AMPM Ready to Take Dallas by Storm
Dallas' latest hotspot, AMPM, will celebrate its grand opening July 3
By JANE GEELAN-SAYRES
Updated 11:38 PM CST, Sun, Jun 28, 2009
You may not know his name, but you'll want to be invited to his club.
Entrepreneur Chad Willis is just one of the masterminds behind AMPM Restaurant and Lounge in Dallas.
"As an entrepreneur, you've got to be pretty opportunistic," said Willis. "I saw an opportunity. I kinda jumped in and, you know, incurred a few learning curves -- few lessons learned and here I am."
Willis said this venue is different from your average bottle service hang-out.
"The idea for AMPM was to keep it, you know, for everybody. And I mean everybody," said Willis. "If you want a fine meal, then you've got one of the tops chefs in Dallas doing that."
"The dining room has absolutely no TV, so if you want to go have a nice quite meal with a loved one or a girlfriend, or just somebody, then you can do that in our dining room," said Willis.
The restaurant features what's being called comfort food with a twist or a little pizazz.
Patrons can choose from many signature dishes including southwestern nachos, pulled pork sliders or pan seared salmon.
Click here to check out some recipes.
"You see in front of us here, we've got nachos, shrimp nachos or chicken nachos," said Willis. "You have some of the highest quality cheeses in the world that are used with it."
"Even your sliders here, you've got BBQ sliders -- but it's got more of an Asian background," Willis said.
Executive Chef Tommy Simpson has the credentials to back up his creations. He's spent time at Nobu, The Mansion, ZaZa and N9NE.
"We've got one of the most desired chefs in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex. I came to him and said, 'Listen. We are in a recession, cost is important. I think fine dining is going to struggle, but I've got this opportunity that I think works,'" said Willis.
Just recently AMPM hosted a fundraiser for Alley's house which provides assistance to teenager mothers with reality TV star Kim Kardashian as the honored guest..
"There is just so many people in need, and I really feel like at this time with the recession charities are getting a big hit," said Kardashian. "You know, anything I can do to help I'm gladly here to do."
"Everything's going really good. I mean, of course, we get all the engagement questions, every single day," said Kardashian, of her relationship with New Orleans Saints running back Reggie Bush. "We just have a happy normal healthy relationship. Like, it's wired to say, but we are just normal. We're not too exciting."
Members of the Dallas Cowboys organization including Miles Austin and Wade Phillips also came out to help a good cause, making AMPM the newest hot spot on the map.
AMPM will celebrate it's grand opening on Friday, July 3.
For more on James Chippendale, the host of "Last Call," and his Love, Hope, Strength Foundation, click here.
First Published: Jun 28, 2009 2:47 PM CST
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