Dallas, TX

How Dee Lincoln Entered Dallas’ Steakhouse Market On Her Own Terms

Published

1 year ago

August 8, 2023

How Dee Lincoln Entered Dallas’ Steakhouse Market On Her Own Terms

Dallas has a long tradition of over-the-top steakhouses. And Dee Lincoln Prime at The Star in Frisco is no exception. The vast dining room boasts a luxe aesthetic reminiscent of old Hollywood, featuring ornate slatted ceilings, dark wood tones, and gold accents. Banquettes covered in shimmery silver fabric and booths with crushed black velvet add glamour, while a grand glass-enclosed wine library greets visitors with more than 2,000 bottles of fine wine.

The restaurant serves fresh seafood, sushi, a premium Japanese beef program, and prime cuts of steak—including The Cowboy Way, a 35-ounce dry-aged prime tomahawk. And founder Dee Lincoln didn’t earn her famous nickname, “The Queen of Steaks,” by being timid or demure.

The woman behind the famous Del Frisco’s brand is a firecracker who blazed a trail in the male-dominated steakhouse business. Among her numerous accolades is being named the Texas Restaurant Association’s Restaurateur of the Year and earning Restaurant & Institutions magazine’s Ivy Award.

Still, Lincoln says her biggest achievement isn’t an award, the sale of Del Frisco’s for a reported $23 million to a national restaurant chain, or building her personal brand during a 40-year career. Instead, Lincoln says giving birth to her daughter, Bella, in 2000 is what she is most proud of.

“It’s not all fine wine and chandeliers,” says the battle-tested 64-year-old restaurateur. “You don’t get to where I am without a few bumps in the road along the way. But like the old Sinatra song, ‘I’ve found when my chin is on the ground, I pick myself up, dust myself off, and start all over again.’”

Lincoln’s Roots: Dee Lincoln credits her tenacity and can-do attitude to growing up in a household with four brothers.

Lincoln was born in New Orleans and raised in Des Allemands, Louisiana, to a blue-collar family. Her father worked for a drilling company for 30 years and her mother ran local lounges and a club for The Royal Sonesta New Orleans hotel.

Lincoln credits her work ethic to her father, who modeled determination and discipline by performing backbreaking work in the oil fields of eastern Louisiana. Her tenacious spirit, Lincoln says, is the product of growing up with four brothers. “I wasn’t treated any differently because I was a girl,” she says. “My dad always reminded me not to limit myself, and I grew up fostering this unwavering can-do attitude about everything I did.”

When her parents divorced, a teenage Lincoln moved to the New Orleans suburb of Gretna with her mother. That’s where her love of dining flourished. “The Big Easy is known for its fabulous food,” Lincoln says. “I’ve always had a passion for cooking, good food, and big flavors. Growing up in Louisiana, everything is tied to food and wine. It brings people together.”

Without the financial means to attend college after high school, Lincoln found a job with an offshore marinetime company. At 22, she married George Lincoln, who ran a tugboat business. She eventually found her way into hospitality, where her personality was tailor-made for the front of the house. “What I love most about restaurants is that they are a lot like a family,” Lincoln says.

**After Hours:** Dee Lincoln, in 1993, in the storied lounge at Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse on Spring Valley Road.

Then, tragedy struck. In 1988, just eight years into her marriage, Lincoln’s husband was killed in a car accident. She says she relied on her close-knit family and extended restaurant family to continue forward. Looking back, she says her most significant career opportunity came out of this tragedy.

In the early 1980s, Lincoln met her future business partner, Dale Wamstad, in Louisiana. At the time, he was looking to expand a Kansas City steakhouse into New Orleans. In 1989, Lincoln moved to Dallas to open a pair of Del Frisco’s Steakhouses with Wamstad. She oversaw the restaurant’s Belt Line Road venue as part of the business arrangement, while he led the Lemmon Avenue location. Both locations were successful, grossing total revenue of more than $3.5 million each. By 1993, the partners decided to co-found the iconic Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse on Spring Valley Road.

“Those early Del Frisco days were a lot of fun,” Lincoln recalls. “I look at how it all came together, with the two of us co-founding this beautiful, independent, freestanding steakhouse. We had people coming in from all over the country—Los Angeles, Chicago, and even New York—to dine with us. That’s when we really got on the map.”

The next two years, Lincoln says, were financially robust, so much so that it attracted the attention of Jamie Coulter and Wichita-based Lone Star Steakhouses, which was looking to expand its national footprint. After an ownership buyout in 1995, Lincoln stayed on with the company as vice president of operations of Lone Star, while Wamstad left to pursue other ventures.

Coulter was her mentor from 1995 until he died in 2022, Lincoln says. “What I always admired about Jamie was that he worked his way up in the industry,” she says. “He was a very hands-on leader. He grew Lone Star from eight locations to almost 400 at its heyday.”

Together, the duo opened steakhouses in four national markets over the next dozen years. A highlight was Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse’s debut in New York. Opening in 2000, the buildout of the three-story, 16,000-square-foot location overlooking Rockefeller Center cost more than $15 million.

“New York is another level,” Lincoln says. “We were competing against some of the titans of the industry at the time.” The brazen Texan proved she meant business; New York City is where she famously received her iconic nickname as “Queen of Steaks,” being so dubbed by the late co-owner of Sparks Steakhouse, Pat Cetta.

**Star Power:** Dee Lincoln’s friendship with the Jones family dates back to the 1980s and the early Del Frisco days.

In 2009, Lincoln developed a wine bar concept for a space on the silver suite-level of the new AT&T Stadium, which offers bubbles by the glass and fine wines on tap. She went on to parlay her decades-long relationship with the Jones family, which began in her early Del Frisco days, into the current Dee Lincoln Prime location at The Star in Frisco. “Every single steakhouse in the country was jockeying to be part of The Star,” Lincoln says. But Lincoln had a fan in Dallas Cowboys owner, president, and general manager, Jerry Jones.

“When we were conceptualizing The Star in Frisco, we thought we could build a ‘star within The Star’ with Dee,” he says. “With her pure tenacity, enthusiastic spirit, and relentless work ethic—there are few like her. What she has built has been a complete honor to witness and work alongside her all these years as a treasured friend and trusted business partner.” The venue on Winning Drive is on track to surpass $14 million in revenue this year, with alcohol sales surpassing $500,000 in the month of May alone. But complacency and success don’t work for Lincoln. In 2020, she successfully petitioned two Frisco mayors and the city council for approval to add Havana Dee’s, a 50-seat speakeasy lounge that allows cigar smoking, to her eponymous restaurant.

Lincoln admits there have been hiccups along the way: She founded Lincoln Steak & Burger Bar in 2013; it shuttered within two years. (“It was too casual to be called a steakhouse and too pricey to be a burger joint,” she recalls.) A short-lived wine and champagne bar concept at The Crescent in Uptown debuted in 2010 in the space that is now Tipsy Alchemist.

**Full Circle:** Dee Lincoln’s daughter, Bella, now 22, is following in her footsteps and entering the hospitality business.

But the Dee Lincoln brand marches on. Lincoln is proud that her daughter, now 22, is pursuing a career in hospitality. Lincoln also developed a Napa Valley private label partnership and entered the highly contested tequila sector. She also is conceptualizing a high-end, private-label bourbon venture and a possible expansion of a second location of Dee Lincoln Prime. “Next, I need to make a really outstanding bourbon,” she says. “We’re seeking out partnerships that make sense for our brand, and we’re fighting off newer competition to stay relevant with our customers.

“That’s exactly what gets me excited and keeps me getting out of bed each morning,” Lincoln adds. “Heck, I hope I’ll be doing this well into my 80s.”

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Dallas, TX

Cowboys coaching search: Could Jason Witten replace Mike McCarthy?

Published

5 hours ago

January 15, 2025

Press Room

Cowboys coaching search: Could Jason Witten replace Mike McCarthy?

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is exploring options for a new head coach following the departure of Mike McCarthy, and one name generating buzz is franchise legend Jason Witten. Known as the best tight end in Cowboys history, Witten has long been a favorite of Jones and is being considered for the high-profile role.

McCarthy and the Cowboys parted ways after five seasons, ending a tenure that included three consecutive 12-5 records but just one playoff win. The coaching search is officially underway, and Witten’s name has surfaced alongside other contenders.

Witten, an 11-time Pro Bowler and the franchise leader in games starts, receptions, and receiving yards, has deep ties to Dallas. While his coaching experience is limited to leading a private high school team to a state championship, his leadership qualities and familiarity with the organization make him a compelling, albeit unconventional, option.

If hired, Witten would follow a path similar to Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell, another former Cowboys tight end. Campbell transitioned to the NFL coaching ranks after years of assistant coaching experience, a step Witten has yet to take. However, Jones has a history of making bold decisions, and Witten’s intimate understanding of the Cowboys’ culture could give him an edge.

While some question whether Witten’s high school coaching background is sufficient preparation for the NFL, Jones values loyalty and passion for the franchise, qualities Witten embodies. His connection with the Cowboys and leadership on and off the field could make him an intriguing choice to guide the team into its next chapter.

Jones’ next coach will be his ninth. The first four were first-time NFL head coaches, starting with Jimmy Johnson when Jones bought the team in 1989. The former University of Miami coach won back-to-back Super Bowls before an acrimonious split with Jones, his college teammate at Arkansas.

Three of Jones’ past four hires had NFL head coaching experience, including Super Bowl winners Bill Parcells and McCarthy. The exception was former Dallas quarterback Jason Garrett, the longest-tenured coach under Jones at nine-plus seasons.

The Cowboys have yet to release updates on the search, but Jason Witten remains a name to watch as the process unfolds.

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Dallas, TX

Dereck Lively Gets Key Ankle Injury Update For Dallas Mavericks

Published

13 hours ago

January 15, 2025

Press Room

Dereck Lively Gets Key Ankle Injury Update For Dallas Mavericks

About four minutes into the Dallas Mavericks’ recent contest against the Denver Nuggets, starting center Dereck Lively left the contest with an ankle injury.

Evidently, the Mavericks are already dealing with massive injuries to Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving. Those two superstars lead the team and Lively is right up there as one of the more impactful players on the team.

However, just one day after the injury, Lively has already gotten X-ray updates back on his sprained right ankle, and it’s a bit of a relief for Mavericks fans. Chris Haynes provided the recent update.

“Dallas Mavericks center Dereck Lively II received an X-ray on his sprained right ankle and results were negative. No timeline established as of now,” Haynes reported.

Sources: Dallas Mavericks center Dereck Lively II received an X-ray on his sprained right ankle and results were negative. No timeline established as of now.
— Chris Haynes (@ChrisBHaynes) January 15, 2025

The Mavericks are struggling to stay healthy, though doing so by April is the main goal and it’s just January. Lively has had issues remaining on the hardwood for the club in his inaugural two seasons, and it’s leaving some fans concerned.

READ MORE: Latest Timeline for Luka Doncic’s Return to Dallas Mavericks Revealed

Stick with CommanderGameday and the Locked On Commanders podcast for more FREE coverage of the Washington Commanders throughout the 2024 season.

Follow Kade on Twitter.

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Dallas, TX

In messy city manager search, Dallas council failed in its fundamental job

Published

21 hours ago

January 15, 2025

Press Room

In messy city manager search, Dallas council failed in its fundamental job

The Dallas city manager search has unspooled in the chaotic style we’ve come to expect from this City Council. There was the ho-hum recruitment brochure draft featuring the wrong skyline. There was the council civil war over the timeline of the search and the flow of information about candidates. And nothing says “we’ve got our act together” like eleventh-hour candidate interviews the day before Christmas Eve.

When two original semifinalists and a former Dallas city official dropped out of the race, no one was surprised.

We wish the next city manager the best of luck because no amount of talent and hard work can overcome a fundamental flaw of this search, and that is the lack of formal, measurable goals by the City Council. Our city is about to hire its CEO, but its board of directors has no metrics to set expectations or hold that person accountable for the most important job in Dallas.

If you want to understand how dysfunctional the situation is, start with the fact that the council’s appointees — the city manager, city attorney, city secretary and city auditor — haven’t had a performance review in more than two years. Our last city manager, T.C. Broadnax, had his last evaluation in August 2022. He left in May 2024. Interim City Manager Kimberly Bizor Tolbert, the front-runner for the job, hasn’t had an evaluation since her appointment last spring.

The council has hired a consultant over the years to help conduct the evaluations of its appointees. But no consultant can fix this council’s main problem, and that is its inability to come together to develop a consensus around four or five priorities and the metrics to measure progress in those areas.

Even when performance reviews for council appointees were happening, the process was broken. The council’s consultant called council members individually to solicit feedback, with the consultant identifying “themes” shared verbally with the council, and with no particular comments attributed to specific people, according to a 2022 memorandum from Management Partners, the firm hired to do the work. The city manager and other appointees were “invited” to prepare a report on their accomplishments and goals for next year, with the potential for “refinements” based on council input.

There was no written report from the performance evaluation, other than any goals reports produced by the appointees.

It’s a shockingly wishy-washy approach to evaluating an employee, let alone a C-suite executive.

And don’t expect even a veneer of transparency for taxpayers. Last year, we requested Broadnax’s goal reports and were told by the city that there were no responsive records, only to hear a council member remind her colleagues last week that Broadnax produced a memo with his goals after his last performance review in 2022. City staff failed to release this memo in response to our request. Such a document should be public under the Texas Public Information Act.

Now, on the brink of hiring its next city manager, the council is panicking about the fact that it hasn’t evaluated its council appointees in a long time and that it has no measurable goals for any of them. The council committee whose job it is to codify the annual review process can’t seem to agree on how to move forward.

Mayor Pro Tem Tennell Atkins chairs the committee. In a December meeting, he led a discussion on next steps to resume performance reviews of council appointees. Council members learned that their previous consulting firm, Management Partners, had been acquired by Baker Tilly, the company that is leading the messy city manager search. But the woman who had worked closely with the council on previous performance reviews was no longer associated with either company.

The committee gave city staff mixed signals on how to proceed. Some council members said they wanted to continue working with the previous consultant. Others asked to hear from Baker Tilly. Some said they were dissatisfied with the previous consultant or concerned about Baker Tilly and wanted to hear from other vendors. Council members said to move quickly.

By the time the council committee picked the conversation back up this month, confusion reigned. Baker Tilly prepared a presentation that described a performance review process very similar to what the council had with its previous partner. Atkins indicated that the council was moving forward with Baker Tilly using an existing contract, and other committee members pushed back. Meanwhile, an assistant city manager and an assistant human resources director couldn’t answer a council member’s simple question about when the council appointees were last evaluated.

“Yes, we are overdue for these reviews, but I think that they should be pursued seriously with the appropriate time periods involved,” said council member Paul Ridley. “I don’t think we should out of convenience select someone who is doing other work for the city at the present time.”

Council member Jesse Moreno asked whether Baker Tilly would have a conflict of interest in facilitating the performance review of an executive the firm helped hire. A representative tried to assuage Moreno, but he is right to bring that up, given that Baker Tilly would be required to conduct a new search at no cost to Dallas if the city manager doesn’t last a year. Council members should be skeptical. (Keep in mind it was Baker Tilly that produced the hiring brochure for Dallas city manager. The cover photo was a shining image of the Houston skyline.)

The council now seems poised to consider other consultants for the performance evaluations. Council members should do their due diligence instead of repeating their sloppiness for the sake of comfort.

Hire a consultant, if you must, to moderate the conversation or offer pointers, but a management firm can’t do the hard work for you.

Outgoing council member Jaynie Schultz said it best: “This problem is ours as a council. We have not done our work. And so we can try spending all of our time diverting all the problem and the blame on Baker Tilly. … The delay is us, 100% us.”

The council’s job is not to run the city but to set clear, measurable expectations for the people it hires to do that. It’s telling that council members have relied on a consultant to remind them to perform a fundamental duty.

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