Dallas’ Hollywood Steakhouse is Going to be Anything But Traditional — Or Boring

Innovative Entrepreneur's New Restaurant Brings Beverly Hills Hotel Style (and Nightlife) to Bluffview

Drake's won't be a traditional steakhouse.

A new neighborhood steakhouse is coming to Dallas, but it’s not going to be traditional in any way. Hunter Pond, the brains behind East Hampton Sandwich Co. and Hudson House, is bringing a fresh new restaurant to 5007 W. Lovers Lane with Old Hollywood vibes. It’s called Drake’s.

Similar to what he’s done at Hudson House, Pond tells PaperCity that Drake’s will be beef-forward in the way that Hudson House is fish-forward. There will be steak dishes on the menu, but also thin crust, circular pizzas, cheeseburgers, Old School pastas and French dips.

There will definitely be more variety than you typically get at classic Dallas steakhouses.

“I don’t want to compete with Bob’s or Nick and Sam’s,” Pond says. He notes that he has a lot of respect for those places and Dallas already has things covered when it comes to traditional steakhouses.

“This will be a youthful, high-energy crowd,” Pond says. Besides great food, there will be live jazz and DJs on Thursday through Saturday nights. It will have a fun transition from dinner to drinks and lounging, and will be open until midnight on the weekends.

The Bluffview neighborhood was chosen for its need for a place to stay out later and hang with friends at. Pond is from the area and has noticed that Bluffview is underserved when it comes to nightlife for younger people.

“There’s great food in the area,” Pond says, “but not a lot of options for food and fun.”

Pond became fascinated with the Old Hollywood vibe after traveling to Los Angeles to visit friends. He’s covered the East Coast with Hudson House and East Hampton, and wanted to expand to the West.

“I loved Delilah, Mr. Nice Guy, Craig’s and Musso & Frank in L.A.,” Pond says. Drake’s will be a hybrid of these Hollywood spots and his favorite bar at the Beverly Hills Hotel.

Old Hollywood-inspired cocktails will be on the menu like martinis, something Pond says they’ve already nailed down at Hudson House.

“I always stay at Beverly Hills Hotel when I visit L.A.,” he says. “This was my baseline inspiration.”

To create the Old Hollywood vibe, the 4,000 square foot restaurant will include rich reds, dim lighting and loud music. There will be a large circular bar like you see in vintage Hollywood spots.

Drake’s will open for dinner from Tuesdays through Sundays starting in October.