Fonda Toro’s logo. Courtesy image.

Editor’s note: This story was updated with more information at 7:30 p.m. May 6.

If all goes according to plan, Fonda Toro will be unlike any other restaurant on Lower Greenville. 

The new eatery is expected to open at 2100 Greenville Ave. across from Trader Joe’s. This space was formerly inhabited by Belgian bar Meyboom Brasserie, which closed last year.

Fonda Toro is billed as a neighborhood kitchen (ie — not a high-end space that you only go to on special occasions) and is in part brought forth by East Dallas neighbor John Paul Valverde of Coevál Studio. There’s a good chance you’re familiar with the hospitality design firm’s work if you frequent establishments in East Dallas. The studio’s resume includes Hendy’s on Henderson, Boogies, Goodsurf, Fortune House, Burger Schmurger, Citizen and Quarter Acre.

Valverde is partnering with Mauricio Gallegos of Cultivo Hospitality, who is behind Xamán Café and Ayahuasca Cantina in Oak Cliff, Puerto Cocina & Bar in the Design District, and Señor Oink Taqueria Tropical in Farmers Branch.

Fonda Toro’s menu exists somewhat outside of labels. It’s not Tex-Mex or purely Mexican food. Valverde also rejected the term “fusion.”

“Think of it as going to neighborhood bistro, but instead of it being very French inspired, it’s mostly Central American inspired, and you could get anything from a nice pasta to a nice taco dish to a stew, things like that,” he said to the Lakewood/East Dallas Advocate. “But it happens to have a sushi bar in the back.”

Yes, Fonda Toro is expected to have a cocktail lounge and sushi bar as well.

Here’s how a press release described the food and drinks:

“The menu is 30 dishes, edited and confident. Aguachile divorciados arrives split down the middle, shrimp in verde on one side, octopus in rojo on the other. A single A5 wagyu taco comes on a flour tortilla with salsa martajada and charred onion. Cacio e pepe gets built with chiltepín toasted tableside. The flan de cajeta finishes with white miso and sea salt. Every plate earns its spot. The bar anchors the experience equally, built around Italian amaros, Mexican agave spirits and Japanese technique. The wine list runs 30 bottles with a point of view: natural wines, sherry, orange wine and a small sake program that pairs with the raw bar.”

This kind of food would be common in a large Central or Latin American city, Valverde said, though he shied away from the full embrace of that label as well.

“The idea is that we have really fun home-style cooking with really good techniques,” he said. “The idea is that every dish is confident, but at the same time, approachable.”

The space that used to house Meyboom Brasserie will get a full makeover as it transforms into Fonda Toro. Photography by Kathy Tran.

Valverde envisions Fonda Toro bringing balance to the Greenville Avenue restaurant scene and giving diners another option. Smaller dishes are expected to start around $18, a pasta for $18-$19, a flank steak may be about $32, and $16-$22 for sushi.

“That was the whole approach, is like, ‘How could we make something that people come often, if it’s either for our Tuesday dinner or if they want to come Saturday and hang out in jeans or something casual, or for dates?’” he said.

The diners may be casual, but the space is expected to be beautiful and nothing like what Meyboom Brasserie looked like before. After acquiring permits, construction for interior and exterior renovations started a few days ago. The plan is to add another bar and another patio space in the back, Valverde said 

“The idea behind it is very just a simple, contemporary design that has a lot of textures through a modern lens,” he said. “Imagine hand-textured surfaces, woven pendants. We’ll have a marble bar top that kind of anchors the space in the center and then just really heavy but nice soft colors for the space.”

As a close-by neighbor, this is a restaurant that Valverde expects to patronize as well with his daughter.

“I’ve always wanted to have something that I can go to two times a week without either overthinking it or going to the same place,” he said.

There is no timeline yet for an opening date.