A Strip Club Becomes A Soul Food Joint and a North Dallas Pub Adds a Camel Burger To Its Menu.

Welcome to The Spread, our new weekly feature that aims to share all the area restaurant, food and beverage industry news that’s fit to print. Except that this is the Internet, so space isn't a concern. Also: Good thing, because this is Dallas, and this town always has breaking restaurant news going down like whoa.

Dallas chefs, as of late, have increasingly become known for taking their daring culinary endeavors far outside the box. Jack and Mac's Swill & Grill is no exception. The English pub-inspired restaurant nestled in North Dallas just announced the addition of camel burgers to their menu. Yes, that kind of camel.

According to Jack and Mac's Facebook page, the burger comes topped with house made harissa, a hot chili sauce, portobello mushrooms, roasted red peppers and goat cheese. Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “hump day,” right? Can't make it out today to try a new camel burger? Grab your dad and head out to Jack and Mac's on Father's Day. They'll be giving out free beer samples from 6 to 8 p.m.

Speaking of daring culinary adventures, Kitchen LTO — a permanent pop-up restaurant space, which rotates chefs and designers every four months based on voter suggestions — just announced the first chef and design team that will be opening the place on September 3. Chef Norman Grimm and Coeval Studios were selected to create a new and inviting restaurant in Trinity Groves with a focus on a French/American-style menu.

While Kitchen LTO prepares to blow your culinary senses, Fuzzy's Taco Shop has begun expanding all over North Texas. In addition to the still-on-the-way Deep Ellum spot next to Three Links, the company also recently announced a new location in Mansfield spot to go along with a second Denton spot that will be located just off I-35.

Since we're on the subject of tacos, we should mention this, too: To celebrate their newest Southlake location, Torchy's Taco will be giving away free breakfast tacos tomorrow at the new spot from 7 to 10 a.m. They''ll also be raffling off the chance to win free tacos for a year. Show me a person who would pass up free tacos for a year, and I'll show you my fist.

On the subject of great deals and tacos: Urban Taco kicks off their weekly Thirsty Thursday series starting on June 20. As part of this promotion, their delicious margaritas and mojitos will be going for just a buck each. They'll also be offering complimentary seasonal guacamole bites and live music from 6 to 10 p.m.

Seriously: The North Texas culinary scene is kind of crushing with great deals of late.

But we've also got reports of a laundry list of restaurant expansions and new spots popping up all over town: Chip's Old Fashioned Burgers is set to open its doors out in Lakewood at the end of summer; Taverna Rossa is slated to open out in Plano later this month; Allie's Cajun Kitchen opens in Fort Worth in late June; M & B Lounge, which focuses on African cuisine, opens in Arlington later this summer; Rice & Wheat, a Vietnamese/Asian restaurant, is all ready and open for business on Maple Avenue; Hospitality Sweet is also open right in the heart of Downtown, and serving baked goods and boxed lunches; and Mutts Canine Cantina, which blends a restaurant and a dog park, now had an official opening date of June 19.

In weirder opening news: There's a new soul food kitchen slated to open in the now-vacant Fantasy Ranch property in Arlington, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. In case you hadn't heard of Fantasy Ranch — or couldn't take a guess as to its past based on its name alone — is a former strip club. The new and appropriately named restaurant, Booty's House of Soul, will feature an all-female wait staff — because of course — and will offer breakfast, lunch and dinner. No word yet on how they plan to keep stripper glitter from sneaking into their dishes.

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