Irving’s Beloved Captain Nemo’s Sails Away, Mariah Carey Brings Her Cookies To Dallas, Monkey King Noodle Expands North, And More.

Welcome to The Spread, our weekly feature that aims to share all the area restaurant,  food and beverage industry news that’s fit to print. Except, 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.

For us Irvingites (there are dozens of us!), it’s a sad, sad day.

After failing to secure investors, Captain Nemo’s — the beloved rib eye sandwich spot in south Irving — is closing December 31st due to impacts from COVID-19. The staple had been serving the community for nearly 50 years.  It was the kind of place you’d go to with your grandpa after little league games. It was the coupon you’d look forward to receiving from your high school’s fundraising discount booklet. It was a suburban icon that will be missed.

Sadly, this is just one of many similar closures caused by the still-ongoing pandemic — head here for a list of more than 100 COVID-related closures we’re aware of.

In sweeter news, Mariah Carey is bringing her cookies to Dallas! Simply collecting a bag during the holiday season from streams of her certified Christmas classic is not enough for the Queen of Christmas. Mariah’s Cookies is the songstress’ latest venture that partners with food delivery services to bring you Triple Chocolate Chunk and Spiced Oatmeal Raisin right to your doorstep. All we want for Christmas is your cookies, Mariah!

The Monkey King Noodle empire just keeps growing. The latest outpost has opened in Richardson at 520 Lockwood Drive. It’s been a long journey since the brands’ humble beginnings as a stand-alone noodle stand in Deep Ellum. Monkey King Noodle is known for its fantastic hand-pulled noodles and dumplings. For those up in Richardson just now getting acquainted with the Monkey King, be sure to get the Dan Dan Pork Noodles — yum!

How do you do fellow kids of West Dallas? Phil Romano is looking to bring millennials to Trinity Groves and keep them there with plans to put a beer garden in the restaurant center by 2021. Inspired by places like Katy Trail Ice House, this uncovered drinking area will have 30 planted trees and numerous umbrellas where one can just grab a beer and hang out. After all, we millennials need a place to congregate and plan out what industry we’re going to destroy next.

Speaking of revamping and reviving old spots, Highland Park’s Peggy Sue BBQ lives on, kind of. The spirit of the old staple BBQ joint that served Highland Park for nearly 75 years is being kept alive by the fan efforts of University Park’s New York Sub. Pop into the sandwich shop and you can get smoked meats and sides designed to recreate the ol’ BBQ joints staples by memory and taste. While the “collaboration” or in this case, homage, is unofficial and there’s no direct involvement from Peggy Sue BBQ, the sentiment is nice and tasty!

Shalom! Here’s your friendly reminder that Hannukah starts Dec. 10 and if you’re looking for of places to pick up foods like latkes, sufganiyot and matzo ball soup, Eater has compiled a great list of places around DFW where you can grab these holiday staples.

In beer news, Windmills, an India-based microbrewery, restaurant and music venue is coming to The Colony next year in the middle of the Grandscape development. It’s a prime location considering that this forthcoming space will be surrounded by established favorites like Truck Yard and Rock and Brews. While many breweries that operate in North Texas are independently owned, southern hospitality dictates we give commercial newcomers from across the pond a big ol’ howdy, so uh, howdy.

Photo courtesy of Captain Nemo’s Facebook page.

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