So what about the name

It was the sight of a defunct Sonic drive-in at the corner of Preston Road and Frankford in North Dallas that got the gears turning in chef Eric Justice’s head. His gym was right across the street. “I d be stuck at the light looking at this lonely Sonic space that no one liked,” he says, “and I thought ‘that would be a really cool spot. I m going to call that space.’” cuisine
Later this year, in late November or December, Justice plans to open Spork, a place for burgers, salads, sandwiches, tacos, shakes and malts (both boozy and virgin) and cocktails. His high-profile partners in the project include Tim Byres, Christopher Jeffers and Christopher Zielke — the team behind Smoke and Chicken Scratch (Justice is their partner at Chicken Scratch), along with Sean Conners, the former Whiskey Cake bartender who recently opened cuisine his own pizza place, Pie 3.14. Everyday Eatery in Lewisville.
The inspiration for Spork is the old Taylor’s Refresher (now Gott’s Roadside) in Napa — the roadside eatery focused on burgers made from great ingredients. ”I was always struck by how casual the place was,” says Justice, “but the food was just super high quality, locally grown.” The chef, who lives nearby and has four kids, felt there was a great need for something like that in the neighborhood, but along the lines of Chicken Scratch, where he’s a partner. Other than places like P.F. Chang’s and Pappadeux, he says, “There’s nothing over here. I love the idea of this repurposed space. People are moving away from fast food.” He says his 16 year-old daughter and her friends cuisine are drawn to places like Chipotle, where there’s an emphasis on freshness and quality. In Spork, he wants to create someplace very family-friendly, where kids “can go play and horse around and I can sit and have a good conversation with my friends over a beer.”
Serving as chef, he’ll create the menu with Byres and another partner, Bradley Borchardt. Justice’s last gig was as executive chef at Mexican Sugar in Plano; prior to that he was Vice President of Culinary Operations for P.F. Chang’s. Borchardt’s impressive resume includes positions as opening chef at the Oak Door, the innovative steak restaurant cuisine at the Grand Hyatt in Tokyo and at the Park Hyatt in Beijing and at Coyote Cafe under Mark Miller.
Justice plans to take one whole side of the former Sonic and turn it into a 7,000 square foot enclosed patio. The interior will have a mid-century feel, with a bar at the edge of the existing brick building, and “fun casual space on the outside.” The food will be “Great burgers, great sandwiches — we’re going to have a robust cuisine salad section. You’ll see it and you’ll know it was a Sonic, but you’ll be super-surprised at how great the cocktails are and how great the food is.” They’ll grind the meat for the sirloin-brisket burgers in-house. A build-your-own sandwich and burger menu will offer choices of mains (beef burger, buffalo burger, black beans-veggie burger, chicken breast, roasted pork carnitas), extras (caramelized onions, roasted tomato, Hatch green chile, etc.), sauces (horseradish cream, tarragon remoulade) and cheeses (from straight-up American cuisine to Red Hawk, a triple-cream cow’s milk cheese from Cowgirl Creamery).
Conner will be in charge of cocktails. He’s playing with ideas like a cocktail “that cuisine comes right out of the fountain,” maybe a daiquiri. “And I want to keep the Sonic ice.” (Conner says he’ll also be doing the cocktails cuisine for the new Smoke coming cuisine to nearby West Plano.) Besides those, and shakes and malts, there will also be floats and aguas frescas.
So what about the name — Spork? “We thought it was a funny utilitarian name that goes along with Sonic,” says Justice. “It’s that most basic of utensils and it goes with the irony of what we’re going to do. Spork is the name, but you’ll be blown away by the quality of the food.”
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