The Resy Hit List: Where In Dallas You’ll Want to Eat in August 2025

Preston Hollow Village never looked so cool after this newcomer by local restaurateur Blaine McGowan. White tablecloths and stage curtains in an MCM-inspired space merge with an approachable menu of shrimp and masa dumplings, corn soup, and a $40 prime tenderloin filet. Cocktails hold the limelight, though, especially as cocktail whiz Julian Shaffer leads as general manager and beverage director. If you’ve never tried a Tequila soda with salsa verde and whey, or a gin and tonic with shiso and Szechuan peppercorns, this is the place. Don’t forget the march upstairs to Customs speakeasy for more creative drinks.

Sunsets and city lights are made for cork-popping. Danny Grant’s Italian steakhouse on the 49th floor of The National is a good way to enjoy all of the above, with fresh pastas, caviar service, and wood-grilled items like branzino, dry-aged tomahawks, and South Texas Nilgai antelope. A 127-page drinks list with wines from around the world ends with a page of specialty cocktails, like the Mayor of Speyside for $85, featuring Glenfiddich’s 18-year single malt Scotch. If less decision-making is the goal, the seasonal tasting menu has an optional wine pairing, curated by the restaurant’s sommelier.

Where in the world is Misti Norris? has been a question on many Dallasites’ minds since the chef’s much-vaunted restaurant, Petra and the Beast, unexpectedly shuttered last year. We now have an answer: She’s at Far-Out, near Fair Park, with Christopher Jeffers, a restaurant veteran with a 20-year track record of running smash hit restaurants, including erstwhile Smoke and Bolsa. Possibly Jeffers’s most cosmic spot yet, Far-Out is a Texas desert-style brewpub with Thursday night concerts, batangas, ranch waters, and frozen watermelon margaritas to go with Norris’s pig ears-and-tomatoes or white Bolognese tagliatelle with salsa verde. There aren’t many places we’d rather be discovered on the map.  

Dallas’ newest spot to fuel up is at Australian-inspired Two Hands. Since its 2014 founding in New York, the café has grown to Nashville, Denver, Austin, and at last, Dallas. One draw setting it apart is founders Henry and Tara Roberts’s Hudson Valley farm, where Angus cattle, Romney lambs, and heritage pigs grow. The sourcing shows up in brekky muffulettas with shaved ham, “two hander” burgers, and (sure to go over well here) steak au poivre. The nightly $49 prix fixe dinner has the power to make weeknights special, and it’s also a recommended place for the parched, with smoothies, fresh juices, an espresso machine, and a bar.

Even restaurants need a summer vacation, especially those approaching their 15h birthday later this year. So, don’t fret if you’ve been following advice for scoring a seat at Dallas’s most consistently coveted reservation. (tl;dr reserve 30 days in advance, or set a Notify.) During the first two weeks of July, restaurant power couple David and Jennifer Uyger will soak up some R&R in France for their customary two-week summer vacation, as everyone else on the scene catches a break, too. July 16, it’s back to business, with chef David Uyger’s weekly-changing menu. Constants lean to fresh produce-focused Italian with house butchered and cured meats, Jennifer’s refreshingly unique wine list, and pastry chef Maggie Huff’s trailblazing, never-too-sweet desserts.   

At only one place in the world does berbere reign next to brisket at a Michelin-recognized barbecue joint. The Arlington-grown sensation known as Tex-Ethiopian fare materialized when Fasicka Hicks started applying awaze, a berbere-based Ethiopian condiment, to her husband Patrick’s smoked brisket, pulled lamb, and pork ribs. You don’t have to mix the two cuisines here: Doro wat and tibs with injera always delight, whether you choose some of the world’s best beefy collard greens or loaded barbecue fries to side them or not. The spice doesn’t stop at meats, though, with items like berbere sweet potato pie, Texas sheet cake with berbere pecans, and berbere Bloody Marys.

There are two options for dining at The Terminal at Katy Trail: The luxe Le PasSage, open for dinner and weekend brunch, or Travis Street Hospitality’s more casual Rose Café, an all-day affair led by chef Sotear Tep. For lunch or dinner, you’ll want to experience Tep’s Cambodian lemongrass skewers, papaya salad, and rice noodles with fried spring rolls and coconut fish sauce. To drink, cool off with a Mr Chow spritz with matcha-infused St. Germain and Topo Chico, or a -196 vodka seltzer, a popular canned beverage from Japan. Daily breakfast starts at 8 a.m., with chia seed pudding, tacos, and pastry chef Dyan Ng’s croissants.

This one is for all-you-can-eat-loving spice enthusiasts. Featuring Tamil cuisine — specifically the fiery, homey curries and biryanis that typify Kongu Nadu food — this Irving storefront has already grown to Plano, Little Elm, Austin, and Phoenix after chef Arun Ganesan brought his grandparents’ restaurant from Erode to Texas in 2022. Expect a wait on weekends when hungry diners line up for unlimited saapadu — with biryani, chapathis, and curries served on a banana leaf. If visiting for à la carte on a weekday, try the chicken lollipops or the bone-in chicken and mutton biryani made with seeraga sambu, a small-grain rice from the region.

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Neighborhood hang meets date night at this intimate Italian American spot, currently in its second life thanks to Pasha and Sina Heidari, brothers behind similarly cozy gems, St. Martin’s and Las Palmas. On a night when you aren’t in the mood to scream over dinner, come for attentive service and expert recommendations, like baked mezzi rigatoni or the hefty lobster ravioli fra diavolo. The veal scallopini is also a winner, with pounded-thin layers cloaked in a rich, mushroomy Marsala sauce, and when it comes to the filet al Barolo, zero flaws. Hundred-page wine menus aren’t necessary to find something high-quality here, either. The list is as focused as it’s always been, and you can still BYOB for a $20 corkage fee. 

Tweaking recipes from his great-grandfather who had falafel stands in Palestine and their native Jordan, Elias Shiber makes a dang good version at this Fort Worth spot. He’s fine-tuned recipes from the Greek side of his family too: Beefy dolmades on lemony avgolemono, sambousek (the Greek version of empanadas stuffed with spiced feta), and a crowd-pleasing gyro plate. The menu here also goes beyond the traditional to satisfy modern-day cravings. Shiber taps into Texans’ love for guacamole with avocado hummus, and his savviness for discerning what’s “in” comes out in hot honey hummus.

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Chef Paul Ko’s inaugural restaurant is the latest in a hype-worthy movement to broaden Dallas’s Japanese restaurants beyond omakase counters. The South Korean-raised chef established himself in Texas by leading sushi counters at other frontrunners in town, and now, after a long hold on construction, he’s ready to showcase his talents without fetters — and with table service. Highlights among the seasonally-changing 17-course menu include ornamental otsumami (snacks), prettied-up sashimi called otsukuri, and a land or sea tasting by Dallas-famous chef de cuisine Ross Demers. See also an impressive sake list ranging from $36 to $653 per bottle, as well as cocktails like a dirty sake martini and hojicha Manhattan.

Afternoon tea has evolved from pastime to rite of passage here in Dallas. The top spot for dolling up like the Princess of Wales and Duchess of Sussex is this century-old icon in the Adolphus hotel. Nibbling on elegant snacks, moist scones, and tiny tea cakes is part of the fun, but the real magic comes from the room and Captain Connie Forbin, who started at the hotel four decades ago. She broke molds to become the French Room’s first woman captain, a position she’s gracefully maintained since 1995. For a reflection on the power of service and the current state of hospitality, read our conversation with her.

Shady patios, tortilla chips hot-from-the-fryer, and margaritas shaken with superlative Tequilas are designed for springtime sprees. Few places do it as well as chef Omar Flores at his spot in the well-to-do Plaza at Preston Center. Further indications of excellence are found in mojo-marinated octopus fajitas, the super-creamy jazzed-up flan, and dreamy brunches with pan dulce French toast and choripapa-egg tacos. It’s so well-loved that Southlake Town Square got their own edition in 2021. What does it have that the Dallas location does not? Happy hour! — with discounted snacks, mezcal margaritas, and Mexican martinis from 2-6 p.m. daily.

You have until the end of October to experience Young Hong and Joon Lee’s daily-baked treats known as Czech klobásníks, but which we Texans call kolaches. After 10 years putting their own spin on the rolls that drive us wild, the couple will move north to Plano at the end of this year to focus on a less labor-intensive pastry and coffee shop. While we can wish that their kolaches with fillings like bulgogi and jalapeño brisket mixed with mozzarella had an indefinite shelf life, alas, they do not. So fill up while you can, and don’t forget the sausage rolls, bacon croissants, or the fruit and cream cheese danishes.  

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Ask the locals where they go for tacos in Fort Worth, and you’ll likely hear about Taqueria Temo. Starting from a food truck in 2007, the taqueria soon became an IYKYK gem with its brick-and-mortar “OG spot” in Diamond-Hill Jarvis, followed by another in Haltom City, and last year, the Fort Worth Stockyards. Proof of its worthiness surely lies in that kind of local growth, along with the word-of-mouth advertising that will most certainly rhapsodize over the al pastor de trompo. The adobo-marinated pork sliced from a vertical rotisserie should definitely be tried in the tacos, followed by the burritos, tortas, quesadillas, and sincronizadas, a different type of tortilla sandwich.  

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Nestled among Park Pavilion Center’s treasure trove of storefronts and tea shops is a kitchen making the dynamic food of northwest China’s Uyghur people. Started by chef Adilan Aziz in 2023, her brother, Alim Jan Omar, transported the concept to Houston’s Asiatown last year. After a bite of the chewy, hand-pulled wheat noodles accented by certified zabiha halal lamb, chicken, or steak (there’s a certificate on the door), Texans’ fever for Uyghur food begins to make sense. Lamb takes the leading role in most dishes, like succulent skewers, shank on scented polow, and flaky, meat pie-like gosh naan, served with a vinegar-based chile oil. The garlicky cucumber salad might take some heat off, but not like the housemade honey cake and necessary pitchers of water. 

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