Gemma, The Charles, Tinie’s Mexican Cuisine, and More: Introducing the Dallas Hit List

Lucia has long been known as one of the hardest reservations to come by in Dallas. After closing at COVID’s onset, the beloved Bishop Arts haunt has just reopened, so pardon us if we’re happy to say that’s still the case: Now housed in the former Macellaio space, tables are even tougher to score, as the new dining room is set up for social distancing.

But expect the same pre-pandemic array of delicate handmade pastas, plus a spring chef’s-choice salumi plate with capicola, mortadella and their kin, and some of the best chicken liver mousse around. Even better: There’s no bucatini (with guanciale and spring onion) shortage here!

Dining status: Indoor and patio seating, to-go paused while the restaurant reopens.

Nick Badovinus has substituted seafood for pizza, and (ahoy!) are we into it. Yo! Lobster opened in November in ritzy Highland Park Village, supplanting the restaurateur’s Perfect Union Pizza. Amid the shiplap and yacht rock, it’s hard to resist at least one of the five lobster rolls on the menu (melted butter or mayo; fried, barbecue, or California-chilled?) but there’s also ceviche, jumbo snow crab claws, and steamed shellfish piled high in a redolent broth with Parmesan toast for dipping. (We’re not judging if you ask for more bread.) And don’t forget to order a side of the excellent medium-cut, crispy-yet-pillowy fries.

Dining status: Indoor and patio seating. Call 214-559-4245 for reservations.

Airy and beguiling, Paradiso shines bright during spring. Its Southern European-style menu is best enjoyed outdoors in the restaurant’s pretty shaded garden, but a table inside, near the floor-to-ceiling windows (that are often open) works too. Cocktails prove elegantly effervescent (witness the “Life in Paradiso,” with Topo Chico, passionfruit and gin conspiring to greatness), and the menu manages to work in an excellent couscous salad and a grilled octopus with white bean main course amid the more standard-bearing Italian — thoroughly excellent wood-fired pizzas and pastas.

Dining status: Open for brunch, lunch and dinner, with ndoor and outdoor seating.

This year-old restaurant from Sarah Castillo (Taco Heads, Sidesaddle Saloon) is a charmer, with a winsome menu that spans potato taquitos and birria tacos, to “larger-format” plates such as the house specialty rotisserie chicken and spicy, crispy duck carnitas.

A brunch menu shows similar vim and vigor, with carafes of mimosas and baskets of tamales being ordered by the dozen—or at least it seems that way. A coveted table on the rooftop patio is tops, so reservations are a good idea.

Dining status: Indoor and patio seating, online ordering/curbside. Call 682-255-5425 to book a table.

At the Charles, Italian food is “interpreted through a Texas lens.” One dinner here, and you’ll know what that means. The three-year-old restaurant has the distinctly Dallas glam factor fully engaged, minus the pre-pandemic air-kisses at the door. Add a menu that imbues intrigue to what could be pedestrian (risotto features ancient grains; grilled halibut comes with black rice; gnocchi gets a lobster-Parmesan makeover), and you’ll feel at once at home and on view here, which is appropriate given its artsy Design District setting.

Dining status: Indoor seating; reservations recommended.

If your heart figuratively quickens to the notion of sliders, shakes and smothered waffle fries, then Son of a Butcher — a new location opened on Lower Greenville at the end of last year — is your idea of some kind of wonderful.

The sliders range from fried chicken to wagyu (from A Bar N Ranch in Celina) to vegetarian; the shakes from classic to “Swanky” (cookie butter, anyone?); and the fries, well, they are spuds of beauty. The nacho version, with wagyu, nacho cheese, ranch, and queso fresco (for good measure), satisfy the random, upscale-ballpark cuisine craving without having to go to Globe Life Field. More info here.

Dining status: Indoor and patio seating, online ordering for takeout.

Speaking of, things are returning to “normal” most everywhere you look, but nowhere more so than around Globe Life Field in Arlington. This expansive steakhouse, inside the Live! By Loews complex, adjacent to the at-capacity-but-it’s-still-the-Rangers ballpark, caters to the crowds with a deft touch, touting brunch, lunch and dinner menus that “have something for everyone,” which no one actually says. But the easy execution of classic steakhouse fare spanning a glazed bacon slab appetizer at lunch to farro risotto and a braised short rib cassoulet at dinner is a win-win in our estimation.

Dining status: Indoor and outdoor seating; reservations recommended.

Husband and wife owners Stephen Rogers and Allison Yoder’s Knox-Henderson bistro is at once reliable and refreshing. Seasonal dishes flourish here, and the dinner menu shows the bounty. A salad features beets and pickled strawberries while charred rapini and fennel pollen add bright contrasts to “farrotto” and pork ragu entrees. Meanwhile, more luscious options include duck frites and lobster pot pie. A downsized curbside menu is available, as are take-home lasagna pasta kits, if a seat on the relaxing patio or in the dining room isn’t an option.

Dining status: Indoor and patio seating; reservations recommended. Takeout via online ordering.

Make no mistake, Royal 38 is a cocktail bar through and through — and with the lineage to proof … we mean, prove it: Its owners also operate Deep Ellum bar Hide.

There are two full-service bars here on two levels, spread over more than 4,000 square feet of revelry, plus an inviting patio. Past the boisterously boffo drinks menu, there is much else to celebrate. Standout shared plates include crispy Portobello fries and perhaps the most Uptown riff on queso there ever was: straciatella ‘nduja. A double cheese smashburger with a brisket-chuck patty satisfies, and for the more regimented, the poke noodle bowl with roasted tomatoes and squash is a healthy option.

Dining status: Indoor and patio seating, free delivery and order to-go.

In 2018, husband and wife Evandro and Vanderleia Caregnato opened their first gaucho-style pizza location in Southlake. Three years later, they’ve added three other locations across North Texas (Design District, Plano, and Fort Worth).

What sets the Caregnatos’ concept apart is the quality of ingredients, effectively canceling out any reluctance you might have for this style of (over)eating. For a fixed price, your meal starts with an antipasto/salad platter and a shot of inordinately luscious lobster bisque. Then, gauchos descend with near-endless slices of thin-crust pizzas, ranging from garlic picanha to chicken tikka masala to Mexican elote with crema fresca. And when you think you may turn your card to cue an end to the loving onslaught, just wait: there’s dessert pizza.

Dining status: Indoor and patio seating, online ordering for takeout. Call 682-477-4040 for reservations at the Southlake location, and 214-774-9903 for the Dallas location. Find more info here.