Suburban Yacht Club doesn’t feel suburban — on the edge of the Boardwalk at Granite Park’s waterfront patio area with floor-to-ceiling windows and rattan chairs, it’s an ode to San Diego’s beachy vibe.
Its six-week holiday pop-up was as trendy as something you’d find in Dallas’ Lower Greenville with custom cocktails in Christmas-themed ceramic drinkware with hand-rolled tamales and fresh churros. It was worth waiting in line for.
A 33 Restaurant Group concept, the Cal-Mex restaurant is a standout among the pizzerias and Union Bear breweries that make up the group’s lineup.
Suburban Yacht Club is solely inspired by founder Preston Lancaster’s time in the San Diego area where he attended college and met his now-wife.
You’ll see it in the menu. Though it’s SoCal inspired, this isn’t your typical beach hut-themed eatery.
“It’s a getaway to the coast. It’s the water crashing and relaxing. It’s absolutely gorgeous out there,” Luscher says. “From tacos to seafood to simple items like burgers, they’re all just so fresh and thoughtfully executed, like my culinary love affair with California in general. We wanted to bring back that, embrace the tide.”
“The menu is a conglomeration of seafood and Cal-Mex, with dishes like a crispy grouper sandwich, a California classic burrito or a mix-and-match taco plate. Other options include del Mar shrimp, Baja beer-battered fish, carne asada and quesabirria.”
“Right before COVID, we had plans for Suburban Yacht Club, but as everyone was impacted by everyone’s life, we were impacted by COVID and quarantines,” Brian Luscher, director of culinary operations for 33 Restaurant Group, says. “It was always going to have a foot in seafood, and we started thinking about it more and what post-COVID guests would want, we wanted to create a getaway.”
Only one thing distracts from the ambiance — the weather. Throughout winter, North Texas’ brutal oscillating seasons don’t always leave room for patio afternoons.
SYC had a fix with a culinary twist — a holiday pop-up. For the holiday season, Suburban Yacht Club turned to Suburban Sleigh Club, fit with holiday décor from floor to ceiling and a holiday menu that had guests lining up out the door to get some homemade tamales and Instagrammable cocktails.
“[I’d ask customers], ‘How did you hear about us?’ and they’re like ‘TikTok,’” Close says.
Building on that momentum, Suburban Yacht Club just unveiled a new cocktail menu with one-of-a-kind glassware shaped like tiki statues, luau pigs, a shark and a pufferfish.
“We want to create that same sort of energy we had behind the pop-up, because the pop-up was so dope,” Close says. “While we want to have really high quality, amazing cocktails and amazing food, we want [customers] to be able to post it and share it with people.”
Fresh juices are incorporated into many of the drinks, like the tropical Coronado Campfire, which features Mezcal Verde Amarás, lime, lemon grass and hibiscus salt, or the Tiki Tai, a Bacardi Cuatro, orange Curacao, orgeat, passion fruit, lime and tiki bitters bring in fresh juice and a beach feel.
Photography Kathy Tran
It’s not just fruity drinks, Close emphasizes.
The Pick Your Poison, which features several of 33 Restaurant Group’s own liquors from its barrel program, gives guests the option of a stirred Old Fashioned “your way” with Ral McCoy 12-year rum, 33RG Corazon Reposado Tequila, 33RG Lip Service Rye or Ilegal Añejo Mezcal.
Above all, the SYC team emphasizes that the restaurant isn’t just for sunny days on the patio — the boardwalk getaway is open year-round.
“It’s not just about the food. It’s not just about the chef. It’s not about the décor or the staff or the views. It’s not just about the bar program, it’s everything together,” Luscher says. “That makes the experience, and then when you’re at ease, everything feels comfortable. That’s what we’ve been trying to do.”
Suburban Yacht Club, 5872 State Highway 121, 972.905.3664\\
