The Charles, the Design District’s Italian-ish staple from Duro Hospitality, quietly flipped the lights back on yesterday after a 10-day dining-room shutdown and a scrub of years of Instagram posts. Ownership is calling it a focused refresh, with a moodier room and roughly half the menu swapped out for about 18 new dishes.
Banquettes, Drapes And The Same Risqué Loos
During a slow January refit, the team layered in gauzy dark drapes, brightened the banquette fabric, and softened the arrival with a curtained entrance, while pointedly leaving the famously racy bathroom wallpaper untouched. As reported by The Dallas Morning News, co-owner Benji Homsey said, “We loved the restaurant before we ripped it apart.” The paper also noted the dining room was closed for about 10 days while crews handled the facelift.
New Menu: Showy Tableside Theater And Comfort Pastas
The kitchen kept fan-favorite pastas in play, including the spicy shrimp, white bolognese and amatriciana, and layered in roughly 18 new plates. One of the splashier additions is the “snow crab 6-pack,” described as seafood ravioli that gets sauced tableside with a vadouvan cream, then sliced up with a pizza roller. Chef-partner J. Chastain told The Dallas Morning News that the wood-fired section now includes a shareable wagyu short rib finished with sticky shallots and a brown-butter-balsamic jus, and that the steak rub is a simple mix of “salt, pepper and a little coffee.”
Who’s Behind The Change
The update comes from owners Benji Homsey and Chas Martin and their partners, working under the broader Duro banner. Duro Hospitality lists The Charles alongside several other Dallas concepts, and the team has framed this latest project as a refinement, a way to distill the original ideas that inspired their later spots back into their first-born restaurant.
What To Expect And Where To Go
The Charles opened in 2018 and has since settled in as a Design District fixture, according to earlier local coverage. Current hours, reservation details and other nuts-and-bolts info live on the restaurant’s website, and the team says Bar Charles, the attached lounge, is holding steady with its existing menu and decor. The contact page lists the address and notes that service remains in the evening-only lane.
For diners, that translates to familiar pastas alongside new, attention-grabbing plates meant for sharing. For everyone else, it is a fresh excuse to swing through the Design District and see how a neighborhood restaurant tweaks its look and lineup after eight years on the block.
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