Massive live music venue and restaurant expected in 2016

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.