The Resy Hit List: Where In Dallas You’ll Want to Eat in Aug. 2024
There’s no question we hear more often: Where should I go eat? And while we at Resy know it’s an honor to be the friend who everyone asks for restaurant advice, we also know it’s a complicated task. That’s where the Resy Hit List comes in.
We’ve designed it to be your essential resource for dining in Dallas and Fort Worth: a monthly-updated (and now expanded!) guide to the restaurants that you won’t want to miss — tonight or any night.
Four Things In Dallas-Fort Worth Not to Miss This Month
- Tomato Szn: Summer’s best ingredient will take the main stage this month at Carbone with chef Mario Carbone’s first seasonal menu for Dallas. It includes two dishes exclusively available in the Big D: Scallops in a Sungold cherry tomato sauce and veal Milanese with peak-season heirloom tomato salad. Fond has also added new dishes featuring summer’s favorite fruit. For lunch, try a Caprese panzanella with Texas tomatoes and stracciatella, or for aperitivo hour, Spanish mussels with confit tomatoes and chorizo.
- Turning the Big One: Chef Leigh Hutchinson is throwing a birthday party for her first, long-dreamed-for restaurant, Via Triozzi, on Sunday, August 25. In the tradition of an Italian family Sunday dinner, expect three courses, wine specials, and lots of cheer. (Tickets can be found here, and check the Resy Events page for more special plans.
- Viva la Independencia: In Fort Worth’s cultural district, nestled among the state’s finest art museums, Don Artemio will kick off Mexico’s month-long celebration of independence with the third annual chile en nogada festival beginning August 28. The sweet-savory, chile relleno-like dish in walnut sauce is one of Mexico’s most historic and artistic dishes, and at Don Artemio, it will be served until October 20 with fanfare and respect to the original, with chef Rodrigo Cárdenas using what is believed to be the original recipe from the 1800s.
- Steak ‘n ‘Tini Night: Giving hump day a major boost, cocktail lounge Clifton Club has made Wednesday night extra special. A $40 special includes a six-ounce filet with peppercorn sauce, an arugula salad, fries, and a Club Martini. The only question is: Gin or vodka?
New to the Hit List (Aug. 2024)
Goodwin’s, Bricks and Horses, Stillwell’s, Goldie’s, Far East Pizza Co.
1. Sachet Highland Park
Dallas hospitality masters Stephen and Allison Yoder have rolled out a new menu with more seafood at their six-year-old pan-Mediterranean gem, Sachet. (Don’t fret. The harissa-spiced crispy chicken bites made the cut.) Sampling the new additions mandates several visits, or one large party where everyone shares, or even better — both. Find six new crudos, such as fatty Samaki smoked salmon with housemade Boursin cheese, along with a new pick-your-fish-and-sauce section, served with whole wheat spanikorzo, chickpeas, and feta. A bright-orange, saffron-tinted housemade tagliatelle loaded with scallops, mussels, squid, and shrimp is what Stephen calls “bouillabaisse meets pasta.” We won’t soon forget it, and we can’t wait to get back for the rest.
2. James Provisions Hurst
When The New York Times reviewed James, a restaurant in a Brooklyn brownstone that ran from 2008 to 2022, it was called “an example of how quietly sophisticated the food at restaurants fashioned as affordable neighborhood bistros has become.” The same can be said for the restaurant’s second iteration, opened by Deborah Williamson in Hurst, just a few miles from her North Richland Hills hometown, this March. She’s brought the all-star items from the former restaurant to Texas, including the roasted chicken in 18-hour jus and grass-fed beef burgers that will appease gluten-free and keto diets. Serving dinners and weekend brunch for the health-conscious, or otherwise, it’s a “fine-casual” neighborhood joint we all need, no matter where we’re living.
3. Petra and the Beast Lakewood
If there’s anyone capable of switching up the Sunday brunch status quo, it’s charcuterie queen Misti Norris. A selection of her house-cured meats with jam and spicy mustard are one way to kick off a mid-day meal before delving into house made yogurt, fried chicken thighs with smoked shallot gravy, or savory gnocchi French toast with scoops of fluffy whipped ricotta and ribbons of shoyu-smoked ham. Her dinner menu is equally intriguing: standbys include unusual housemade pastas, farm-fresh salads, and seductive tea-braised pig tails. For a complete tumble down Norris’s rabbit hole of imaginative, earthy cooking, book her six-course tasting menu with wine pairings on a Friday or Saturday night. It’s a dreamy, through the Looking-Glass experience, told by one of Dallas’s best chefs.
4. St. Martin’s Old East Dallas
One of Dallas’s most nostalgic date night spots has resurfaced two miles from its original venue, where its first dinner service occurred in 1980. St. Martin’s consistent menu of French-y classics with a soundtrack by pianist Luis Henderson — who’s been tickling the ivories at the same bench for the last 15 years — are inspiring those who dined at any point in the last 44 years to return for a meal on memory lane, now on Bryan Street. The old bar was dusted off and moved to the new restaurant, where the wallpaper, chandeliers, escargots, and Champagne brie soup make it easy to remember bygone meals. If your reservation falls on a particularly special occasion — and you’ve never had the privilege of a $4,000 bottle of cognac — consider a half-ounce pour of Louis XIII for $125.
5. Goodwin’s Lower Greenville
Some explanation for the planning required to snag a booth at Goodwin’s is that Dallas is in love with new restaurants, and the fact the Lower Greenville neighborhood likes to get out. But we’ll accept the challenge to nab a Resy on any night of the week. From three friends with decades of restaurant experience, Goodwin’s is where you can sink into a hefty, bistro-quality burger and a margarita; a bowl of crab al’ amatriciana with a bottle of Montepulciano; or mushroom-potato pierogis and a Shiner. The garlic-rosemary smashed Yukons that come with the dry-aged Duroc pork chop would have us happy just ordering from the Potatoes section next time, too. Pro tip: Star Crunch cake.
6. Stillwell’s Harwood District
After opening last year in boutique luxury Hôtel Swexan, Stillwell’s fits right in Dallas’s steakhouse realm, not an easy feat among other decades-old giants. This classic effort with a modern twist stands out with an in-house beef program of Akaushi cattle, raised locally and exclusively for Harwood Hospitality concepts. A whole animal, zero-waste approach yields Delmonico ribeyes with served up with horseradish cream each night, but also bone-rich stocks and sauces, rugs, and leather products. Chef James Ash also shines with foie gras brioche donuts and beef dumplings in truffle gravy, and like all great steakhouses, seafood options abound. Get a taste of Ash’s full range on the third Sunday of each month, aka Smokehouse Sundays, with a tempting four-course dinner and access to the cigar lounge for $125.
7. The Charles Design District
Opened in 2018, before the recent flooding of new, upscale Italian spots, The Charles remains an “Italian-inspired” stunner, and plenty in vogue. With a kitchen turning out voluptuous lemon ricotta gnudi and blue crab bucatini, along with wood-fired wagyu tomahawks and whole branzino, how could it not be? Indulgences arrive in an eclectic Renaissance dining room to match, with pilasters, fresco paintings, cheetah print booths, and purple neon lights. Capped with charming and professional service, it’s clear why Duro Hospitality’s first concept was the beginning of a beautiful relationship for Dallas Italian food lovers.
8. La Bodega Rotisserie + Goods Bishop Arts
If there’s a season when La Bodega chef-owner Skye McDaniel is particularly on fire, it’s summer. Her organic rotisserie chickens from Pennsylvania Dutch country are a perennial no-fail favorite. But now is the season when she’ll begin incorporating summer melons, peaches, and her personal passion project — tomatoes — into salads, sandwiches, and other specials. Bulgarian froyo with pomegranate molasses or fresh fruit preserves is another no-brainer, nor is picking up a party pack, a pile of conserva-style tinned fish, and a few bottles of sophisticated wine and beer selections for the next gathering.
Find more info here.
9. Goldie’s Lake Highlands
This American restaurant packs a lot into its little Lake Highlands space. Boasting a small, elegant bar and ruby-red seats for no more than 66 people, the classy-casual atmosphere is ideal for date nights and catching up with old friends. There’s naturally real Champagne by the glass (for $20), but we really recommend going with a bottle because it’s fabulous with rotating cheeses and honeycomb, or the impressive 20 Feet Fries that attempt to emulate another beloved neighborhood joint of yore. Indulgence continues throughout the menu with tricked up butters — on moules frites, the Prime New York strip, and even the exquisite broccoli. And we’ve learned that when a place only has one dessert option, like the banana split here, it’s an accurate sign to order, because it’s going to be impressive.
10. Bricks and Horses Cultural District
Answering the call of steak-loving folk who might occasionally also crave seafood, chef Antonio Votta recently updated the menu here at Auberge Resorts’ Bowie House with some lighter options. Seafood-focused selections include oysters with hot-sauce sorbet and celery mignonette, lobster piccata with melted leeks, and corn risotto with huitlacoche and jumbo lump crab. For the red meat-lovers, nine steaks and chops remain on the menu, along with a prime beef burger. Whatever your hankering might be, starting with a warm sourdough loaf and the heirloom tomatoes and peaches is a smart move. Don’t forget pastry chef Laura Cottler’s banana pudding profiterole with rummy Foster sauce, either.
11. Far East Pizza Co. Allen
Butter chicken pizza? You better believe it. After going from hot to passé, fusion cuisine is making a comeback as “a natural extension of reality,” as the San Francisco Chronicle termed it. Here’s a perfect example of a cuisine that never went away in a place like Texas, the nation’s second most diverse state. Chef Nidhi Mittal and her husband, Lokesh, serve Indian-spiced meatballs, butter paneer pizzas on naan and housemade flatbreads, and chicken seekh meatball sandwiches at their first restaurant, in partnership with vegan chef Troy Gardner. It comes after four years as a deli-turned-ghost kitchen, making it an American success story in restaurant form — our favorite kind.
No reservations. More info here.
12. Little Daisy Downtown
Opened in March on the ninth floor of Thompson Dallas, this isn’t your average hotel restaurant. Executive chef Jeramie Robison is now serving all-day French-Cajun-inflected meals, including weekend brunch. The menu offers top of the line meats and poultry, like Snake River wagyu steak frites and Jidori chicken, but seafood also looms large, with king crab Louie, oysters Rockefeller, wild salmon crudo in absinthe-melon consommé, and fruits de mer “plateaus” for three or six. When making plans, keep in mind the daily Iceberg Hour from 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., when two 50-cent, ice-cold martinis come with every half-dozen order of East Coast oysters.
13. Cafe Americana Arlington
This new Spanish-influenced restaurant with leadership hailing from Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Morocco, and the Philippines is a groovy setting to toast Arlington’s status as one of the most diverse cities in America. Caribbean cocktails like the three-rum Rude Boy Punch segue smoothly into tapas like Peruvian chicken skewers, yucca bravas, and sticky wings in spicy guava sauce. This is Texas, so larger appetites can go all in with four types of steak or a manchego cheeseburger. Possibly the best part of international grazing in the jungle green dining room is supporting a down-to-earth, homegrown enterprise that smacks with talent.
Find more info here.
14. Teddy Wongs Near Southside
Need we say more than dumplings and wine? That’s the tagline for this Near Southside draw that is filling a large void of Chinese food in Fort Worth with lobster dumplings, har gow, and wagyu potstickers. “Mains that wok” include chef Patrick Wu’s steak fried rice and Mongolian beef with meat from 44 Farms, along with mapo tofu, kung pao shrimp, and Szechuan string beans. A full Peking duck never hurt anyone, either. Determine your favorite Chinese food-wine pairing by perusing the entire wine list, one 3-ounce pour at a time. Or, order a whole bottle of “giggle juice,” with prices ranging from $29 to $320. All options point to bliss at this rare spot that can keep step with budget dates or more elaborate celebrations.
15. Tango Room Design District
Nothing says “time to celebrate” like prime steaks and a good bottle from the top of the cellar, and truth is, Dallas has plenty of places to choose from in this arena. But Tango Room’s maroon circular booths offer an intimacy and coziness (and slightly lower volume level) than others. It also offers cuts not found elsewhere, like an Allen Brothers Denver steak and a bone-in, dry-aged Kansas city strip. For those extra-celebratory evenings, add seared foie gras or sauce chasseur, while sipping rare glassfuls, like a 1935 Sandeman port, sourced by wine devotee and co-owner Simon Roberts.
16. Bar Colette Uptown Dallas
There’s a new Michelin-starred chef in town. Christophe De Lellis exited three-starred Joël Robuchon in Las Vegas late last year to join restaurateur-brother team, Brandon and Henry Cohanim, in Dallas. As De Lellis gears up to debut his first full-scale restaurant in the Big D, called Mamani, set to open late this year, you can get a taste of his skills — and his perfect, cognac-y steak au poivre — at Bar Colette. There are also mini lobster rolls and mini burgers, fine little bites for artful cocktails presented in museum-like quality. Because Dallas has a thing for steak, and De Lellis has more sauces up his sleeve, the first Wednesday night of each month is now Steak Frites Night. Wagyu flatiron filets are sliced and decked out with herby, emerald green entrecôte sauce and come with a baguette, salade verte, and frites for $49.
17. Radici Wood Fired Grill Farmers Branch
With the opening of Radici, sister restaurant to Roots Southern Table, star chef Tiffany Derry has returned to her culinary roots with the first cuisine she learned to cook professionally. Expect full-scale Italian with a modern embrace, like herby lasagna blanca with Modena-inspired white Bolognese, or wood-fired Kurobuta pork chops with sweet-and-sour Boretanne onions. Cheese-pull lovers will be in paradise, with mozzarella in carrozza, a fried cheese sandwich named for the reins of a horse carriage. Regardless of your choices, do not skip Italy’s most prized salumi, the culatello di Zibello, which comes from the meatiest part of a pork’s leg (hence the name “little ass”). It’s like butter.
Call 214-550-7900 for reservations.
18. Latin Deli Northeast Dallas
When Fernando Barrera put out a call for support for his 13-year-old sandwich gem, the city stepped up. In a post earlier this year, Barrera lamented the surmounting challenges of restaurant ownership, worsened by a bout of vandalization. Instead of creating a GoFundMe, he asked followers to remember his tasty food the next time they were hungry. The prospect of permanently losing out on Cubanos with housemade fries, Latin-style crepes, and Chocoflan put a fire in the pants of his followers. In a heartwarming update two weeks later, Barrera shared he was able to repair his broken windows three weeks earlier than anticipated. With patio season in full-swing and super-efficient takeout, it’s still a great time to go.
More info here.
19. Hadramout Restaurant Plano and Irving
If you can’t yet name off examples of Yemeni cuisine, it’s time for a firsthand taste of lamb mandi and chicken zorbian, rice dishes with low-and-slow cooked meats Texans should find familiar — and extremely delish. Hadramout’s locations in Plano and Irving are the type of restaurant where the disposable plastic tablecloths are necessary, and if you so wish, you can experience jalsa dining, aka floor seating, and dig into platters of spiced meats and rice with your hands. For those predisposed to Western traditions, tables and silverware are also available. The lamb is so tender, though, all you’ll need is a spoon.
20. Nikki Greek Bistro & Lounge Dallas
For a long time, the owners behind the Ivy Tavern, Tom and Lisa Georgalis, wanted a Greek restaurant more akin to the ones they patronize when visiting family in Greece. So in April they opened Nikki, a taverna and late-night lounge that feels a bit like island hopping, with various dining areas including one lined with ancient-looking urns to a more formal peach-toned room that opens onto an ivy-lined patio. The menu beguiles with dishes not commonly found at Texas’ Greek restaurants, like citrus-cured fish with pistachio gremolata and a scrumptious orange custard cake, called portokalópita. The moussaka and creamy avgolemono soup come from family recipes, and the Greek-inspired martinis, like the baklava espresso and limoncello cheesecake, will have you cheers-ing “Yamas!”
