<\/p>\n
At dinnertime, Walkers’ on Dallas’ Greenville Avenue has a small menu of just over a dozen items, including\u00a0Australian Wagyu beef tartare.<\/p>\n
El\u00edas Valverde II\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
A few weeks before siblings Rosemary and Russell Walker opened their first Dallas restaurant, Walkers\u2019<\/a>, their mother died unexpectedly. But\u00a0Kathy Walbert Walker made a mark on Walkers’ even before it debuts on Greenville Avenue on June 19, 2026.<\/p>\n As Rosemary and Russell Walker tell it, their mom was the type of woman who set the table and lit candles for dinner at home in Oklahoma City, even if the family was eating takeout. A phenomenal cook and Francophile, she insisted on a proper meal. She made ratatouille on a weekday.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rosemary and Russell have been trying to open a restaurant together in East Dallas for three years \u2014 a slow process of reinventing a two-suite space into the type of sandwich shop and\u00a0wine bar they both wished was already in Dallas.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Their mother\u2019s spirit \u201clives through this restaurant,\u201d Russell said, removing his baseball cap as we sit for an interview inside the space in early June, then a construction zone. His mother would be embarrassed he didn\u2019t take it off sooner.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe really just wanted this place to feel like a great dinner party,\u201d Rosemary said.<\/p>\n On the left side of Walkers’, customers can buy wine and take it home or sit at the bar\u00a0and order a glass from co-owner and sommelier Rosemary Walker’s list.<\/p>\n El\u00edas Valverde II\/The Dallas Morning News Walkers\u2019 in East Dallas has a mural behind the bar.<\/p>\n El\u00edas Valverde II\/The Dallas Morning News Walkers’, a market, wine bar and restaurant in Dallas, also sells merch.<\/p>\n El\u00edas Valverde II\/The Dallas Morning News The selection of grocery items at Walkers\u2019 in Dallas were hand-picked by Rosemary Walker, the co-owner.<\/p>\n El\u00edas Valverde II\/The Dallas Morning News Matchboxes are seen near the entrance at Walkers\u2019 in East Dallas.<\/p>\n El\u00edas Valverde II\/The Dallas Morning News Cider pop tomatoes atop lemon curd are one of chef Aldon Reyes’ dishes at Walkers’ in Dallas.<\/p>\n El\u00edas Valverde II\/The Dallas Morning News A hat and wine opener are for sale at Walkers’ in Dallas.<\/p>\n El\u00edas Valverde II\/The Dallas Morning News Walkers’ market opens at 11 a.m. Wednesdays through Sundays in Dallas. The wine bar opens at 4 p.m., with the restaurant following at 5 p.m.<\/p>\n El\u00edas Valverde II\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n The intentionally small dinner menu with p\u00e2t\u00e9 en cro\u00fbte ($26) and beef tartare ($23) is what will lure Dallasites to Walkers\u2019 in the evenings. Yet neighbors who live on Lower Greenville are already buzzing about walking their families to the market and grab-and-go sandwich shop that opens at 11 a.m.<\/p>\n Here are three snapshots of Walkers\u2019, in a collage: Customers can grab a pastrami sandwich on a square slice of housemade focaccia from the case and go home. Or they can order a glass of Old World wine at the bar, sit on a striped stool and snack on chicken liver mousse. Or they snag a dinner reservation with friends and dine on a half chicken or a Wagyu burger inspired by their favorite London restaurant.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Walkers\u2019 is designed to be \u201ca beautiful experience,\u201d Rosemary said, \u201cbut with no pretension.\u201d<\/p>\n Family and food at Walkers\u2019<\/p>\n Russell\u2019s sister \u201cRosie\u201d is the industry professional behind the restaurant. Yet, opening a restaurant was his idea. A decade ago when he moved to Vickery Place, a neighborhood in East Dallas, he couldn\u2019t understand why the\u00a0city didn\u2019t have more sandwich shops.<\/p>\n He laughs: \u201cI\u2019ve done nothing but complain about my restaurant experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cI hate a host stand,\u201d he said. It\u2019s a place for customers to congregate uncomfortably during the pivotal first few moments of the restaurant experience, he said. If they were dining at their mother\u2019s home, they\u2019d get a warm welcome as they moved to a beautifully set table.<\/p>\n A painting of Rosemary Walker\u2019s dog as a gargoyle is seen behind the bar at Walkers\u2019 in Dallas. The restaurant, wine bar and market opens on Greenville Avenue on\u00a0June 19, 2026.<\/p>\n El\u00edas Valverde II\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n Rosemary can solve most of Russell\u2019s nitpicks: In 20 years, she\u2019s worked as a\u00a0barista, server, catering manager, general manager, wine director and sommelier. She worked at the NoMad hotel and restaurant in New York and Los Angeles and at Carbone in Dallas<\/a>, among other places.<\/p>\n Russell recently sold his luxury flooring company, BoardHouse Wood.\u00a0<\/p>\n Walkers\u2019 was supposed to be \u201cjust\u201d a sandwich shop, a tidy answer to Russell\u2019s complaint. The short sandwich menu ranges from a cold ham and cheese to an Italian to steak with mojo verde, tomato conserva and gruyere. But also in Walkers’ market, customers will find grocery staples like cheese, charcuterie, eggs and butter, plus wine and pantry favorites like jams and hot sauces Rosemary drove to Austin to pick up.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The left side of Walkers\u2019 is a mix of \u201cthings they make and things they love,\u201d the siblings said. It\u2019s bisected by a rainbow-shaped wine bar. On the right is the New American restaurant, open evenings only with a menu from chef Aldon Reyes, formerly of San Diego restaurant Juniper and Ivy and Dallas\u2019 Georgie.<\/p>\n On a list of just under 15 items, chef Reyes shows creativity with a beets-and-berries appetizer ($16) and a plate of tomatoes and pistachios atop lemon curd ($18).<\/p>\n Look for Lulu\u2019s Salad, an accompaniment to the 20-ounce Wagyu rib-eye with onion rings, for $140. The salad is named for Russell and Rosemary\u2019s late mother, nicknamed Lulu. She\u2019d love it, as long as the table was set just so.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n