It battled ‘ignorance.’ This Meridian restaurant will be ‘unlike anything valley’s seen’
It started out as a proposed lounge, concert venue and event center called The Oasis — with plans to bring nightclub energy to the busy corner of Eagle and Ustick roads.
But naysayers emerged. An unconvinced Meridian City Council voted no in 2021.
Years after its initial unveiling, the project has evolved into The Dalton Royal, which calls itself “Meridian’s most exciting restaurant and entertainment experience.”
Plowing forward with a modified vision, owner Brian Tsai is preparing to open it soon.
He has toiled to transform the roughly 8,500-square-foot building at 3161 E. Ustick Road. The Dalton Royal will take up about 6,500 square feet of that. Anyone following the transformation on Facebook over the past year knows that he is eager to see his efforts pay off.
“There’s something incredible about seeing a dream come to fruition,” The Dalton Royal’s Facebook page declared last May after framing had started. “... Despite unbelievable obstacles and battling extremism, ignorance, and campaigns of intentional misinformation against our project, here we stand watching day by day as our building comes closer to completion.”
Just weeks ago — on Dec. 29: “This is it, the final madhouse push to get everything done,” The Dalton Royal proclaimed, admitting that a targeted New Year’s Eve grand opening would not occur.
“I can only hope that when people walk in the doors for the first time all you think is ‘wow,’ ” Tsai wrote. “And while I can’t promise an exact opening date other than ‘towards the end of January,’ I can at least promise it will be unlike anything this valley has ever seen.”
An end-of-January opening won’t quite happen — “I’m hoping about three weeks from now,” Tsai said in a Jan. 19 phone interview — but The Dalton Royal’s premiere seems imminent.
Food, pool, music, comedy
Rather than positioning itself like The Oasis — a beach-themed party zone with a touch-interactive dance floor —The Dalton Royal hypes other personalities as a multipurpose entertainment destination.
“We’re here to give you a dining experience,” the website says. “But also a fun spot for Meridian that’s open late” for a variety of activities.
Options will include “a world tour of tropical-inspired cuisine, available into late night,” it says. And an array of pool tables, creating a “perfect hangout spot.” The Dalton Royal offers “local musicians” and “dueling pianos.” Local comedians are part of the plan, too.
Tsai said that The Dalton Royal idea came together quickly after the city of Meridian denied The Oasis’ conditional-use permit. “I had roughly about a week to come up with an entirely new concept based around a restaurant as opposed to a concert house,” he said.
When it does open, The Dalton Royal will host two invite-only evenings, he said, welcoming people who originally were on a list for The Oasis’ debut. A grand opening will happen the following weekend, he added.
Tsai said he’s worked 16 to 17 hours a day, seven days a week, in a final plunge toward the finish line. “I’ve slept about three hours every night for the last three weeks.”
Ultimately, does it feel like all the blood, sweat and tears will be worth it?
“It definitely doesn’t feel like it right now,” he admitted. “But I would imagine, closer to the end, it will.”
This story was originally published January 23, 2023 at 4:00 AM.