Little Heron, a bakery in downtown Dallas’ Fountain Place, will sell breakfast, lunch and sweets like this hummingbird cake.
Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
Look toward “the city’s greatest skyscraper,” as The News’ Pulitzer-winning Architecture Critic Mark Lamster called downtown’s iconic Fountain Place. Near the bottom of the pointy glass building is a bakery and lunch spot called Little Heron.
Opening May 20, 2026, this little gem will sell croissants, cookies, coffee, pizza and grab ’n go sandwiches on house-made baguettes.
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A selection of pastries show Little Heron’s croissants and cookies. The restaurant opens in Dallas May 20, 2026.
Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
Executive Chef Joseph Rolling (left) and head pastry chef Daniel Rosales made the menu at Little Heron and Cypress.
Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
The Chinese chopped salad is available at lunch at Little Heron when it opens in Dallas May 20, 2026.
Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
You do have to go looking for it, as Little Heron is tucked inside Fountain Place’s courtyard. It was created for the office workers in the 60-story Fountain Place and the residents in the 45-story AMLI next door, but Little Heron shouldn’t be a neighborhood secret. Its location near the Perot Museum of Nature and Science, the Dallas Aquarium and the Dallas Museum of Art makes it an easy stop for those downtown or in Victory Park, the West End or the Design District. You just have to know it’s there.
The spread of sweet and savory items is made in part by 27-year-old head pastry chef Daniel Rosales.
Chef Daniel Rosales slices a sausage croissant at Little Heron, Tuesday, April 7, 2026, in Dallas.
Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
First things first: Rosales makes a killer chocolate chip cookie. It’s probably the simplest recipe in this young chef’s repertoire. Each cookie is soft and chewy on the inside from light brown sugar, and gooey from Belgian chocolate disks.
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“There is nothing more disappointing to me than receiving a chocolate chip cookie where you don’t get chocolate in every bite,” Rosales said. This one delivers. English sea salt over each golden-brown cookie adds a “shock” that tempers the richness of the cookie, he said.
Little Heron is designed to be a breakfast-and-lunch spot — the type of place where businesspeople might take a quick meeting or neighbors could stop in for La Colombe Coffee. Customers can buy beer and wine to go.
Find Little Heron at Fountain Place in downtown Dallas.
Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
For breakfast, the menu includes sausage wrapped in a croissant topped with hot honey and sesame seeds; and a biscuits-and-gravy pastry pocket. (Think Southern-style biscuits with cream gravy, no fork needed.)
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For lunch, visitors will find light options like a chopped chicken salad with cabbage, mandarin oranges and wontons; and a rainbow salad with butternut squash, cauliflower and green goddess dressing. Pizzas are likely to catch customers’ eyes, as they are displayed on a long counter and available by the slice or a whole pie. Options include spinach-artichoke with stracciatella, classic margherita and a meat-lovers with capicola, soppressata and pepperoni.
A focaccia pizza with spinach and artichoke is an option at Little Heron in downtown Dallas.
Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
Also at lunchtime, customers will find French-inspired sandwiches on house-made baguettes made by Rosales. The triple-cream brie with turkey and quince jam is at the top of my list. Others include Caprese on focaccia and one called Le Parisien: jambon de Paris, butter and cornichon on a baguette.
Sandwiches at Little Heron are served on baguettes made on-site.
Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
Rosales’ pastries sit pretty in a window in Fountain Place, one of the ways it’ll dare passersby to stop in. Don’t sleep on the chocolate chip cookie, as we’ve established. Better get a lavender sphere croissant, too. Rosales also makes bonbons — a solid Dallas choice now that Kate Weiser Chocolate has closed.
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We’re impressed with Rosales, who loved the TV show Cake Boss as a kid and started baking at age 14. He’s since been on baking shows on the Food Network and on Fox, and his custom cakes are so impressive, we wouldn’t be surprised to see him on Netflix’s Is it Cake?
Daniel Rosales, head pastry chef at Little Heron and Cypress, makes custom cakes.
Elías Valverde II/The Dallas Morning News
Little Heron was created to be a “natural extension” of the new restaurant next door, Cypress, said general manager David Bachrach. Cypress is a members-only club created as an amenity for Fountain Place’s office workers and tenants — and if you haven’t heard much about this brand-new place, it’s because it’s not open to the public.
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Not a member? The next best thing is to stop into Little Heron, where the sandwiches and pastries have the same starpower, no entrance fee required.
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Little Heron is at 1800 Freeman St., Dallas. Expected to open May 20, 2026.