For 112 years, the place to get a Zodiac Room popover with strawberry butter was the Neiman Marcus on Main Street downtown. That store closed on the evening of Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. This December, the popovers move to NorthPark Center, at Northwest Highway and US-75.
The Zodiac Room, the bridal salon and the downtown store's Santa are all moving to the Neiman Marcus at NorthPark. NorthPark already runs its own Santa, its own story hour and The Trains at NorthPark. That gives the building two holiday programs side by side, each with its own tickets, its own booking platform and its own opening day. For a Preston Hollow household, the planning question is no longer which store to visit. It is which reservation opens first.
Why the traditions came north
Neiman Marcus didn't have to look far for a new home for downtown's rituals. In June, Saks Global CEO Geoffroy van Raemdonck told The Dallas Morning News that the NorthPark store does more than 10 times the sales of the downtown location, and that downtown sales fell in 2025. He described the decision as following demand. "What we see is that there's a shift in the retail map in Dallas," he said in the same report.
The downtown building's future is undecided. As of late September, Exemplar Luxury Group, the parent of Neiman Marcus, said it would work through options with the other landowners. The land under the store is split among five owners, which complicates any sale or redevelopment. Residential, mixed-use, retail and office uses have been floated, but nothing has been approved.
The traditions themselves landed at NorthPark first. "We're really looking to be able to continue being part of the city and part of our clients' lives within this… location," Mary McGreevy, chief stores officer for Exemplar Luxury Group, told The Dallas Morning News.
What the Zodiac Room keeps, and what it adds
The new Zodiac Room is scheduled to open Nov. 20 in the space that used to be the NM Café at NorthPark. It brings over design elements from downtown, including the turquoise walls and some of the art. The menu mixes new dishes with the classics: popovers with strawberry butter, the Stanley Marcus pot roast and the mandarin orange soufflé. People Newspapers adds that the chicken broth stays too.
Two things are new. The room has a bar, and it adds a private dining room, which downtown didn't have.
The first weeks will run differently from a normal lunch service. According to the Zodiac Room's OpenTable listing, every reservation from Nov. 20 through Jan. 2 is for the Holiday Feast only. Parties of more than four book by phone at 214-891-1210. The listing gives regular hours as Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Sunday, noon to 3 p.m. It puts the restaurant in its "$50 and over" price category. As of Oct. 22, the earliest open table it offered was Friday, Nov. 27, a week after the scheduled opening.
Expect the opening-week holiday lunch to book up first. Some downtown regulars will want to be there on day one, and the room's opening falls the week before Thanksgiving.
Two Santas under one roof
Felix Estridge, the downtown store's Santa, starts at the NorthPark Neiman Marcus after Thanksgiving. He brings the photo and Breakfast with Santa traditions with him. NorthPark Center keeps its own Santa season in the common areas. The two programs don't share tickets, platforms or calendars.
Neiman Marcus sells its events through Eventbrite. Breakfast with Santa costs $70 for adults and $55 for children ages 3 to 12. Children under 3 are free. Tax and nonrefundable Eventbrite fees are added to each ticket. Saturday breakfasts begin at 8:30 a.m., and Sunday breakfasts at 9:30 a.m. There are two more Neiman's events:
- Dine with Santa is an evening event on Thursday, Dec. 17, from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Adult tickets are $180 with the service charge included.
- Storytime with Santa runs Dec. 21, 22 and 23, with tickets from $77.08.
NorthPark's own Santa runs Nov. 27 through Dec. 24. Reservations open Nov. 22 at noon CST. Prices start at $30 for weekday visits from Nov. 27 to Dec. 11 and reach $75 on Christmas Eve. The center's free Stories and Songs with Santa runs daily over the same dates and needs no reservation. For parking, the center points visitors to the Macy's Garage from US-75 for Macy's Court, and to either the Macy's or Nordstrom garage for North Court.
Taken together, a family that wants a free story hour, a priced portrait and a sit-down breakfast can do all three in one building. It just takes three separate plans.
The season in booking order
Here are both programs' dates in one sequence, starting from today:
- Now. Zodiac Room Holiday Feast reservations are open on OpenTable, and Neiman's Breakfast with Santa tickets are on sale through Eventbrite.
- Nov. 14. The Trains at NorthPark opens on Level One, across from Kona Grill.
- Nov. 20. The Zodiac Room is scheduled to open, and Holiday Feast service begins.
- Nov. 22, noon CST. NorthPark Center Santa reservations open.
- Nov. 27. NorthPark Santa visits and free Stories and Songs begin.
- Nov. 29. The first Neiman's Breakfast with Santa. More follow Dec. 5, 12, 13, 19 and 20.
- Early December. The Neiman Marcus bridal salon opens on the store's lower level.
- Dec. 17. Dine with Santa at Neiman Marcus.
- Dec. 21 to 23. Storytime with Santa at Neiman Marcus.
- Dec. 24. NorthPark Santa's last day.
- Jan. 2 and 3. Holiday Feast service ends Jan. 2, and The Trains closes Jan. 3.
The order matters because the most-wanted slots open earliest. Zodiac Room tables and Neiman's breakfasts go on sale weeks before NorthPark's own Santa calendar opens on Nov. 22.
The Trains changed this year too. The 2026 exhibit opens at 9 a.m. Monday through Saturday. Last season's NorthPark listing showed a 10 a.m. start. The exhibit also adds Themed Tuesdays and an expanded Choo-Choo Tales & Tunes with interactive music. Proceeds go to Ronald McDonald House Dallas, which aims to raise $1.3 million from the exhibit. For the 2025 season, admission was $12 for adults, $10 for children and $7 for seniors, and children under 2 were free. Check the exhibit site for this year's prices before you go.
The bridal salon, for anyone already mid-fitting
The bridal salon, which served generations of customers downtown, is moving into a smaller, more private space on NorthPark's lower level. It is expected to open in early December. Until then, Neiman Marcus is handling alterations and fittings for existing brides at the NorthPark store. A bride who started downtown can keep her schedule without leaving the building where her gown will be finished.
Not everything from downtown is coming to NorthPark. According to PaperCity, Neiman Marcus said the downtown store's historic art will be spread across its stores, while the Zodiac Room keeps the art and design elements tied to the original room.
The rest of NorthPark arrived first
Neiman's move fits a pattern that has played out at NorthPark all year. In May, The Dallas Morning News reported a group of first-in-North-Texas brands headed to the center. Co-owner Nancy Nasher said the additions served a "thoughtful and distinctive retail mix." Several have opened since:
- L'Agence opened by late August.
- Lafayette 148 is now open on Level One.
- FAO Schwarz's "The Jewel Box" opened inside Nordstrom on Aug. 21, and Hill House Home reopened in its permanent space on Aug. 19, according to PaperCity.
- Mendocino Farms is now in the former La Madeleine space. La Madeleine closed Dec. 31, 2024, after serving NorthPark since 1989.
More are on the way. Clive Christian is expected to open its first U.S. retail store at NorthPark in December. Luca Faloni plans its first Texas shop for early 2027. Gentle Monster is also coming, with no date announced. NorthPark's dining directory lists Auntie Anne's as temporarily closed, and PaperCity reported in August that it was getting a facelift.
Put the store openings next to the Zodiac Room's turquoise walls and Felix Estridge's breakfasts, and NorthPark looks like the place Dallas brands now choose when they want a single local address. This December, that includes a downtown institution's traditions.
Holiday plans in Preston Hollow now center on one building. If you're thinking about how changes like this affect daily life near Northwest Highway, or what they mean for your own next move, Donna Hartley can talk it through with the same local detail. Schedule a Free Consultation.
