter. Sarah writes about restaurants, bars and culture in Dallas.