DALLAS (Tribune News Service) — One of the United States’ first surfing restaurants is expected to open in North Texas in August 2023. Fireside Surf is designed to be “an oasis” in The Colony’s Grandscape development, says co-owner Patton Nix, who is a military free fall skydiver with the Green Berets.

Nix and co-owner Billy Adams, also a Green Beret, hope Fireside Surf will make a splash in the heat of the Texas summer. After Fireside Surf opens in The Colony, the two plan to expand to Austin next.

Fireside Surf’s main attraction is the 35-foot wave face visible from every part of the restaurant and bar. The pool, which will be the size of a tennis court, will be dug in the middle of the outdoor restaurant.

“You’re closer to the action,” Nix says.

“You can watch surfers at a distance that isn’t possible in the ocean.”

While it sounds like a hangout for professional surfers — and they might show up — Fireside Surf is designed more for parents and their kids. Or for friends looking to try something new. Groups will pay for surfing time in blocks of 30 or 45 minutes. A coach can teach them to ride the wave in as little as 10 minutes, Adam says.

“We will provide everything you need to surf,” he says. “Bring a bathing suit, we’ll do the rest. ... And even if you don’t have a bathing suit, you can buy one in our pro shop.”

Those who catch on quickly can “shred it up,” Adams says, doing tricks while others watch from cabanas, eating ahi tuna sandwiches, grilled fish tacos or roasted turmeric cauliflower. Nix and Adams hired John Franke, the Dallas-area chef who helped create Velvet Taco, Whiskey Cake and Sixty Vines, for a surfs-up menu heavy on fish, vegetables and healthy snacks.

Sean Conner created the cocktails, which are intended to honor oceanfront destinations. The Surf Colada is inspired by Puerto Rico, which Nix notes has over 350 miles of waves; the Texas Grapefruit Freshwater is named for the Galveston channel where Texas Rio Red grapefruit travel, “which has the unintended effect of supertankers creating long, surfable waves.” And the Aloe Guvna is named for England, Scotland and Ireland, “where surfers must often brave the cold water for some epic barreling waves,” Nix says.

Nix and Adams plan to spend $8 million to $10 million; it’s pricey to emulate the ocean in the middle of a concrete jungle. The pool will have a Citywave surfing system — created in Germany — which Nix and Adams believe is more realistic than the “thin” waves they describe at surfing pools in malls or on cruise ships.

The two met when Adams opened an iFly Indoor Skydiving in Washington State and Nix took his military team for training.

They think Fireside Surf is capitalizing on a trend early — like when ax-throwing bars, pickleball restaurants and “eatertainment” complexes first landed in Dallas-Fort Worth. Adam’s iFly businesses are another example, and he’s opened 18 nationwide.

Why North Texas?

Nix lives in Kailua, Hawaii, and Adams lives in Silverdale, Wash. They’re surfers, and it’s natural they’d want to share their sport. But do land-locked North Texans feel the need to surf on sunny afternoons?

“We see surfing as very aspirational,” Nix says. “We sought to deliver the dream of surfing to locations where the aspiration of surfing can’t be met easily.”

It landed in the biggest restaurant development in the region. Grandscape’s team has built an entertainment destination that takes “big” seriously: The Scheels sporting goods store is more than 12 times larger than a traditional big box store; the 433-acre plot has more than two-dozen restaurants, an indoor go-kart facility, a movie theater and a Ferris wheel. It was called the most innovative entertainment complex in the world in 2021.

“We’re really stoked to be among that group,” Adams says. “We’re so impressed with everything they’ve done and continue to do.”

Fireside Surf will be at 5772 Grandscape Blvd., The Colony. It’s expected to open in August 2023. Construction is expected to begin March 28, 2023.

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