A few months ago, the Vickery Meadow Food Pantry began to receive delicious artisan bread from Empire Bakery courtesy of the West Village location. The bread items are distributed to our neighbors on Thursday morning. We are very grateful for their generosity and our neighbors love the bread! Thank you Empire Bakery.
Below is an article about Empire Bakery’s newest location in West Village and its cofounder, Meaders Ozarow.
The Article and photograph reprinted with permission from our friends at Edible Dallas Ft. Worth Magazine. The magazine celebrates local food and community in North Texas. https://www.edibledfw.com/
Meaders and Robert Ozarow opened their first bakery in 1992 in a small shop on Oak Lawn Avenue. Now, Empire Baking Co. is Dallas’ longest operating crafts bakery. The Oak Lawn shop moved to a location in the Inwood Village Shopping Center. The duo opened their next shop close to Southern Methodist University in 2021 and most recently settled in the West Village. The team feeds its five sourdough starters daily and continues to mix and shape bread by hand. It is the story of a very small, beloved empire.
Their motto has always conveyed optimism: “We couldn’t find an artisan bakery, so we started one.”
Foot traffic is plentiful in the new West Village location—the patter of a young, dynamic energy that reflects new trends. Here they offer grab-n-go items: sandwiches and salads in addition to the daily bread offerings like Hippie Health and the all-location bestseller sourdough. A large variety of pastries, which pair with their espresso drinks, now includes almond wheels inspired by a challah Danish scouted in Brooklyn. “We are always looking to innovate without dropping our old favorites,” Meaders says.
The Ozarows’ decision to open this spot in the West Village is a response to a Millennial customer base, which often comes in with their dogs.
“Our retail is trending strong, and this neighborhood has got very good demographics,” Meaders says. “The thing we know is that they are interested in the same thing we are”—which is to say a genuine concern about transparent, local food. “That is very appealing to this crowd,” Meaders continues. “They just want to eat better.”
To riff on the rhyme, Empire offers something old, something new, something tasty, something true.
West Village 3700 McKinney Ave., Ste. 150 Inwood Village 5450 West Lovers Lane, #132 SMU 5614 E. University Boulevard