SMU grads building new business in the footprint of Goff's Hamburgers

Three recent SMU graduates want to give new life to the space that was once Goff’s Hamburgers in University Park.

The building was heavily damaged in a 2016 fire. Now it’s an ice cream shop. 

Will Ammons and two of his fraternity brothers, all recent SMU graduates, knew they wanted to go into business in the food and beverage industry. They also knew they wanted to do it in University Park.

"We knew what an institution Goff's was. We knew that whatever replaced that was going to have eyes on it," he said.

The one thing they have felt is missing from this area is a go-to ice cream shop. With that idea, they won over the property owner to open Baldo's this coming Labor Day weekend.

"I think they kind of liked the story of us being from SMU and kind of taking a chance on some young guys, and so that's how we landed the spot," said Ammons.

The three guys brought on their former SMU fraternity house chef, who was working as the head pastry chef for the restaurant Uchi in Dallas.

"Baldo's is a hybrid of a coffee shop fine dining pastries, ice cream, chef-inspired flavors," said Chef Aldo Sandoval.

He's already developing flavors like Texas Peaches and Cream, Goat Cheese and Pepper, Sweet Corn, Lavender, Mango and Strawberry, and Never Plain Vanilla, on this day it was Charcoal Vanilla.

"We don't want to do vanilla because there's so many flavors that you can have, so we made it black," said Sandoval.

Together, they hope Baldo's becomes as much a part of the culture around SMU as Goff's once did.

“Make a mark on the city, and so I feel like that will be the first of many marks we'll make on the city,” Ammons said. 

They also plan to serve coffee, and say nearly all of their products are local to Texas. They will also split the space with a salad shop, so they will not fill the entire Goff’s location.