Sudden Shuttering of Superstar Chef’s North Texas Restaurant Just the Latest Shakeup in Ambitious Frisco/Plano Food Scene

A Mediterranean restaurant powered by celebrity chef clout has abruptly shuttered at The Star in Frisco. Zaytinya, from lauded chef José Andrés, originally opened in Washington D.C. and then debuted a new restaurant only 21 months ago at the new North Texas entertainment district.

Zaytinya is just one spot in the vast new restaurant scene that has seen several closures in the Frisco and Legacy West Plano areas over the past few years. Particularly, Legacy Hall has see a ton of flux with openings and closings. And The Star has also opened several new restaurants in the past month including, Wahlburgers, Heirloom Haul and Trophy Park USA.

Zaytina — an upscale-casual restaurant — was known for offering an assortment of Turkish, Greek, and Lebanese dishes like small plates and mezze. The Michelin-starred chef crafted a vast menu of spreads, crudos & cures, flat breads, soups, salads, vegetable mezze, artisanal cheese, seafood mezze, and meat & poultry mezze. A specialty cocktail menu also emphasized the Turkish and Mediterranean cultures including drinks such as the Turkish Storm, Za’atar Margarita, and 3 PM in Istanbul.

A massive success in D.C., it’s surprising and disappointing that Zaytinya didn’t work out in Frisco, which is currently booming with new dining ventures. Albeit, mostly burger, pizza and sports bars, as the area is uber Dallas Cowboys land — and the home of the team’s world headquarters.

Fortunately, it looks like Zaytinya has a comeback plan for the city of Dallas.

A statement from Andrés’ ThinkFoodGroup reads:

“We’re incredibly grateful to our dedicated employees and for our friends and neighbors in Frisco and the Star community, who have been extremely supportive of the introduction of the Zaytinya brand in Texas.  We’ve enjoyed being part of such a dynamic and exciting location like The Star and wish them continued success in the future. We’ll share details of a new location in Dallas soon.”

Andrés wasn’t available for an interview to expand on the reason for Zaytinya’s closure or offer details of a possible new location, but we’ll be keeping our ears open for the new restaurant rumblings.