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Nancy Farrar
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Nancy Farrar
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Nancy Farrar
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Nancy Farrar
Utter the name Larry Lavine in North Texas restaurant circles, and the first thing that comes to mind is Chili’s.
They’d be right, of course. In 1975, with partners Malloy Buckner and John Foshee, Lavine opened the original Chili’s Grill & Bar in Dallas on Greenville Avenue. The restaurant took off, and by the time Lavine sold the company to Norman Brinker in 1983, there were nearly 30 locations.
Chili’s only skims the surface of Lavine’s lifelong love affair with the restaurant industry. The North Texas native has spent the past several decades opening and investing in several other concepts.
But none, he says, are as close to his heart as his latest one: Loop 9 Barbecue, slated to open March 6 at the new 172-acre entertainment center in Grand Prairie, EpicCentral. The family-centric complex includes an indoor waterpark, recreation center, and boardwalk.
Crystal Wise
Loop 9 will be one of several restaurants there.
Loop 9 isn’t Lavine’s first brush with barbecue. In 2014, he helped open, then left, the well-regarded Ten50 BBQ in Richardson. He’s taking what he learned there and applying it to Loop 9, he says.
“Barbecue’s not hard once you learn it,” he says. “But you gotta buy great product, and you have to be faithful to how you prepare it.”
For his ’cue, Lavine will utilize a pair of wood-burning J&R smokers, with oak being his wood of choice. His menu will feature prime brisket, both moist and lean, pulled pork, turkey, St. Louis ribs, and Meyer’s Elgin sausage. Meats can be ordered by the pound or sandwich.
Sides will include brisket-studded queso, potato salad, coleslaw, and cornbread, all made fresh daily, Lavine says.
Sharing the Loop 9 space will be a pie shop. The product will be made by Lavine’s wife, Ann, in flavors such as chocolate and banana cream pie.
There will be beer, craft sodas, and cocktails, too.
“Not too many barbecue joints serve cocktails and have their own pie shop under the same roof,” Lavine says. “I know there are a lot of other barbecue restaurants out there, a lot of really good ones, so I wanted to set ourselves apart.”
2951 S. State Highway, Grand Prairie, loop9bbq.com
