The iconic Chicago-based Al’s Italian Beef has landed in Dallas with its first location in Addison and four more North Texas sites are in the works. We’re debating about ordering ours wet or dipped.

Venture Commercial’s Jim Dunn and Jack Burgher (winner of best name for a guy who reps restaurants) are repping Al’s in its local expansion. A franchisee signed a lease to open a 2,612 SF restaurant in the Addison Walk Shopping Center (5000 Belt Line Rd), just west of the Dallas North Tollway. UCR’s Dan Shoevlin repped the landlord. The Addison site offers a big daytime population, as well as evening diners. The store should open before year’s end. (Can we do our Christmas shopping there?)

The next markets to explore include Las Colinas and the Frisco/Stonebriar areas, Jim says. Sites along Central Expressway in Plano and North Dallas could also be good bets. Al’s looks for nearby office workers as well as surrounding residential. Jim is looking for roughly 2,000 SF freestanding and end cap locations (like the Chicago restaurant, pictured). However, a lack of available end caps or pad sites landed the Addison site in an in-space of the shopping center. It was an attractive site because of the cluster of restaurants there, Jim says. If you see Jim (a self-proclaimed adrenaline junkie), ask him about his first flyboarding experience on Lake Lewisville this weekend.