Downtown Denton Is Spreading East of the Square, One Hickory Street Storefront at a Time

"We sat and thought about what we wanted to do for the next 20 years, and we knew that would be here in Denton," Owen Madsen told Community Impact at The Pony's ribbon cutting on Aug. 28. His family picked a suite at 314 E. Hickory St., on the Russell Street side, a few blocks past the Courthouse Square.

They aren't the only ones who picked that stretch. Between spring and the end of September, a renovated seafood spot, a bakery, an art bar and a barbecue joint opened or reopened on the 200 and 300 blocks of East Hickory Street. For years a night out downtown meant the four sides of the Square. These days that night has room to keep walking east, and it can start with breakfast.

The line starts at Locust Street

Red: Italian sits at 122 N. Locust St., the Square's eastern edge. It opened Aug. 20 below Ruby Rodeo, and both concepts are co-owned by Mike Church and Victor Garcia. Community Impact reported that the speakeasy-style room seats just 50 people and that opening weekend sold out. The menu runs from grilled artichokes and bruschetta to lasagna, gnocchi, sea bass and chicken piccata, and it's set to rotate with the seasons.

Red: Italian is technically still on the Square. Everything else in this post is east of it. Head down Hickory from Locust and the storefronts change from courthouse-facing retail to a mix of old service bays, a college campus and the new places to eat that have filled in around them.

Hoochies came back first, and bigger

The first sign of the shift came in the spring. Hoochies sits at the corner of Hickory and Industrial streets. It closed in November for a renovation that was supposed to take two months and ended up taking four, according to the Denton Record-Chronicle. Community Impact's April business roundup lists the reopening at 214 E. Hickory St. on March 30.

It came back as Hoochies Yacht Club. Owners Amy and Joey Hawkins also run the coffee shop Jupiter House, and they rebuilt the room around their love of yacht rock. The changes include a full bar with seven signature drinks, new murals by artist Erika Tolbert and a shrine to Michael McDonald by Sean Starr, who has designed signage for Jupiter House. The menu added chicken tenders with house-made sauces, along with mac and cheese and honey maple Brussels sprouts. Amy Hawkins told the Record-Chronicle the tenders were for families who had skipped Hoochies because one person at the table didn't eat seafood. The ceviche, gumbo and cornbread didn't change.

Hoochies' published hours vary depending on where you look, so check them directly before you head over.

One address, three new neighbors

Late August added the biggest group of openings. The 314 E. Hickory address now holds three businesses side by side.

Cream Bunny Bakery Cafe, Suite 111, opened Aug. 27. It bakes donuts and cronuts on site and serves breakfast sandwiches on brioche buns or biscuits, breakfast tacos on fresh tortillas and fried chicken sandwiches. A company representative told Community Impact that the breads, tortillas, sauces and coffee syrups are all made in house. This is the family-owned bakery's third location, after Plano and Allen. There's an Alice in Wonderland mural above the seating.

Vagabond Vintage, Suite 109, sells clothing from several decades, including vintage Cowboys apparel, band T-shirts and pop-culture items.

The Pony, Suite 121, is a cocktail bar, restaurant, pottery studio and weekend live music venue in one room. Jessica and Owen Madsen run the bar and kitchen after leaving corporate careers. Jessica's son, musician Dorian Marsh, books the entertainment and handles marketing. His fiancée, ceramicist Bella Tylen, runs the pottery studio, where the clay air-dries and doesn't need a kiln. The menu takes its cues from Rome, with olive oil tastings, prosciutto and melon bites, meatball sandwiches and a prosciutto and stracciatella pizza. Desserts come from two Denton bakers, Ivan's Cakes and Treats and Two Gentlemen of Verona. The name comes from Marsh's guitar. He told the Record-Chronicle he bought it within an hour of deciding to leave UNT to play music full time.

The block already had a steady weekday crowd. North Central Texas College's downtown campus is at 316 E. Hickory, in what used to be the Denton Record-Chronicle building. It's a 45,214-square-foot facility with classrooms, labs and a Black Box Theater where drama and music students rehearse and perform.

Smithers Smokehouse stays open latest

A month later, Cody Smithers opened Smithers Smokehouse on Sept. 26 at 300 E. Hickory St. The building used to be Shine it Auto Detail, which moved to West Parkway Street last December. The menu covers chopped brisket, pulled pork, St. Louis-style ribs, beef ribs, turkey and burnt ends, with sides like fried okra, mac and cheese and tater tots. The outdoor bar and patio are dog-friendly.

Smithers also keeps the latest hours of the group, with service until 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until midnight on Friday and Saturday. That late close is what fills out the day on this stretch. A year ago, the 300 block had a detail shop where Smithers now sits. Now you can spend a whole day there without crossing back over Locust.

For a dinner reservation before you walk east, Red: Italian at 122 N. Locust is the one on this list that takes bookings through its website.

The holiday calendar ends up on the east side too

The restaurants aren't the only part of downtown moving east this season. Several of the dated events between now and early December are a short walk from Hickory, and the biggest one is on the east side.

1. Downtown Denton Mac and Cheese Fest, Sunday, Nov. 15, 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The crawl starts at Oak Street Drafthouse and Cocktail Parlor, 308 E. Oak St. More than 25 local restaurants serve their versions of mac and cheese, tickets start at $25, and proceeds go toward Denton ISD lunches.
2. The Willie Specials, Friday, Nov. 20, 8 p.m. Dan's Silverleaf at 103 Industrial St., right around the corner from Hoochies, hosts a group of musicians paying tribute to Willie Nelson. Standing-room tickets start at $12 at the door, and table reservations aren't available.
3. Downtown Denton Turkey Trot 5K, Thursday, Nov. 26, 9 to 10:30 a.m. The Denton Area Running Club's 11th annual Thanksgiving run is based at 300 E. McKinney St. and goes through Texas Woman's University and around the Square. Registration starts at $50, and a Gobble Wobble 1K for kids is $15.
4. Denton Holiday Lighting Festival, Saturday, Dec. 5, 3 to 9 p.m. This year's festival is at Quakertown Park, 215 E. McKinney St., a few blocks from the Hickory openings.

The west side still has its own events. The Downtown Denton Foundation's Craft Beer Crawl on Nov. 21, 1 to 4 p.m., lists 110 W. Hickory St. as its address. For the big crowds of late fall, though, McKinney Street and Quakertown Park are the gathering spots. On lighting night, Smithers' patio is closer to the crowd than most of the Square.

NCTC points its own campus visitors to the college garage at 319 E. Sycamore St. Its campus page also notes that nearby business lots and street spaces have their own posted rules, which matter on a busy festival evening.

Our team keeps track of openings like these across North DFW because they shape what daily life looks like on a given block. If you're curious how Denton's east-side changes compare with other parts of town, or you're thinking about a move closer to downtown, The Monarch Team would be glad to talk it through over a cronut on Hickory Street. See Listings or Contact Us for a Free Home Consultation.