John Tesar’s Knife Steakhouse Finally Opens in Plano

After its opening date was delayed by nearly two months, Chef John Tesar’s Knife is now officially open at The Shops of Willow Bend in Plano, along with stalls for Knife Burger and Knife Butcher Shop.

The long-awaited second outpost of his critically acclaimed steakhouse is a whopping 7,000 square feet. Interiors feature an oval-shaped bar as a focal point of the room, a private dining area for 60, plus a patio that features lounge seating and a fire pit, along with the main dining room space. Mall-facing stalls for Knife Burger and Knife Butcher Shop were also installed in the space, where patrons can grab four of Tesar’s most popular burgers or cuts of meat including his dry-aged steaks. The dry aging operations have an expanded footprint in the new restaurant too with a meat locker 10 times larger than the one found in his Dallas outpost located inside the Highland Dallas hotel on Mockingbird Lane.

At the Shops at Willow Bend, the meat room can accommodate 500 pieces of meat that are dry aging with white mold for 45 to 240 days — a method that Tesar developed with Chef Adam Perry Lang of Los Angeles. According to a press release, the technique produces “a lighter, sweeter flavor, rather than the funky notes” usually resulting from dry aging with black mold. Tesar, a self-described “meat sommelier,” will be on hand to help diners select the perfect meats, which range in price from $25 to $220 and include both aged and non-aged varieties. A regular sommelier will also be on hand to assist diners in selecting from the wine list of more than 300 bottles. Dry aged menu highlights include a 44 Farms burger, 45-day Creekstone bone-in ribeye, 90-day Heartbrand Ranch Akaushi ribeye, and the 240-day 44 Farm 107 bone-in ribeye, among other cuts. Peep the full menus below:

Knife is officially open and operates Sunday through Thursday 5 to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 5 to 11 p.m., with lunch and weekend brunch to roll out in the coming months.

• John Tesar Pays Tribute to Anthony Bourdain at New Plano Steakhouse [EDFW]
• John Tesar’s Steakhouse Knife Announces Plano Opening Date [EDFW]
• John Tesar Is Plotting A Major Expansion For Knife [EDFW]