The owners of a new restaurant at the Unicorn Lake development say they're trying to give customers a home away from home.
Co-owners Yolanda Calderón, 45, Maria Burchard, 43, and Techy Salas, 46, opened Sidewalk Bistro in early May hoping to share their love of food with Denton.
"It is a project we have talked about for years," said Salas, a longtime friend of Calderón and Buchard, who are sisters.
The 1,300-square-foot eatery offers a wide variety of meals, ranging from omelets and carnitas for breakfast, to salads, sandwiches and homemade soups for lunch, to chicken tenders and fried catfish for dinner.
"We offer simple and fresh food, made in a simple kitchen," Salas said.
Sidewalk Bistro occupies what was once Unicorn Lake Diner & Bakery, which shuttered in 2010 after being open barely a year.
"When we saw [the Unicorn Lake space], we immediately said yes," Salas said. "It was destiny."
This is the trio's first time to venture into restaurant ownership. The challenge, they say, is learning how to run the eatery day to day. The food - well, that's the easy part. Though they prefer to run the restaurant from the front of the house - leaving the cooking to four chefs who worked at Andrew's Restaurant in Bartonville - the three women say they know food.
"We love to cook and eat," Burchard said. "Our [salon] clients will always hear us talk about the food we want to eat, and we share different recipes."
As for the business side, Burchard said, her husband, a business manager in Dallas, has offered the women a lot of help and guidance during the process.
"He is here almost every day after work," Burchard said. "He is excited."
Although the women are learning the ins and outs of running a restaurant, they already have ownership experience through Rizos Salon, a hair salon they launched in 1993 on North Elm Street.
The friends met while attending beauty school in 1989 and immediately connected, they said.
"We are different, but we complement each other," Calderón said.
She and Burchard were born in Mexico and Salas in Peru. They say their work ethic and honesty are what have kept them going all these years.
"I learned to be more outgoing because of Techy," Calderón said of her friend.
Having known each other so long and spent so much time together, the trio jokes that they're part of a joint marriage. They're working long hours to see their venture get off the ground - but, they said, they're doing so happily, to build a family legacy.
"I don't think we would have been able to open this restaurant on our own," Burchard said. "It is because we have each other that we are able to do this."
The trio also said they've always felt supported by the Denton community - since Day 1, when they opened their hair salon. Their customers not only embraced them, they sent new customers their way. The salon was even voted Best of Denton from 2006-08.
"They support us greatly," Burchard said of her customers.
Now, those clients are following as the business owners go in a new direction.
Carol Pellissier, one of Burchard's salon clients, has been witness to some of the discussions about the new restaurant.
"We heard all the talk about it - what they would name it and that it was their dream come true," Pellissier said.
Pellissier said property owner Bob Shelton "knew it was their longtime dream to open a restaurant and when the opportunity became available, he came to them."
"That is magic," she said.
KARINA RAMÍREZ can be reached at 940-566-6878. Her e-mail address is kramirez@dentonrc.com. SIDEWALK BISTRO
Address: 2900 Wind River Lane, Suite 132
Hours: 6:30 a.m to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday; 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday
Contact: 940-591-1999
Website: www.sidewalk-bistro.com
