Sarah Blaskovich | GuideLive

The Colony is about to be on fire. Lava Cantina has a rock and roll vibe, but it’ll be home to country, pop and heavy metal concerts, too.

The opening of Nebraska Furniture Mart and its huge Grandscape development means a steady stream of new food and fun near Texas State Highway 121. The Dallas Morning News has confirmed a 29,000 square foot live music venue and restaurant called Lava Cantina is expected to open near the mega-furniture mart in 2016.

Lava Cantina will have stages indoors and out, plus a patio and a rooftop deck. Owners expect to have live music during meals — jazz brunch is an example — but the venue will also host special ticketed concerts and festivals.

Which means: Your favorite band’s next show might be in The Colony.

Owner and Founding Partner Ian Vaughn would like to snag acts such as Cage the Elephant or AWOLNATION. (Neither are on the calendar; they’re just examples.) He’d also like to host occasional festivals modeled after the one existing Lava Cantina, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Their Cinco de Mayo and Lavapalooza fests might make sense in Dallas-Fort Worth, Vaughn says.

The restaurant and music venue is designed to feel like you’re backstage at a show.

The menu, still being developed, will be the work of chef Patrick Stark, who made his name known at Sundown at Granada in Dallas. Some also know the mohawked chef from his appearances on Food Network.

Stark’s menu at Lava Cantina in The Colony will be Creole with a Mexican twist. You may also see him up on stage; he is active in the music community in D-FW and has expressed interest in performing at the coming-soon spot.

Other notable restaurants coming to The Colony: classic rock themed restaurant fronted by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS, Hard Eight barbecue, Mi Cocina and more.

Lava Cantina is expected to open in mid 2016 on Grandscape Boulevard in The Colony.

Read original article at GuideLive.com.

Heather Goodwin | The Courier-Leader

The DFW Metroplex is already home to more Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers than any other market in the country but until recently, Caniacs in The Colony haven’t had a Cane’s to call their own.

Raising Cane’s The Colony opened July 16 at 3851 Plano Parkway. It marks the company’s 29th location in DFW, its 79th in the state of Texas and the 226th in the nation.

Grand opening festivities began with an official ribbon-cutting ceremony courtesy of The Colony Chamber of Commerce and other community leaders. First-time visitors will be treated to traditional cheers and other high-energy chants to launch the location in unique Cane’s fashion, compliments of its 45-50 newly hired crewmembers. Deuce, a Frisco RoughRiders mascot, joined guests for photos.

The first 10 paying, dine-in customers ages 13 and older received free Cane’s for a year. In addition, the first 100 paying, dine-in customers ages 13 and older received a free Cane’s The Colony T-shirt, along with a voucher for a free box combo.

“This will be my eighth Raising Cane’s opening, and I have to say I’ve never been more pumped,” said Brian Gibson, general manager. “My team and I are excited to be apart of The Colony community and become actively involved.”

During the grand opening, Gibson presented a $1,000 check to the Hungry Hearts Food Pantry on behalf of Raising Cane’s. That follows a team volunteer day on July 10, when Gibson and roughly 15 crewmembers helped stock, organize and clean the food pantry.

“Hungry Hearts is an absolutely first-class organization, and it has been our honor to support them through our grand opening community service project,” said Gibson. “But that’s just the beginning of our outreach in this city.”

Raising Cane’s is also supporting The Colony Youth Baseball Association, The Colony ISD and the summer reading program at The Colony Library.

Hours of operation at The Colony restaurant are Sunday through Thursday 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., and Friday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 12 a.m.

Read original article at The Courier-Leader.

Deborah Fleck/Staff Writer | Dallas Morning News

The University of Dallas’ Satish & Yasmin Gupta College of Business will begin offering master of business administration (MBA) courses at the Cascades Event Center in The Colony starting with the fall 2015 term. The program expansion comes as several multi-billion-dollar companies relocate thousands of jobs to the Plano area with additional corporate relocations expected because of the favorable business climate in Texas.

The college will launch its 30-credit-hour MBA program in The Colony with two evening courses and terms that are 12 weeks long, offered in fall, spring and summer.

The Colony MBA program is identical to the AACSB-accredited program offered on the college’s Irving campus. It aims to provide students with the core leadership, managerial and other skills necessary to excel in a corporate environment. A hallmark of the University of Dallas MBA program is the culminating “Capstone Experience” in which students work in the field with an actual business client to address a strategic or operational issue in the client’s company, entrepreneurial venture or nonprofit organization.

The Cascades Event Center is at 5909 Stone Creek Drive, south of State Highway 121 and west of Legacy Drive. For more information, including details of an upcoming open house, visit udallas.edu/thecolony.

Read original article at The Dallas Morning News.

Maria Halkias | Dallas Morning News Biz Beat Blog

Berkshire Hathaway is making progress on its $1.5 billion Grandscape development anchored by Nebraska Furniture Mart in The Colony.

A winding lake and boardwalk that are part of the 433-acre project are under construction.

Cheddar’s Scratch Kitchen is the first restaurant to open. The restaurant added 200 part-time and full-time jobs.

Hard Eight BBQ & Hampton Inn & Suites are under construction. Mi Cocina and Rock & Brews are in the design phase, said Grandscape spokeswoman Katie Rager, and more tenants will be announced later this year.

Read the original article on the Dallas Morning News website.