Zalat Pizza, a chain of pizza joints known for its inventive topping combos and late-night hours, has plans to open three new locations in the North Texas area.
CEO and owner Khanh Nguyen has signed leases for restaurant buildings in East Dallas, University Park, and Allen.
Part of Zalat’s draw is its late-night hours. The original Zalat is open until 4 a.m. on weekends.
“That demographic of late-night eaters, that was me,” Nguyen said in a 2019 interview. He thought there might be others like him – people who were awake and hungry in the wee hours of the morning.
He was not wrong. Zalat has boomed since its first location opened six years ago. What began as a single storefront on Fitzhugh Avenue in Dallas in 2015 has flourished into a sixteen-restaurant franchise.
The latest of its new locations, and the first outside of DFW, is set to open in Midtown Houston this month. Nguyen hopes to expand Zalat’s realm outside Texas beginning in 2024.
Zalat has already spread through much of the metroplex, with restaurants in Addison, Arlington, Dallas, Denton, Flower Mound, Fort Worth, Frisco, Las Colinas, and Plano.
Another reason for Zalat’s success is its unique topping options. While Zalat offers some more traditional picks, such as pepperoni, their meat lover’s (called “Meatza”), and the basic cheese, the real allure comes from their more distinctive pies.
Their “Loaded Notato” offers a tantalizing twist on the flavors found in a classic baked potato – on top of a pizza. Other notable favorites include the “Reuben,” featuring shaved corn beef, Swiss cheese, and Thousand Island dressing; the “Elote,” both topped with and modeled after Mexican street corn; and “Pho Shizzle,” which gets its garnishes from the Vietnamese soup.
The last creation’s inspiration comes from a dish Nguyen is intimately familiar with –Nguyen’s first foray into food was Zalat’s Vietnamese cousin restaurant, DaLat.
Zalat’s new restaurant locations in DFW will be on both Peavy and Hillcrest Roads in Dallas and Stacy Road in Allen. Opening dates have not yet been announced.
