Dallas has been sitting on the edge of its seat for this one. In recent years, the city has welcomed a wave of exciting restaurant openings, but few have built the grassroots following, momentum, and homegrown anticipation quite like this Olōyō.
James Beard Award semifinalist chef Olivia López and partner Jonathan Percival officially opened their first brick-and-mortar restaurant in May at 4422 Gaston Avenue in Old East Dallas. Olōyō transforms the former Cry Wolf space into an intimate 23-seat, fine-dining restaurant rooted in heirloom corn, regional Mexican cuisine, and years of perseverance.
“We designed Olōyō to be a space where guests can fully engage all their senses, discover new flavors, and connect with the stories behind the food,” López said in a press release. “From hand-pressed tortillas to the flavors on the plate, every dish is meant to make people feel a deep sense of home.”
That sense of home begins with a team. Pastry chef Daiana Guzmán, an alumna of Petra and the Beast, Meridian, and the French Room, joins López in the kitchen. Former Midnight Rambler bartender José González leads the bar program.
The menu begins with the sea. Ostiones en su Concha, or oysters in their shell, arrive from BlackJack Point in Aransas Bay dressed with honeydew, diced cucumber, citrus, and a vibrant citrus kosho. The Tostada de Callo is a picturesque layering of delicate scallops over blue corn tostadas with avocado puree, smoky salsa macha, herbs, and borage.
Then comes the soul of the restaurant: masa.
The Tostada Raspada Primavera highlights Jalisco and Nayarit, where masa is scraped thin on one side using a metate, slanted milling stone, before it’s dried and fried. López tops it with dollops of soft whey cheese known as requesón, grapefruit-jalapeño jam cherry tomatoes, and petite greens. It’s straightforward, timeless, and deeply traditional.
Texas shines throughout the menu in the proteins. Rosewood Ranches Texas wagyu brisket shines in the Sope Gordo. Campra Foods lamb is slow-simmered into savory barbacoa for the Huarache. Larger plates include Pescado Zarandeado, Carne Asada, Pato en Mole, and Pulpo Yucateco Asado.
The restaurant is a love letter to López’s home state Colima, Mexico, to the growers that make each dish possible, and to the community that believed in Molino Olōyō when it was just a dream.
In Colima, López’s grandmother planted the seeds that would eventually shape her cooking.
“Mama Margarita was the original inspiration for all of my cooking,” López shared in a post made on Instagram. “She was tough and had the highest standards, but those are the same standards that have helped me bring this menu to life.”
Her career has taken her from the coastal Mexican city to Dallas, where she worked at Mirador and Billy Can Can before stepping away in 2018 for a six-month hiatus to rediscover the passion behind her cooking. She found it in corn.
Four years ago, Molino Olōyō was born.
From early mornings to late nights in different kitchens, López and Percival nixtamalized heirloom corn before serving tamales and handmade tortillas from pop-ups across Dallas. The Mesoamerican technique soaks dry kernels in an alkaline solution. The kernels shed their hull leaving behind the nixtamal that is ground into masa.
Outside Wayward Coffee, beneath a canopy with serape-covered folding tables, morning after morning, customers became regulars, then regulars became friends.
Olōyō is only the beginning. A tasting menu is in the works, and soon, the pair will launch a casual sister concept next door. For now, López and Percival are focused on the restaurant they spent years dreaming into existence. A dream that has been met with an overwhelming outpouring of support and community pride.
To express her gratitude to the Dallas community, López shared a simple message on Instagram: “This restaurant belongs to everyone who helped us get here.”
Olōyō, 4422 Gaston Ave, Dallas
