The Arrival of Instagram Star Salt Bae’s Long-Awaited Dallas Steakhouse Is Imminent

After nearly three years in the works, virally popular steakhouse Nusr-Et is finally preparing for its Dallas debut.

A representative from the restaurant was a little cagey on the details, but told Eater that the restaurant is set to open its doors at 1900 Pearl Street by November 16, though the opening could happen a week earlier, on November 9. Job listings posted to Indeed and other hiring websites indicate that Nusr-Et is currently staffing up for its debut, hiring everything from front-of-house staffers to line cooks and a sommelier.

For those who are unfamiliar, Nusr-Et went viral in 2017 after videos of its owner and namesake, Turkish restaurateur Nusret Gökçe, dramatically sprinkling coarse salt onto giant hunks of beef blew up on the internet. Gökçe, who is somehow still capitalizing on the success of three-year-old viral videos, has since opened multiple outposts of the restaurant in the United States, including New York, Miami, and most recently, Boston.

Pretty much all of these debuts, though, have come with a lot of controversy. In 2018, protesters gathered outside of the Nusr-Et steakhouse in Miami, slamming Gökçe for serving authoritarian Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. He’s also been sued for wage theft and improper tip pooling in Miami. Most recently, his brand new Boston steakhouse was shut down temporarily by the city’s health department for opening without the proper permits, along with an “ongoing and repeated failure to adhere to COVID-19 public safety standards.”

Food critics across the country haven’t exactly been impressed with Nusr-Et, either. In 2018, New York Post critic Steve Cuozzo called the restaurant as “public rip-off number one,” while GQ critic Joshua David Stein described Nusr-Et’s steaks as “mundane, somewhat tough, and rather bland.”

The Dallas steakhouse has also been plagued with delays, well before the COVID-19 pandemic began. The chef first visited Dallas in 2017 to scope out locations before eventually landing on the Arts District. In December 2019, Gökçe said that the restaurant was opening “very soon.”

Stay tuned for more concrete details on Nusr-Et’s Dallas arrival.

• ‘Salt Bae’ Will Bring His Turkish Steakhouse to Dallas’ Arts District [EDFW]