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

A profusion of Italian food-lovers in the Lone Star state and the promise of less red tape are the lures that propelled the Gambaccini family to leave their beloved North Beach restaurant after a 16-year run. Now that they’ve bought their first home after moving in 2022 (and also secured a liquor license for one-tenth of what it’d cost back in Cali) Walter, Stefania, and their two sons are loving our state. In turn, Frisco residents and thin-crust pizza nomads are likewise appreciative of the move that brought homestyle Tuscan fare to the ‘burbs. Crisp-thin Lucchese-style pizzas, made by the Gambaccinis’ son, Filippo, are a must-order. To lay it on even thicker, Stefania is in charge of the fresh pastas and sauces, which is why it’s closed for lunch, and why dinners here feel a little celebratory.

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.

This Snider Plaza sweetheart by the group that brought us TJ’s Seafood Market and Escondido is still on the up-and-up. As Ramble Room’s second birthday approaches, founders Jon and Matt Alexis have added some new charmers to the menu, including a Reuben with house-smoked pastrami and a buttery lobster roll on brioche from local La Spiga Bakery. Given the sourcing by one of the city’s best seafood purveyors (TJ’s, that is), you can be sure the oysters are fresh, whether you opt for raw on the half-shell with blood orange mignonette or charbroiled, cacio e pepe-style. When accessorized with a Rancharita or something from the martini bar, lunch or dinner here is an obvious wise choice, but don’t forget brunch, when there’s apple pie French toast, monkey bread, and mimosa carafes for $19.

Executive chef Sonia Mancillas has unlocked springtime at this budding spot for fresh Italian on Lower Greenville. Leeks, artichokes, spring onions, and fava beans bloom alongside mains like seared diver scallops and grilled Colorado lamb chops. Other new dishes, like the lantern-shaped pasta pockets called lanterne, are stuffed with spring peas, asparagus, and crisped prosciutto. But wait, there’s more. The umbrellas have finally been unfurled at Terraza di Triozzi, the restaurant’s rooftop bar. For when you’re feeling spritz-y, head upstairs prior to a meal for salumi-cheese boards and antipasti. Or tap into your inner Sophia Loren and reserve a cabana to cap off a sunny day with frozen Italian margaritas, Margherita pizzetes, and pistachio tiramisu.  

Dallas is a city that almost has it all — everything except an abundance of natural wine bars. That’s what makes Olivia Genthe’s first take, situated on Bishop Arts’ boutique-y Eighth Street, more than a little special. After she was blocked by a neighborhood union from pouring limited-production wines at her Fount Board & Table cafe in Uptown, Genthe took her vision to a different ‘hood, one that doesn’t mind having a couple of glasses for a weekday wind-down or a seal-the-deal date night. Unsure what glera, catarratto, grillo, valdiguie, or hondarrabi zuri grapes taste like? This is the place to investigate, with cheese plates, snails, Foxley River oysters, and Oak Cliff Bread’s sourdough available to aid with study snacks.

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.

Once again, the Katz brothers have furnished an overlooked neighborhood with an extraordinary restaurant. After establishing Beverley’s Bistro & Bar and Clifton Club as worthwhile reasons to head to Fitzhugh Avenue, followed by an all-day seafood brasserie on Knox Street, Greg and Nik Katz have hit it out of the park with their Preston Hollow hangout, opened in December. The daily dinner menu is bulging with comforts: deviled eggs, chicken drums, hot bean dip, and Texas red chili (no beans). Major merits also lie in selections from the grill, where the brothers’ South African roots surface in the form of barbecue pork ribs, tenderloins with black-garlic butter, and Bay of Fundy salmon filets.

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.

Find more info here.

Who would’ve thought Cowtown, an old meatpacking district, would be the birthplace of a long-lasting vegan diner? Now in its 24th year, Amy McNutt’s Spiral Diner abides with plant-based comfort food, like chili mac, nachos, cheesesteaks, and burritos served up on grandma plates. A lengthy, 35-item gluten-free menu also impresses, along with hand-spun I-Scream shakes and sundaes. After a short hiatus, the bakery known for tall, double-decker cakes is back to taking pre-orders. It can even pull off vegan and gluten-free chocolate and vanilla cake. We’re not saying it’s all healthy, but it sure hits the spot when classic diner fare is calling.

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.

Find more info here.

There’s been a changing of the guard at this caviar-centric, low-lit steakhouse in the Design District. Chef David Gomez took over the kitchen last year, following 15 years of chopping his way up the ranks at some of Dallas’s finest restaurants: CBD Provisions, Sassetta – Main St, Mirador, and Monarch. While premium cuts from Allen Brothers and Westholme Australian Wagyu are constants here, Gomez has refreshed the menu with some springtime exclusives such as rabbit tagliatelle, halibut with pistachio pesto, and baby beets on horseradish labneh. Luxe bites also exist in starters like scallop and foie gras with caviar and beurre blanc, along with selections from co-owner (and wine broker) Simon Roberts’ wine list. 

For those who remember glorious dinners in the pre-2020 era of the French Room, the next best thing is dinner in the French Room Bar. Now, as The French Room focuses on exceptional tea service, the adjoining bar in the Adolphus Hotel has a tiny-but-mighty menu of French classics including coq au vin, steak frites, and profiteroles. The confit lamb shank is one of the largest (and tastiest) bone-in hunks of meat in the area, and we can so far vouch for the French onion soup here as one of the finest in the Big D.

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.

When cacio e pepe and spicy penne alla vodka have clocked all the miles your appetite can handle, might we suggest James Beard-nominated chef Jimmy Li’s scallion oil noodles, a hearty bowl of wheat noodles boosted by chile oil? The dish isn’t the headliner of the dim sum strongbox that originated in Las Vegas and opened up in Plano last year, but it’s sure to satisfy cravings for carbs. Quite the opposite of simplicity are the xiao long bao trophies that turned heads when the shop originally opened in 2019. Heed the warning signs that the dumplings are served piping hot. If unpracticed in the art of consuming soup dumplings, ask a server for a tutorial on how to best savor the hot pork broth and meatballs enclosed in each pocket — evidently, you’re not supposed to pop the whole thing in your mouth at once.

Find more info here.

One of our favorite places to get into soup szn is the new-ish Mr. Max, opened last summer in Richardson. It’s a spinoff of the extremely busy Irving izakaya, founded in 1996 by Hare Nakamura. Mon Restaurant group saved the restaurant after Nakamura’s death in 2013, and today, chef Mamoru Tokeshi oversees both locations. The most pertinent info, though, is that getting a table is far easier in Richardson, added to the fact that the semi-famous takoyaki are as impeccable as those served in Irving. Sashimi, pickles, Nagoya-style fried chicken, and monkfish liver are also exceptional entries into a bowl of ramen or udon. We also don’t mind the house pork curry, or the grilled yellowtail collar, or to end it all, the simply satisfying custard pudding.

Find more info here.

When a certain Portland-based doughnut chain came to town in 2023, how could they have known that Dallas already had a gourmet shop for which Homer Simpson-like connoisseurs would wait in line? Be patient for that magical, doughnut-to-mouth moment. Rowlett pastry chef Amy LaRue is serious when it comes to crafting her fluffy creations, in flavors like cookies-and-milk with Biscoff cookie mousse, Earl Grey with Rishi Tea-sourced ganache, and butterscotch with toffee crumbles we’d almost sell our soul for. Crullers, cookies, kolaches, and croissants also make getting out of bed a little easier each day.

Find more info here.