Kevin Galvan’s great-grandfather immigrated from Mexico and opened a restaurant in west Texas. Then his grandfather and dad owned successful restaurants in the Dallas area. A fourth generation restaurateur, Kevin grew up refilling chips in his father’s restaurant and learning about Tex-Mex restaurateurship from his parents and grandparents.
“It’s what I’ve always wanted to do,” Kevin says. “Out of college, I started working for my dad and realized I really enjoyed this. So my dad fired me.”
After picking up experience working at Houston’s Restaurant, Kevin owned and operated his first restaurant, Ricardo’s Tex Mex, with his wife Jenny from 2004 to 2009. In 2013, the Galvans took their Tex-Mex experience and gave it a twist, opening Haystack Burgers & Barley.
They opened their first location in Richardson, where they’ve lived for over 20 years. Now, there are five locations: Richardson Heights, Lakewood, Hillcrest Village, Frisco and Preston Hollow.
“Kevin grew up in that area. It’s always been our favorite area of Dallas, so we always wanted to have a location there,” says Jenny Galvan, co-owner of Haystack Burgers & Barley. “We also know it has such a great neighborhood presence. Lots of different schools but a great neighborhood feel and we know that Haystack does best in the neighborhoods. We do the best job when we can be a part of it.”
Kevin went to St. Monica’s Catholic School before moving on to high school at Dallas Lutheran School in Lake Highlands, where he met Jenny.
Each Haystack location is designed with its neighborhood in mind, with slight differences in menu offerings and decor at each one.
“It (the Preston Hollow location)is just a little more upscale than our Richardson one,” Jenny says. “This one has a little bit of a different feel, so you can just go grab a quick bite after a soccer game or you could have a nice date night. We wanted it to kind of encompass everything in the neighborhood.”
Haystack’s menu pulls from the Galvans’ Tex-Mex background while keeping all the classics of a burger bar. The signature burger, the Haystack Burger, includes Haystack onions, cheddar cheese, apple wood smoked bacon, barbecue sauce, lettuce, tomato and pickles.
“We do burgers because everybody likes them and you can eat it more than once a week,” Jenny says. “Everything is fresh. All of our dressings we make in house. Our mozzarella sticks are life changing. We slice them and bread them all in house.”
Haystack’s menu also features a chicken fried burger, Pitch Fork Chili, salads, sandwiches, chips and salsa, and ranchero chicken stuffed jalapeños, a nod to the Galvan family’s Tex-Mex recipes.
For the barley part, there are a dozen rotating local beers on tap and, exclusive to the Preston Hollow location, two red wines and two whites on tap. For those looking for something frozen, Haystack’s signature cocktail, the Big Haymaker, is a frozen drink with Maker’s Mark, orange juice, lemonade and tea.
“We want it to be an extension of us, an extension of our home,” Jenny says. “We were 16 years old dreaming of opening restaurants together. It’s really neat; we’re 50 now so to see it into fruition and have this little part to play in people’s celebrations and conversations.”
Haystack Burgers, 11700 Preston Road, 214. 272.9001
