Ashley Landis/Staff Photographer Restaurants are going up at The Sound in Cypress Waters, the Billingsley Co.’s development near the borders of Dallas, Coppell and Irving. The bell tower is built around church bells Lucy Billingsley’s father found in Houston.
On the waterfront
Dining with a lake view will be at the heart of The Sound
By SARAH BLASKOVICH Staff Writer sblaskovich@dallasnews.com

RESTAURANTS

Eight new restaurants are expected to debut in early 2019 in a development north of Interstate 635 at South Belt Line Road, near the borders of Dallas, Coppell and Irving. And it’s hoping to make a splash on the local dining scene with pier-like patios overlooking the water.


The new development is called The Sound, and it’s “the heart” of the master-planned community Cypress Waters that the Billingsley Co. has been working on for a decade, says partner Lucy Billingsley.

Those waterfront patios will look out on to North Lake, a reservoir dug in the 1950s to house a Dallas Power and Light Co. electric plant.

The Billingsley Co. — the group best known for Austin Ranch bordering Plano, The Colony and Lewisville and One Arts Plaza in downtown Dallas — is building restaurants, offices, trails and even an outdoor music venue on about 1,000 acres near that man-made lake.


If you ask Billingsley, the two acres that make up The Sound anchor the expansive Cypress Waters development.

“In Dallas, we just don’t get to experience being on the water,” Billingsley says. “We don’t office on the water, we don’t live on the water, we don’t eat, dine and have fun on the water. At Cypress Waters, we get to do exactly that.

And The Sound is where it all comes together.”

Burger joint Rodeo Goat and seafood restaurant Flying Fish are two of the restaurants that will be located on the water. Both come from restaurateur Shannon Wynne, a friend of Billingsley’s who had never before opened a restaurant in one of her company’s developments.

Rodeo Goat is a no-nonsense burger joint, and Flying Fish is a homey fried-fish restaurant. Billingsley likes the authenticity of each vibe.

“You walk in there [to Rodeo Goat] and think, yep, this must be where the rodeo kept the goats! There’s nothing hokey about these places,” she says.

The development will also house an Ascension Coffee, the growing company that started in Dallas’ Design District. Ascension serves not just caffeinated drinks but also sandwiches and salads, and wine in the evenings at certain locations.

“I’m not a coffee drinker, and I love to go to Ascension Coffee,” Billingsley says.

The bell tower, which was just installed at The Sound, uses bells Billingsley’s dad, developer Trammell Crow, got from a Houston church years ago.

They’ve been waiting in storage until Billingsley’s team found the right place for them.

Landon Winery is the final foodand-drink company the Billingsley Co. is announcing for now. Landon Winery pours Texas-made wine in locations in downtown McKinney, Wylie and Greenville. The tasting room at The Sound is coming soon.

Billingsley says Landon Winery helps The Sound “create the Texas you wish you were from.” She envisions Cypress Waters residents or office workers stopping in for a bottle or a glass and going out to watch the sunset.

Cypress Waters includes a Coppell ISD elementary school and a middle school and offices for 40,000 people, including the new headquarters for Nokia, 7-Eleven, Brinker International and more. Billingsley says as many as 20,000 people will live there.

Twitter: @sblaskovich