Three New Eateries Head to Legacy Hall Despite Notable Restaurateurs Jumping Ship

Three new eateries are headed to Plano’s Legacy Hall on the heels of some high-profile restaurateurs pulling out of the multi-story food development. Eight local restaurant owners, including recently departed chef John Tesar, have left the food hall over the last year with pointed critiques in tow, causing Legacy Hall to have some spots to fill. The new arrivals include:

• A stall for Philly cheesesteaks, Haskell & Worth, which will debut next week with rolls topped with ribeye steak or chicken, onions, peppers, mushrooms, cheese, and sauces.
• Shayna’s Place, a Rhode Island sandwich spot that employees people with special needs, which debuted locally in Sylvan Thirty last fall. This spring, Shayna’s Place will bring an abbreviated menu to Legacy Hall including The Vinny’s Kitchen grinder sandwich topped with prosciutto, provolone, hot peppers, and Shayna’s dressing, plus vegetarian and vegan options like Shayna’s Avocado Toast and coffee beverages.
• A bakery called SusieCakes, which is opening its fourth DFW location for colorful frosting-filled cupcakes, cookies, pies, and more at Legacy Hall this spring.

Earlier this month, outspoken chef John Tesar removed Knife Burger from the project, citing a lack of parking, “terrible management,” and an inflated estimate of the number of diners who actually eat at Legacy Hall on a given day, suggesting in a Facebook post that he was intentionally deceived by Front Burner Restaurants, which operates Legacy Hall.

Tesar followed in the footsteps of seven other local eateries that have left over the past year, including the healthy bowl eatery from Smoke’s Tim Byres, Glazed Donut Works, and Chez Dip by Tom Fleming who echoed Tesar’s claim that Front Burner overstated the number of daily diners at Legacy Hall. Fleming and Tesar also claim that stall owners’ revenue-sharing agreement with Front Burner makes it difficult for operators to turn a profit there.

Uno Immanivong, who operates Red Stix Asian street food stall in Legacy Hall, agrees that Legacy Hall has a higher overhead than many other food developments in the area, leading to lower profit margins for operators, but she tells Eater that vendors know what they’re signing up for when they agree to be part of the project.

Stay tuned for more info on the comings and goings of Legacy Hall vendors, and look for Haskell & Worth to open on February 28 with daily operating hours from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

• John Tesar’s Knife Burger Departs Legacy Hall [EDFW]
• Tim Byres Gets Into the Healthy Bowl Game With New Legacy Hall Stall [EDFW]
• Shayna’s Place, Sylvan Thirty’s Sweet New Sandwich Spot, Debuts This Week [EDFW]