Most people in Dallas’ Preston Hollow neighborhood have likely wondered in recent weeks what’s going into the old Fernando’s restaurant on Midway Road near Central Market.
Construction crews have been busy at the site, working to transform it into Cantina la Rosa, a Tex-Mex concept from the man behind barbecue joint Smoky Rose in East Dallas.
Restaurateur David Tripplehorn Cash, who opened Smoky Rose in 2016 and is co-owner of Goodwins, said Cantina la Rosa is on track to open by mid-February of next year.
Cantina la Rosa will open in Preston Hollow in February 2026.
Courtesy of David Cash
Eat Drink D-FW
Cash initially planned to open the restaurant last year in the former Dallas Eagle bar near Maple Avenue and Inwood Road, but that property became tied up in litigation, he said.
When he learned Fernando’s Mexican Cuisine was closing its Preston Hollow location, he jumped at the opportunity to secure the space for the Tex-Mex restaurant he long wanted to open.
Cash is opening Cantina la Rosa with first-time restaurateur Cameron Levine, along with Smoky Rose’s executive chef Rolando Garcia and Smoky Rose co-owner Oscar Aroche. Garcia will be the Tex-Mex restaurant’s executive chef and Aroche the general manager.
Several things were non-negotiables for Cash with this concept: chips and salsa made in-house, separation between the bar and dining room, and a large patio.
The covered patio will be able to seat 80 to 90 people and will have drop-down siding and air conditioning so it can be used year-round, Cash said.
On a recent weekday afternoon, as Cash and Levine stood where the patio will soon take shape and discussed the restaurant’s build out, a handful of passersby stopped to see what was opening there.
“This is all day long around here,” Cash said.
Neighbors are excited to hear another restaurant is opening, and that it will be open for lunch, Cash and Levine said. Restaurants in the area are few, they added, especially ones serving lunch.
Cantina la Rosa’s menu will have all the Tex-Mex classics, Cash said, but with a lighter approach. And of course, he said, the chips and salsa will be made in-house.
“You’ve got to have a good margarita, you’ve got to have good chips and salsa and you’ve got to have good queso,” he said.
Cantina la Rosa will be at 4347 W. Northwest Highway #100, Dallas. It is expected to open in February 2026.