Family behind NYC Le Cirque to open Circo Dallas in February

NYC’s well-regarded Maccioni Restaurant Group is bringing its resort-style Circo restaurant to Dallas. Construction is underway on the two-level space at the new One Uptown Building at 2619 McKinney Avenue near downtown. The news was released in mid-July and a few more details were revealed today. The restaurant’s Facebook page has a few more; a Circo Dallas website is in the works.

“The restaurant will serve Tuscan cuisine in a setting that includes a nightclub space and a lounge with a glass-bottom pool, retractable glass roof, wraparound deck, spa treatments and changing rooms,” reads a blurb on Circo Dallas in The Wine Spectator last month. “The Maccioni group promises an extensive wine program, similar to the one at Circo in New York, with global selections—plus a private bartender in the ladies’ room to greet guests with a glass of Champagne before a dip in the pool. If the group’s other award-winning lists are any indication of what’s to come, the new Circo’s list will have strengths in Italy and California.”

The group operates Circo restaurants in Orlando, Abu Dhabi, and Casa De Campo. I’ve eaten twice at the Circo at Casa de Campo in the Dominican Republic and wasn’t particularly wowed. But that’s not to say the company can’t throw down; my experience at Le Cirque in Las Vegas (and a now-shuttered, more casual spinoff at Aria) were phenomenal.

photos: Circo Dallas Facebook page; Abu Dhabi Circo interior pictured above