Instagram Star Salt Bae Says His Dallas Steakhouse Is Opening ‘Very Soon’

After more than two years in the works, Instagram star Nusret Gokce (better known as “Salt Bae”) has announced that his Dallas restaurant is finally nearing an opening date.

The chef has been teasing details for a major expansion of his Turkish steakhouse Nusr-Et via Instagram over the past couple of days while touring locations for a new restaurant in Boston. In a post to his Instagram story, Gokce promises that the Dallas location of Nusr-Et will be opening “very soon,” along with outposts in Miami, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and New York.

Scope out the proof for yourself below:

Back in October of 2018, Eater first reported that Gokce was scoping out locations in Dallas for his steakhouse, and he ultimately landed at the fancy high-rise building at 1900 Pearl Street in the Dallas Arts District. It seems like Salt Bae’s arrival in Dallas has been a little bit delayed — in April of this year, a sales tax permit was filed for the restaurant, and a “help wanted” ad on Facebook indicated that it was expected to open sometime in “summer 2019.”

For the unfamiliar, Gokce rose to fame after videos of his unique steak preparation techniques and dramatic flourish in his salt-sprinkling technique went viral. The first location of Nusr-Et opened in Gokce’s home country of Turkey in 2010, and has since expanded to locations in New York and Miami. Those steakhouses have earned mixed-to-negative reviews since their debuts.

How Gokce will be received in Dallas remains to be seen, especially considering that the city is littered with stellar steakhouses. The chef is also not an uncontroversial figure. In 2018, protesters picketed outside of his Miami restaurant over a dinner he hosted for authoritarian Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. He has also been named in lawsuits related to allegations of wage theft and debt issues with the Turkish group that owns his chain of steakhouses.

No one really knows what Gokce means by “very soon,” but stay tuned for more details on when Nusr-Et will make its Dallas debut.

• ‘Salt Bae’’s Turkish Steakhouse Looks Like It’s Opening in Dallas Soon [EDFW]