DTX-RIC: Impact 12/4/2025

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Richardson sees influx of halal menu items in 2025

A number of eateries offering halal-friendly dishes have opened or announced intentions to open in the city during 2025.

The details: According to Islamic law, halal is a term that designates what can be consumed by practitioners of Islam. To be considered halal, meat must come from a permitted animal that is healthy and slaughtered in a specific way.

Zooming in: Businesses, such as OG Chicken and Gyro, market their dishes as “New York-style halal dishes, including chicken and gyro platters.”

Latest News

Network of Community Ministries in Richardson announce new CEO

Network of Community Ministries announced Celeste Sneeze as the organization's president and CEO in a Dec. 2 news release.

The details: Sneeze has already served for the past three months as the interim leader of Network, a nonprofit that brings together churches across Richardson to provide food assistance, mental health services, clothing and other basic needs for nearly 30,000 individuals.

"It is a profound honor to be selected to lead Network," Sneeze said in the release. "I look forward to building on Network's legacy and advancing the work that makes such a difference in our community."

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now open

Microchip Cookies now offering mini-cookie treats in central Plano

A new dessert shop is now open in Plano.

Microchip Cookies has opened its first Plano location at the intersection of Park Boulevard and Preston Road.

What you need to know: Store manager Gefen Kusin-Kline said the shop offers a variety of bite-size cookies, including chocolate chip, salted caramel chocolate chip and a Texas-inspired cowboy choc-oat-chip. Kusin-Kline said the family business began when its founders started making the tiny “microchip” cookies as teacher gifts, which he said became a tradition that helped grow the company to what it is today.

One more thing: The store also offers seasonal flavors such as six-spice gingersnap and chocolate mini mint.