McKinney's Adriatica Village adds members' community above Burress Injury Law

Above Burress Injury Law in McKinney’s Adriatica Village, The Rook is trying to do something more specific than open another private lounge. Jason Burress has framed the upstairs space as a members’ community built around shared culture, music and connection, not old-school exclusivity, in a setting that already trades heavily on place and identity.

That location matters. Adriatica Village is a 45-acre Croatian-inspired mixed-use development in Stonebridge Ranch, modeled after the fishing village of Supetar on the island of Brač. Its official materials describe a district of shops, flats, the Bell Tower and Bella Donna Chapel, which has made the village one of McKinney’s most recognizable destinations for dining, events and weddings. The Rook fits that mix, but it also adds a different layer: a space meant for networking that feels personal rather than transactional.

The Rook’s own description calls it a “one-of-a-kind venue” in west McKinney, with a lounge, full bar, private seating and a fireside terrace overlooking the Stonebridge Dye course. It also says the venue offers premier experiences and events and can be rented for limited corporate, community, nonprofit and private uses. That combination suggests the audience is not just social members looking for a night out. It is also professionals, donors, small-business owners and neighbors who want a place to build relationships in a city where the next conversation often starts over a shared setting.

Burress’ branding follows that logic. Research notes describe the upstairs room as born from an admiration for the raw craftsmanship of Texas songwriting, and the name itself came from a marketing study. That mix of instinct and strategy is telling. The Rook is being positioned less as a velvet-rope club than as a curated third space, one that fills a gap between restaurant, event venue and private gathering place in a development already built around destination use.

The timing also lines up with McKinney’s growth. The U.S. Census counted 195,308 residents in the city in 2020, while Collin County reached 1,064,465. In a fast-growing market, concepts built around identity and repeat visitation have become a business model as much as a lifestyle pitch.

Community Impact reported that The Rook opened in late May 2024 and partnered with McKinney-based Hugs Cafe, adding a civic tie that pushes it beyond pure hospitality. Burress Injury Law says Jason Burress is a seventh-generation Texan and an SMU School of Law graduate who previously worked on hundreds of high-stakes personal injury and wrongful death cases. That contrast, litigation downstairs and a culture-driven members’ community upstairs, gives Adriatica Village a new kind of networking address in McKinney.