Southlake area celebrates Diwali and Holi as Tabla opens in Grapevine and Indian-Americans reshape North Texas
A dense week of Desi news around Southlake and North Texas: guides emerge for Diwali and Holi celebrations across the region, Tabla brings its Indian-Thai menu to neighbouring Grapevine, and a Star-Telegram feature tracks how Indian-Americans are reshaping the political and economic map around Southlake.
🎉 KERA maps where to celebrate Diwali across North Texas
KERA News, drawing on Dallas Morning News reporting by Alyson Rodriguez, has published a guide to celebrating Diwali across North Texas, a useful roundup for Southlake residents planning where to spend the Festival of Lights this season. Diwali, one of the year's largest observances for Hindu, Sikh, and Jain communities, is traditionally marked with oil lamps, sweets, family gatherings, fireworks displays, and public festivals hosted by community organisations. Across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, temples and cultural bodies build out multi-day programmes that pair religious observance with concerts, food bazaars, and cultural performances, and Southlake families, many of whom drive to venues in Irving, Frisco, or Plano, have a menu of options within reasonable distance. KERA's guide highlights events across neighbouring cities, giving residents a way to weigh which festival to attend based on scale, family activities, or the traditions being observed. For newcomers to the region, the roundup doubles as an introduction to a season that has become one of the metroplex's most visible cultural calendars, drawing not only Indian-American families but neighbours and elected officials who now routinely appear at the region's large Diwali events. With Southlake sitting between Tarrant and Denton county festivities, its residents can reach several major events in under an hour. [1]
🍛 Tabla opens its second Texas location in Grapevine
Grapevine, immediately south of Southlake, is now home to the second Texas location of Tabla Indian Restaurant, a Florida-based chain that blends Indian and Thai flavours, Community Impact reports. Tabla held its soft opening in Grapevine on March 13, 2026, expanding a footprint that had previously entered Texas through a first outpost elsewhere in the state. For Southlake diners the addition is convenient: Grapevine sits a short drive south along the Denton-Tarrant county line, giving Indian-food enthusiasts in the Southlake area a fresh option that pairs traditional Indian dishes with Thai plates under one roof. Restaurant chains of this type have found the Grapevine-Colleyville-Southlake corridor increasingly hospitable as its South Asian population has grown, with landlords marketing spaces specifically toward operators serving the diaspora and its neighbours. Tabla's move brings a familiar brand for Indian-American families who may have first encountered the chain in Florida, while offering North Texas newcomers the chance to explore the concept on this side of the country. The Grapevine opening also signals continued expansion in an Indian-restaurant scene that has broadened well past traditional curry houses to include regional South Indian, Indo-Chinese, and fusion players competing for suburban customers, a shift Southlake residents have watched play out block by block. [2]
🎉 Where to celebrate Holi across Tarrant County
Fort Worth Report has published a guide to celebrating Holi, the festival of colours, across Tarrant County, directly relevant to Southlake residents looking for local venues to observe the spring festival. Holi, which marks the arrival of spring and the triumph of good over evil in Hindu tradition, is celebrated with vibrant coloured powders, music, dance, and shared meals, and has grown well beyond religious circles to become one of the most photographed and attended cultural festivals in the region. Fort Worth Report's roundup catalogues where families can join in, from temple-hosted events to public festivals organised by cultural associations and community groups, giving Tarrant County residents including those in Southlake a set of options for the season. For many South Asian families in the northern Tarrant suburbs, Holi is the moment when the community gathers outdoors after the winter and reconnects across generations, with grandparents, parents, and children all joining in the throwing of colours. Non-Desi neighbours have increasingly attended these events, and Southlake-area families frequently take their children to celebrations in Bedford, Grapevine, and Fort Worth. The guide is a practical resource in a region where Holi has become a fixture on the spring events calendar and where each year brings new venues and new organisers stepping in to host. [3]
🤝 Indian-Americans driving change in North Texas
The Fort Worth Star-Telegram has examined how Indian-Americans are driving change in North Texas as their political and economic clout continues to grow, a lens directly relevant to Southlake, where South Asian families make up a rising share of the population. The Star-Telegram's reporting frames the trend as multi-dimensional: Indian-American entrepreneurs are launching businesses across the metroplex, professionals are moving into leadership roles at technology and healthcare employers, and community members are stepping into civic roles from school-board seats to municipal committees. Southlake, with its high-income households and top-ranked schools, has been a destination of choice for many of these families, and the growth is visible in local temples, cultural performances, and youth activities. The economic footprint is expanding alongside the demographic one: Indian-American-owned firms have long populated the region's IT services and retail landscapes and are increasingly visible in restaurants, real-estate development, and specialty healthcare. Political engagement is following the same trajectory, with candidates emerging from a generation of Indian-Americans who grew up in North Texas and now seek to represent it. For Southlake specifically, the story is one of a community whose weight is felt at PTA meetings, temple boards, and civic events, and whose next chapter will unfold in the council chambers, boardrooms, and school offices that shape the city's future. [4]
Sources: [1] KERA News · [2] Community Impact · [3] Fort Worth Report · [4] Fort Worth Star-Telegram