Photos by Teresa Rafidi
Meaders Ozarow, co-founder of the popular Dallas bakery, talks bread, pastries and adding a new location
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
214-308-7300
empirebaking.com
EVE HILL-AGNUS teaches English and journalism and is a freelance writer based in Dallas. She earned degrees in English and Education from Stanford University. Her work has appeared in the Dallas Morning News, D Magazine, and the journal Food, Culture & Society. She remains a contributing Food & Wine columnist for the Los Altos Town Crier, the Bay-Area newspaper where she stumbled into journalism by writing food articles during grad school. Her French-American background and childhood spent in France fuel her enduring love for French food and its history. She is also obsessed with goats and cheese.
