A Local's Guide to What's New in East Dallas This Summer

If you have lived in East Dallas for more than a season or two, you have watched the neighborhood's food and lake life stretch itself into a rough three-mile spine: Skillman down through Greenville, over to Gaston, and out to Lawther along the water. The summer of 2026 is when that spine finally starts to feel connected. A quiet Mexican tasting room, a 16,000-square-foot Italian, a Mediterranean redo of a beloved pizza address, and a boat club open house are all landing within a short drive of each other, and they are worth planning your Saturdays around.

Here is what is actually opening, where to slot it into a week, and what is happening at the lake between now and Labor Day.

The Skillman-to-Greenville stretch got a new center of gravity

The most consequential opening of the year for East Dallas sits at 1904 Skillman. Serritella Prime Italian is landing in the same pocket as Mot Hai Ba, Lakewood Landing, and The Wine Therapist, and its scale is what will change the block's rhythm. The space runs about 16,000 square feet with a 250-seat dining room, an in-house Italian market, and a hidden back bar named Cosa. That is a very different animal from the intimate neighborhood spots that have anchored this intersection, and it is going to reshape how you think about parking, reservations, and Friday night flow on Skillman.

A few blocks west on Greenville, the Pizzeria Testa address at 3525 Greenville has a second act. The owner leased the space to Austin Rodgers and Jeff Bekavac, the team behind Goodwins, and their new Mediterranean concept Corsaire is expected to open in April or May with a between-upscale-and-casual vibe and a menu of dips from North Africa, Spain, France, Turkey and Morocco, meant for families, big groups, and diners coming in for drinks, appetizers and bar bites. If you have been mourning Testa since June, this is the news you were waiting for.

Two doors down at 3606 Greenville, the former Foxtrot coffee shop has been claimed by Brazamar, a relaxed grill-and-sea concept where "brasa" refers to grilling and "mar" means "sea," with a menu built around affordable tostadas, aguachile, and rib-eye tacos, arriving in summer. The same team plans to open a street taco shop called Tacos Richy next door, styled after the owner's Chilangos Tacos concept. Between Corsaire and the Brazamar/Tacos Richy pair, Lowest Greenville is quietly rebuilding a stretch that had been thin on new energy since late last year.

Gaston Avenue's quietest headline is also its biggest

The single opening that Dallas food writers will not stop talking about sits at 4422 Gaston. Olōyō is a contemporary Mexican restaurant from James Beard-nominated chef Olivia Lopez and her partner Jonathan Percival, blooming from years of weekend pop-ups and private dinners under the Molino Olōyō alias, with everything impeccably sourced down to salt from Lopez's home state of Colima. If you plan to go, know the drill in advance: reservations drop daily for the following day on Resy. Set an alarm.

D Magazine's editors flagged the fuller picture behind the storefront. The multi-concept build from Lopez includes a casual fonda, a mezcal bar, and a tasting menu room, and the project recently picked up a Texas Food and Wine Alliance grant for farm and kitchen equipment; it may end up being the restaurant of the year. For a neighborhood whose signature dining street has long been Greenville, Gaston becoming a destination address is a small but real shift.

The Henderson footnote worth walking to

Henderson Avenue is technically the edge of the neighborhood, but if you already drive it, two additions matter. PopUp Bagels opened a second Dallas shop at 2323 Henderson Ave. on June 5, with five bagel flavors, three base schmears, and two rotating schmears, currently elote cream cheese and Grillo's hot pickle butter. A few storefronts over, Salt & Straw brought its Portland ice cream to 2323 N. Henderson Ave., landing with its Frito pie sundae and its monthly rotating "series" of themed flavors. Together they cover a morning-and-evening loop that did not exist last summer.

Where to slot each one into a week

What is actually happening at White Rock this summer

The lake is not a static amenity. It has a calendar, and this summer's is unusually full.

The most inviting event for anyone who has walked past the docks and wondered what goes on inside them is on July 5. The White Rock Boat Club is hosting a community open house from 1 to 6 p.m., designed to welcome newcomers, with a chance to meet members, learn about sailing and kayaking, and experience the lake from the dock. Club commodore Robert Hunt said the day will include informational meetings on membership and introduction-to-sailing classes, with viewing opportunities for visitors who already sail. The address to save is 340 E. Lawther Drive.

A few things worth knowing about the club if you have never paid attention to it:

• It has operated as a volunteer-run club since 1961.
• Members participate in monthly lake clean-ups alongside For the Love of the Lake.
• Membership includes individual boating time, inter-club races, and social events.

Beyond the boat club, Celebration White Rock returns to Winfrey Point at 950 East Lawther Drive, with check-in and a pre-run stretch starting at 5:00 p.m. at Winfrey Point. If you have done it before, one logistical note has changed the experience for the better: free parking is available at White Rock United Methodist Church at 1450 Old Gate Road, with a complimentary shuttle running continuously to the starting line at Winfrey Point. That single detail solves the perennial parking mess along Lawther and is reason enough to actually sign up this year rather than watch from the trail.

For homeowners who like to see inside the neighborhood's mid-century stock, the annual White Rock Home Tour is a fixture worth putting on next year's calendar. The 2026 edition ran on April 25 and 26. The tour was founded in 2006 as a fundraiser for Hexter Elementary near White Rock Lake and each year showcases mid-century and new modern homes. If you missed it, the same organizers post the following year's dates in the fall.

A short read on what all this adds up to

For years, "East Dallas dining" meant Greenville plus a handful of standalone favorites and a lake you exercised around. The 2026 slate reshapes that geometry. Skillman gets its first large-format Italian. Greenville rebuilds its Mediterranean and Mexican-seafood core inside two shuttered addresses within a block of each other. Gaston becomes a tasting-menu destination worth a Resy alarm. The lake is offering an actual open door for the first time many residents can remember. Taken together, the neighborhood is doing something most of Dallas is not: adding density of experience without pushing out the addresses that made it worth living in.

If you are walking the loop this weekend, take Lawther clockwise from Mockingbird, cut over to Gaston for an early dinner, and finish on Greenville. That route did not exist a year ago.

Ready to talk about your corner of East Dallas?

Whether you already live off Lawther, own a mid-century on the Hexter side of the lake, or are quietly wondering what your home would trade for now that Skillman and Greenville are picking up momentum, Jason Landry is happy to walk the block with you. Start with a private conversation or a data-driven look at your home's current value, and get your instant home valuation at jasonlandryhomes.com/home-valuation.