It's Open

Fields set to serve up entertaining eatery
Former Truluck's managing partner to launch new upscale Plano venture

Sandra Zaragoza, Staff Writer

Steve Fields, a former managing partner with Truluck's Seafood Steak Crabhouse, is launching an upscale restaurant and lounge where the menu will share the spotlight with live entertainment.

Truluck's has restaurants in Uptown and Addison, and Fields, a veteran restaurateur, still holds a small interest in the Addison location.

His Truluck's partners are now his partners in his new restaurant. Stuart Sargent and Patti Turner of Truluck's Restaurant Group encouraged Fields to develop a new concept, in which he will handle operations.

They also persuaded Fields to put his signature on the new fine-dining establishment. Steve Fields Steak & Lobster Lounge, located at 5013 W. Park Blvd. and Preston Road in Plano, will have its grand opening the week of May 23.

Fields admits that the decision to launch an upscale steak and seafood restaurant was influenced by the success of Truluck's.

"Truluck's was a winning combination," he said. "We are taking what we learned there and are adding an entertainment element."

The new eatery will feature an extensive wine wall fitted with 266 bottles and a special dessert plate, "mini indulgence," that gives a sampling of the day's desserts. The restaurant will be open for dinner only, with average entrée prices ranging from $18 to $30.

A bar area, "Lobster Lounge," will help generate traffic and will fill a gap for entertainment in an area of Plano studded by chain restaurants, Fields said, adding that it will target a mature crowd.

Pianists will play every night of the week from 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., and there will be daily drinks specials.

"It will be foot-tapping, recognizable music, like Billy Joel, Elton John and Fleetwood Mac," Fields said.

Before Truluck's, Fields cut his teeth as a bar owner in Dallas. He co-launched Dallas Alley at the West End Marketplace in 1988 with Spencer Taylor and Billy Bob Barnett -- creator of Billy Bob's nightclub in Fort Worth -- and ran it until 1994. Dallas Alley has since closed.

The Lobster Lounge allows Fields to return to his pub roots, which is clear in the restaurateur's theme nights: Tequila Tuesday, Wine Down Wednesday and Thirsty Thursday.

Brad Belleto, of Dallas-based Vision 360, a restaurant design and development firm, says he is seeing a movement toward more restaurants making entertainment part of their evening's fare.
Locally there are a number of upscale restaurants offering live music, including Capital Grille at the Crescent Hotel, Nana Grill atop the Wyndham Anatole Hotel and Sullivan's Steakhouse. Sambuca considers itself a "modern-day supper club," and a new restaurant in Addison, Go Fish, also has plans to open a lounge.

"A fine-dining restaurant that has entertainment creates longevity," Belletto said. "It causes people that have dinner to stay -- it keeps them there a little longer."

Fields and his partners are spending about $700,000 to remodel the restaurant, which was formerly a Grady's American Grill. Most recently Truluck's Restaurant Group launched Florida Seafood Grill in the space, but it was later shuttered.

The new restaurant is expected to generate annual sales of about $3.2 million, about the same as a Truluck's, Fields said.