Dallas, TX
La Casita Is Moving Into Dallas’ Flagship Half Price Books Cafe
La Casita Coffee, the coffee shop from James Beard-nominated pastry chef Maricsa Trejo, will join the Half Price Books flagship store on Northwest Highway in early summer as the bookstore’s new cafe. It’ll replace Black Forest Coffee, which moved out of Half Price Books last summer after more than 20 years.
This is a huge step for La Casita, which has locations in Richardson and Rowlett and a garden in Frisco. Trejo has been a fan of Half Price Books for years and knows the cafe location is famous among North Texans.
“This is a wonderland for any kid or any adult who loves to read, and I was like, ‘Man, it would be so cool to be part of that,’” Trejo says. “It’s been a dream come true.”
The new location will serve coffee, matcha, and tea-based drinks like at their Rowlett coffee shop and bakery locations. (Not to fangirl too much, but those Turkish lattes are quite good.) Pastries and bread from the James Beard-nominated bakery in Richardson, of course, will be abundant. The coffee shop will have those sought-after cruffins, croissants, cinnamon rolls, and more lining the displays.
Trejo says La Casita Coffee will serve only coffee and pastries for the first few months. Then, brunch and lunch will be added. The La Casita Bakeshop in Richardson recently launched a new brunch menu, and it’s received impeccable feedback.
Half Price Books’ owners have added a patio for outdoor seating, and renovations to the cafe itself are expected to last two or three more months, Trejo says.
Once permitting allows, the shop will add a tiki bar called La Tiki Paisa, which will serve cocktails and dinner, a first for La Casita concepts. The flagship store is open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Trejo says she wanted to offer more than just coffee and pastries throughout the day.
“People spend hours there, and they have book signings and author readings,” she says. “So [the Half Price Books owners are] really excited to have a space that will cater and do little cupcakes and things like that.”
Paisa is short for paisano, which means countryman in Spanish. It’s a hint at the tiki bar menu, which has Mexican, Pacific Islander, and Asian flavors. The bar will serve mezcal and tequila cocktails, plus food items such as kimchi carbonara, chicken pibil with pickles and tortillas, beef tongue buns, and sourdough with bone marrow. It’ll be a sit-down restaurant with plated meals and desserts, Trejo says. When it’s up and running, the plan is to close the coffee shop for an hour and transform the place into a Mexican tiki bar. A neon sign inside the shop will let customers know when tiki hours start.
It might seem like a pivot, but Trejo and her husband Alex Henderson come from dinner service worlds. This will be their first project since getting married last fall.
“My husband, he’s been a chef his whole life, and he gave up doing that to be a baker for three years with me. We’re just now starting to do food. All of that success has been both of us, but he’s been coming up with all those menus,” Trejo says. “I’m most excited about doing this with Alex and sharing our love for food with the rest of Dallas.”
La Casita Coffee and La Tiki Paisa, 5803 E. Northwest Hwy.
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Nataly Keomoungkhoun
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Nataly Keomoungkhoun joined D Magazine as the online dining editor in 2022. She previously worked at the Dallas Morning News,…
Dallas, TX
Cowboys news: Former Dallas 1st-round pick weighs in on who should be next DC
Every offseason it seems like I see a linebacker’s name pop up that the Cowboys need to get to help the defense. This year it may be Quincy Williams. Could he be the guy the middle of the defense is missing? I’ve seen some reactions, and when you dig into the type of player he is the coverage numbers may make you second guess. And honestly, I get it because it doesn’t look pretty. When you actually dig into how Quincy Williams plays, and how he is used, the conversation changes fast. So let’s talk it through like fans, not scouts trying to sound smart.
The First Thing You Need to Know: This Dude Lives in the Box
Quincy Williams is not a coverage linebacker, and he never has been. He will not be floating around in space trying to run with slot receivers or carry tight ends down the seams. When you look at the snap data, it’s not even debatable. He spent hundreds of snaps in the box, very few on the edge, only a handful in the slot, and almost none on the outside.
That tells you exactly how defenses should play him. He is there to attack downhill. If you judge this man based on coverage stats alone, you’re grading a fish on how well it climbs trees. How Quincy Williams Actually Plays
What I like about Quincy Williams is simple: when he sees it, he goes. There’s no dancing, no waiting for someone else to make the play. He triggers fast and shows up with bad intentions. Is he perfect? Absolutely not, but were any of the Cowboys linebackers last season even above average.
He will miss a tackle here and there because of his aggressive play style, but I’ll take that every day over a linebacker who catches blocks and gets pancaked. What I found even more impressive was he lines up all over the box. He can play weak side, strong side, and take inside looks, but he rarely just sat in the middle calling things out. He’s a flow-and-hunt guy, so the Cowboys would need to let him scrape, chase, and hit. That is where his game makes sense.
Not Much of a Pass Rusher
This may be another area where people will get twisted. Yes, you will see him walked up near the line sometimes, but he’s not an edge rusher. He is not winning with moves or stacking sacks. Those snaps are about pressure and confusion to make the offense account for him, mess with protection calls, and let the defense work around it. He’s a blitzer, not a technician, and if used incorrectly, it looks ugly.
Dallas, TX
Man dies after dog attack in Dallas home, police say
A man has died after a dog attacked him inside a home in North Texas on Thursday afternoon, officials say.
Dallas police officers responded to a call in the 4100 block of Esmalda Drive at about 3 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 7. Investigators determined the man was attacked by a dog inside a residence in the 4100 block of Pringle Drive.
The victim was taken to a local hospital, where he died from his injuries, police said.
According to a press release, the Dallas Police Department is treating the case as a homicide.
Police ask anyone with information to contact Detective Kenneth Castoral at 469‑781‑1261 or by email at kenneth.castoral@dallaspolice.gov.
Dallas, TX
Every Dallas Restaurant That Closed in 2025
Photos by Allison McLean
According to the Chinese New Year, 2025 was the year of the snake, and Dallas shed more than its fair share of restaurants and bars.
We actually started off on a high note with the closure of Salt Bae’s restaurant, Nusr-Et, which had the audacity to charge upwards of $1,000 for a steak.
After that, local favorites started dropping like flies. Many leases seemed to come to an end with an increase in demand for space sending rent skyrocketing. Along with rising food costs, local restaurants are taking a hit.
It’s not all bad, though. Peppered into the mix are some restaurants and bars in Dallas that closed, but were remodeled and reimagined into new concepts. Others are looking for new spaces with lower rent. The rest, however, are gone for good.
The beginning of this year will likely be no better than the last, and it’s as good a time as ever to get out and support your favorite local spots. Money tight? We know where to go.
These are all the Dallas restaurants that closed in 2025.
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