Ojeda’s, which opened on Jefferson at Polk about two months ago, is my new favorite hangout. This is the second time that Ojeda’s, the famous Dallas Tex-Mex chain, has occupied that same space. Before and after the first Ojeda’s stint, a number of concepts opened and closed in the space at 1001 W. Jefferson. That’s how it wound up on the Observer’s list of the most-jinxed restaurant spaces in Dallas.

We hope Ojeda’s stays for a long time. Solstice, the salon next door, is owned by stylist siblings Marissa Belz and Frank Solis and Frank’s esthetician wife, Amy. Marissa and Frank’s mom bought the building several years ago, and they’ve struggled to find a viable restaurant tenant. Frank and Marissa even ran one of the concepts themselves.

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"It’s so nice to have a restaurant with good food that’s consistent," Marissa told me recently. As a teenager, she worked for Esther, the Ojeda family matriarch, so they were happy to welcome their old friends back to the space.

By the way, the first time I ever heard of a "jinxed" restaurant space was in a DMN story about 20 years ago that focused on a building in Red Bird that has been the death of about 1,000 restauranteur dreams. It most recenlty was a barbecue joint. Maybe not a great idea considering it’s about 0.1 mile from Colter’s.