Bob Sambol and Vandelay Companies Team Up On New Intimate Dallas Restaurant in Former Adelmo’s Space

For fans of Bob’s Steak & Chop House, Hudson House, Drake’s, and more Vandelay Companies restaurants, we’ve got exciting news. Bob Sambol (Bob’s founder) and Vandelay’s Hunter Pond and Rick Dunlap are teaming up on a new dining concept called Charlie’s. Expected to open in spring or summer 2027, this intimate, 30-table restaurant will move into the former Adelmo’s Ristorante space at 5450 W. Lovers Lane, Suite 225, in Dallas’ Inwood Village.

Adelmo’s lovers, do not fret. After the 36-year-old family-owned Italian spot closed at the end of last year (due to a rent increase), the beloved local concept will reopen in North Dallas.

Charlie’s is “drawing inspiration from the famously intimate culture surrounding restaurants such as Rao’s in New York City,” according to a press release. Truly going old-school, there will be no online reservations, and the tables are owned by friends and family of Sambol and Vandelay. The public can request reservations by landline phone only.

“This is a very personal restaurant for me,” states Sambol in the release. “After 30 years, I wanted to create something that feels humble and familiar with great hospitality, a beautiful room, people you know and a restaurant you want to return to again and again. Nothing overly complicated. Just a really special place for the neighborhood.”

If you don’t know Sambol’s history, here’s a quick recap. In 2019, the Bob’s founder bought back his namesake restaurant at 4300 Lemmon Avenue. Since then, he’s been at his 33-year-old steakhouse greeting customers almost every night each week. But what inspired him to open Bob’s back in 1993 was his background growing up in New Jersey, and his family owning bars and restaurants there and in New York City.

Charlie’s ethos will be simple, and inspired by the old-school elegance of neighborhood dining rooms of the East Coast — “from New York and the Bronx to classic establishments such as [Sambol’s] father’s restaurant The Continental in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey.” The design will be low-key “with a warm palette and subtle touches of vintage yellow hues woven throughout the restaurant.”

As for how Sambol, Pond, and Dunlap started this collaboration, Sambol says that he’s known the two Vandelay co-CEOs since they were in grade school.

“The memories that Bob and us all have together goes for decades, and it’s special to be doing such a fun and unique project together that no one in Dallas has done in quite some time,” says Pond. “Charlie’s isn’t about trying to make the biggest restaurant or the loudest statement. It’s about creating a timeless one. That restraint is what makes the project so exciting to us.”

Charlie’s will be open for dinner only, and we will keep you posted once we learn more about the menu, design, and beyond.