The July Hit List: Beatrice, Meridian, The Charles, and More

At this new Oak Cliff restaurant, the emphasis is on contemporary Cajun fare, with a wide-ranging menu that spans shrimp and grits and fried chicken to the more inventive: vegan jambalaya, boudin lollipops, and eggplant pirogues. Inside the elegant restaurant, with its fleur-de-lis wallpaper and brass fixtures, diners are also enjoying other culturally rich food from Louisiana from chef-owner Michelle Carpenter, who has Cajun and Japanese lineage. On the weekends, brunch beckons, especially on the patio if the weather permits. Few places in Dallas offer eggs Benedict with jumbo soft-shell crab in such a convivial atmosphere.

At Dallas’s newest 10-seater omakase hot spot, guests can expect 15-18 courses, including 13-15 pieces of nigiri, miso soup, a handroll, and a “light dessert” on a given night. (Plus, more nigiri if you’re up for it.) But the spotlight here is more on quality over quantity, thanks to talented chef Tatsuya Sekiguchi, previously of New York City’s Michelin-starred Sushi Yasuda. Owner Matthew Ciccone lured the chef to Dallas, and the rest is sushi history.

Call 469-271-7710 for reservations.

A culinary darling of Deep Ellum, Fort Worth-import Revolver offers cheap tacos that are both exceedingly delicious and extremely authentic. (Look no further than owner Regino Rojas’ mother making masa in the kitchen.) But there’s also La Resistencia, the owner’s heightened take on the whole experience. The seven-course prix fixe tasting menu ($95) features food from indigenous farms in Oaxaca like heirloom corn (maiz milpero) to make tortillas and marries those ingredients with Japanese cooking techniques to create outstanding versions of carne asada and Michocan-style birria tacos.

This downtown Fort Worth restaurant, which will soon debut in downtown Dallas, is hitting its stride after the pandemic pause. The all-day venue bills itself as an American steakhouse, with the butcher cuts taking prime real estate on the menu. But the real decisions come down to the sauces: Do you top a 32-ounce Tomahawk chop with a black-peppercorn sauce or chimichurri? Or will you choose herb, Worcestershire, or lobster butters? Other innovative nods include the tuna pizza appetizer and the corn crème brulee dessert, all to be enjoyed in a glossy dining room that complements the architecturally forward, yet somehow mod, building.

At The Charles, Italian food is “interpreted through a Texas lens.” One dinner here, and you’ll know what that means. The restaurant has the distinctly Dallas glam factor fully engaged. 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.

At this modern Brazilian restaurant from notable chef Junior Borges (Uchi, FT33) expect to be delighted — starting with the bread. Yes, bread. Pillowy clouds served with marbled butter, whipped ‘nduja, ricotta, and green garlic relish, the starter sets the bar for your meal, which gets even more inventive. Just on the “snacks” part of the menu alone, there’s also a tapioca Brazilian cheese fritter and Beach Cheese on a Stick, the stuff of cheese dreams, while the sesame garlic pancake piques palates across the dining room. Larger plates riff into further greatness, from the wagyu picanha with an eggplant caponata to whole grilled octopus with more of that green garlic, plus a chile vinaigrette.

Paco has grown up with the recent news that it is opening another location in downtown Fort Worth. But it all started on 8th Avenue, when it was in a former gas station dining room, where beverages and other items would line the refrigerated shelves — all the better for you to jostle them with an inadvertent push back of your seat in the crowded dining room. Diners have slightly more elbow room since the restaurant moved to Magnolia Avenue, where the food is as dependable as ever. Street tacos and enchiladas fill out the Tex-Mex portion of the menu, while lobster bisque, mussels, and frites surprise, and interior Mexican dishes like Mixiotes de Pollo (banana-leaf-wrapped chicken with chiles) keep customers coming back, despite the wealth of options along this strip.

This luxe steakhouse (and butchery), from the lovable Australian chef continues to draw celebratory diners, and for good reason. The seasonal menu is inspired by Stone’s favorite ingredients, like Australian Blackmore wagyu, and the food reads as regal and refined. For instance, diners can choose from four different kinds of caviar served with housemade brioche and may move on to an Oysters and Pearls (smoked trout roe) or a Hiramasa (kingfish) crudo appetizer. A mango, melon, and feta gazpacho is fetchingly light amid the heavier steak and Hasselback potatoes fare.

Michelin-starred chef Akira Back is not playing in The Colony. At his eponymous new restaurant, Back brings assured elegance to this unlikely, mixed-use-development-with-a-Ferris-wheel setting. With nearly 170 seats indoors and on the patio, guests dine on straight-up sushi fusion (tuna pizza, yellowtail tartare) and hot plates (grilled octopus with potato foam), while the adventurous may gravitate to the Nazo 9 “mystery box”: You don’t know what’s in it until it’s unveiled tableside — for $65 per person.

Sfuzzi, the iconic 1980s-era pizza and pasta bar, is back (and better than ever, baby). After disappearing from Uptown in the late-aughts (and briefly resurfacing with different owners on Cedar Springs in 2015), the new iteration shines in all the right places. With the sexy leather banquettes from its original McKinney Avenue location, plus a spacious patio, the restaurant is at once comfy and nostalgic — and thoroughly modern. The menu spans wood-fired, perfectly neither thick-nor-thin crust pizzas (the quattro formaggi is excellent) to spicy pastas (vodka rigatoni) to traditional-ish Italian entrees (pork chop piccata). Brunch on the weekends — just try to say “no” to the Loco mixed plate steak-pancetta-egg-and-risotto masterpiece — will alternately leave you swooning and planning a repeat visit, mid-bite.