Discovering a Dallas Design District Restaurant Gem — a Closer Second Look at Foxyco

About a year and a half ago, an uber modern, mid-century style restaurant popped up on Riverfront Boulevard in the Dallas Design District. Located among several bail bond shops and auto parts stores, the sleek 3,000 foot space stands out with its sharp black exterior and italicized “Foxyco” sign.

Chef Jon Stevens opened Foxyco at 921 N. Riverfront Boulevard as an American wood fired grill and bar in 2018. The California-native had already owned Stock & Barrel in Bishop Arts for four years and when the opportunity to open a second spot in Dallas arrived, he and his wife, MG (Melissa Green) Stevens, took it.

“We wanted to celebrate what the neighborhood was all about,” Stevens tells PaperCity.

A Jackson Pollock-style splatter paint mural takes over an entire wall in the restaurant. This was created by Hatsumi Kuzuu of Kuzuu Design.

“One day Hatsumi came in and started throwing dog toys with paint on them on the wall,” laughs Stevens. It definitely catches your attention when you enter the space, even more so now that the wall also displays artwork from nearby gallery, ALG Collective.

After starting his culinary career in San Francisco at the age of 19, Stevens moved to Dallas when he had the opportunity to work with chef Chris Ward at The Mercury. He then worked with chefs Kent Rathbun at Abacus and Avner Samuel at Aurora and the original Nosh.

“It was in San Francisco that I learned the fundamentals, but where I really learned how to cook was in Texas,” Stevens says.

Influenced by travel, which he says is about food every time, Stevens notes that his cooking has changed a lot since being in Texas. At Foxyco, he uses wood-burning grills for pretty much everything.

“It’s how we bring flavor to other non-meat dishes,” he says. “It comes from the smoke and coals.”

One of the most popular items on the menu are the grilled globe artichokes. Cooked as whole artichokes, they’re then cooled and cut into four pieces with parmesan and a black truffle aioli for dipping. Other favorite shareable are the Wagyu meatballs and tuna tartare. The meatballs are perfect with spicy tomato mostarda and parmesan aioli.

I could’ve made a meal out of a couple of orders of those. Steven’s tuna tartare was also a favorite with crispy rice and a miso dressing. For someone who doesn’t eat a ton of tartare, I really enjoyed it.

The modern and eclectic menu also offers salads, flatbreads and dishes such as squid ink spaghetti, but it’s the charcoal grill that produces some of the greats. The Wagyu short rib is made sous-vide style, cooked for 72 hours before being charred on the grill. It’s rubbed with espresso and comes with a cauliflower puree, salsa verde, pickled red onion and horseradish.

Stevens says this is definitely a favorite. He also makes a Wagyu double bacon cheeseburger with foxy sauce and comes with truffled parmesan chips that you can find on the Friday lunch menu.

As for the cocktail menu, which was originally created by bar manager Lauren Festa (now at Homewood), it is always evolving for the season. The Sitka is a delightful mix of rogue pink spruce gin, tempus fugit liqueur de violettes, lemon, lavender and thyme. Another that caught my eye was the Foxy with Aviation gin, red Fresno marmalade, domaine de canton, lemon and smoked salt.

A great time to come in and try a couple is during happy hour which runs Tuesdays through Fridays from 4 pm to 7 pm.

It’s an exciting time for the Design District.

“We always saw it as up-and-coming,” Stevens says. And now with the brand new Virgin Hotel up and running, there will be much more reason for tourists and locals alike to visit the neighborhood.