The Resy Hit List: Where In Dallas You’ll Want to Eat Right Now

When the specials board at an almost-always packed out seafood spot change twice a day, you know the fish is fresh. Much in the way that TJ’s Seafood Market evolved across town, Rex Bellomy’s neighborhood hangout grew from seafood market to restaurant when customers kept asking if someone might be able to cook their fish. Now with a 20-or-so market selection flown in from all over the world, that specials board — with features like blackened monkfish and crab dynamite, or swordfish and jumbo crab with white wine cream sauce, or oysters from up to 10 different coasts — is the most obvious way to go. However if you’re in midday for lunch, don’t discount the tuna burger, grouper Reuben, or blackened redfish BLT on the regular menu. 

Whether you’re a follower of one of America’s most popular “diets” or not, the falafel, fattoush, and za’atar salmon served at this gorgeous new Prestonwood spot are wonderful methods to show love to your heart as well as your tastebuds. In Darna Eatery founder Yaser Khalaf’s first collaboration with his son, Mak Khalaf, they’ve amped up Mediterranean staples to run parallel with date night-worthy spreads: kibbeh with dill labneh, tahini Caesars, and date molasses-glazed prime rib eyes. Zero proof drinks like the pomegranate mojito and pistachio lassi come in tall glass tumblers (in servings that justify the price) and the wine selection (averaging $40ish dollars a bottle) includes several varietals from Lebanese winery Ana Beirut. 

Father-son chef team Juan Ramón and Rodrigo Cárdenas recently unveiled the second chapter of their Texas expansion, right next door to their cabrito house Don Artemio, their first restaurant to spread from Saltillo, Mexico. In a switch-up from their specialty slow-roasted young goat seen on Netflix’s “Taco Chronicles,” Dos Mares is dedicated to Mexico’s coastal regions, with seafood inspired by the traditions of Veracruz, Puerto Vallarta, Acapulco, and Tampico. Think ceviches, garlic shrimp with avocado mousse, and red snapper loin marinated in adobo and wood-fired zarandeado-style, as they do in Nayarit. Even the wine list pulls exclusively from the world’s coastal regions, with one bottle, the Akènta Sub sparkling brut, aged underwater for a year off Sardinia’s coastline. 

By now, most Texans have experienced Tyson Cole’s visionary approach to sushi that soared from a red bungalow in Austin in 2003 to expand to Charlotte, D.C., and Newport Beach this year. As Hai Hospitality’s footprint grows, a reminder we’re in the only metro area besides Austin with both of Uchi’s offshoots: Uchibā and Uchiko, the smoke-centric version of Uchi that opened in Plano in 2024. Coded into its name, Uchibā takes the izakaya — bar — form of Uchi, with wagyu beef skewers, chicken katsu bao, and dumplings, along with many of the sashimi cuts served downstairs. Modus operandi for Hai Hospitality, there’s incentive to arrive at 5 p.m. sharp for happy hour, here with a nine-course omakase for two for $90, $10 cocktails, and a mini burger.

If you know someone in North Texas with whole hog butchery and curing skills, chances are high they learned from chef David Uyger, or one of his protégés. Starting an evening with the daily salumi selection is therefore de rigueur at Dallas’ most in-demand Italian restaurant. More recognizable charcuterie might include coppa or capicola, but there’s room to mull over less-known salumi, like loukanka, Bulgaria’s spicier sopressata, or morcilla curada, the blood sausage from Spain, or whatever else Uyger feels like pulling from the cabinet that day. Daily-changing fresh pastas are also a mandatory part of dinner here, as are pastry chef Maggie Huff’s inimitable desserts.

If you want to eat where the locals go in Dallas, mark this Lower Greenville Ave. gem that comes from locals. Slightly more upscale than most establishments down the historic bar and entertainment strip, Goodwin’s is chef Jeff Bekavac’s first venture in co-ownership after 26 years winding up in some of Dallas’s best kitchens. Here and now, he’s steadily acing it in the kitchen with a fun, casual, well-executed menu. High-rise burgers that look stolen from J. Wellington Wimpy’s clutches have quickly become a town favorite, along with the cheese-on-cheese beignets and oh-so-worth it desserts. Salads and sandwiches most distinctly described as “actually really good” are more reasons this crowd ricochets. Pro tip: If moody, date-nighty bars are your thing, check out the Goose Bar in the back for pre-dinner happy hour from 4 to 6 p.m. every day. 

As modern Indian fine dining in the vein of New York’s Semma, Chicago’s ROOP, and D.C.’s Rasika spreads across the country, Plano, Texas now has its own rendition. From Prasanna Singaraju, a tech entrepreneur and hospitality enthusiast, Jashan’s elaborate, murti-laden decor is a sight to behold. The extra adornment shows up on a la carte dishes like Malabar crab cakes, Nizami mutton curry, and tandoori lobster, as well as the 13 to 15-course tasting menu, called Dil Se, Hindi for “from the heart.” Beginning this month, Dil Se will explore India’s train journeys, from platform foods in Kanyakumari and Kashmir to iconic dishes along the journey of India’s twelve states. For those seeking out a leisurely midday meal, Jashan is also now open for lunch.

What began in 2014 as Son and Tram Dao’s clever way to feed hungry laundromat customers on Maple Avenue has officially leveled up: Mike’s Chicken opened its third outpost — and first beyond Dallas — in Plano on February 18, complete with a drive-thru. The move suits its cult following. As ever, it’s wise to pre-order this juicy, peanut oil-fried marvel, enhanced by Tram’s cloud-soft, honey-glazed biscuits. Or dine in if you want; a few minutes at the table allows the piping-hot coating to settle into peak form. It’s also time to reflect on the radical force behind it all: a mother whose recipes for her chicken-loving son named Mike turned into one of the metroplex’s most craveable institutions.

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Restaurateur-brothers Pasha and Sina Heidari — also behind St. Martin’s and Las Palmas — have refreshed a beloved East Dallas standby with a menu dedicated to Sicily and the Italian coast. While a couple of Italian-American crowd-pleasers endure — baked mezzi-rigatoni prepared with locally famous sausage from next door’s Jimmy’s Food Store and the zippy lobster ravioli fra diavolo — a lineup of lighter, but nonetheless satisfying, dishes are now available for dinners where dialogue is possible. Seafood shines in cioppino fortified with ‘nduja, pistachio-crusted snapper, and wild shrimp zafferano over saffron-kissed fregola, a couscous-like pasta from Sardinia. The neighborhood favorite remains a wine-lovers’ sanctuary with bottles spanning marquee Italian estates to small producers specializing in natural wines. Another bonus: cocktails from the adjacent bar, Sylvestro.

The “nugs” at Misti Norris’s Rainbow Cat are taking the city of Dallas into a previously unimaginable realm of possibilities for the snack known as chicken nuggets. With crunch decibels in the zillions, the fried and allium-dusted thighs with a side of burnt scallion ranch make it necessary to order the x50 size. Loaded nugs take it to the next level with American cheese slices and mapo tofu gravy. It’s all emblematic of Norris’s casually nostalgic, creative cooking that took up permanent residence last year at Saint Valentine, the nexus of a cocktail bar renaissance underway in East Dallas. Spirited “churched up beers” and Suze spritzes from the bar of course amplify the nugs, which is why we’ll ride this magic carpet any night of the week.

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Among the many chef-led Tex Mex spots opened around town in the last few years, the Preston Hollow neighborhood might be the most fortunate recipients of tacos, tortas, and Tequila served up on an inviting patio. The menu by executive chef Rolando Garcia, who also works with co-owner David Cash at Smoky Rose, includes recognizable classics along with sensational surprises: Mexican “mozzarella sticks” — actually Oaxacan cheese-stuffed flautas — and oxtail mixtiotes with papas bravas and flour tortillas. Cocktails also veer slightly off-road, with palomas, either served on the rocks with Squirt or frozen and swirled into margaritas topped with orange liqueur.

After his first two sushi bars in Frisco, Kinzo and Hinoki, chef Leo Kekoa’s third restaurant inches closer to the city center, in Plano, as it taps the broader world of Japanese cuisine. The two-plus-hour service available to eight seats each night is designed around Japan’s centuries-old kaiseki tradition, which began as a tea ceremony and today resembles haute Japanese cooking with an emphasis on seasonal ingredients. That translates to trays of miniature dishes capturing the five basic tastes (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami), artfully plated sashimi, fish in house dashi and grilled on the binchotan, tempura-fried vegetables, and nigiri with top-quality Niigata Koshihikari rice, plus dessert. Joining Kekoa is chef Chikao Kikuchi, whose total work experience in Japan and at Sushi on McKinney in Dallas amounts to 50 years.

The limelight loves Patrick and Fasicka Hicks’ Tex-Ethiopian barbecue, which comes from nowhere else than Arlington, the most diverse city in the southern U.S. — even moreso than Houston, by latest estimates. Bring a partner here to go all-in on a Tex-Ethiopian platter, with enough awaze-glazed brisket, pork ribs, berbere mac ‘n’ cheese, and beefy collard greens for two. Cocktails like the spicy berbere bourbanade and banana piña colada make it a party. Even more unique for this barbecue joint in the American Dream City, though, is the fact it’s also suitable for vegetarians and vegans, with a variety of wats (stews) made from chickpeas, red lentils, split yellow peas, and beets and potatoes, as well as naturally vegan and gluten-free injera. 

Is it possible for donuts to be cute? Considering the large following of “Seoulmates” pining for Korean-style cream donuts since Mino Lee opened his Flower Mound café a year ago, we’d say so. Modeled after the Italian bombolini, the light, creamy, and fluffy brioche donuts are filled with fresh cream flavors like red bean, mango, Earl Grey, pistachio, and Korean rice cakes known as injeolmi. Ceremonial-grade matcha from Japan and brews from Carrollton-based Parks Coffee roastery complete the treat that results in cream-tipped noses. There’s only one complaint Lee repeatedly faces — that the shop should be open beyond Friday through Sunday — but this kind of donut artistry requires an additional two days of prep, and Lee is at capacity. 

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The lamb burma served on weekends at this one-year-old restaurant by Yasin Alkholani might be the juiciest, tenderest, tastiest example in the universe. Who knows? It’s certainly one of the more unique presentations in North Texas, beginning with Capra Farms’ regeneratively-raised lambs, which are hand-slaughtered halal, stewed in a hawajj-laced broth — then served in flames, on the floor (if you chose to try the majlis dining). The locally-loved spot also excels in showcasing Yemen’s variety of spiced rice dishes, including kabsa, mandi, and zorbian. And the masoub — which is even better than what the internet equates to Yemeni banana bread pudding — is so creamy and luscious, you’ll probably need the extra-large “royal” size, best enjoyed with a cup of Adeni tea. 

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From careful, personal research, we’ve concluded the best Asiatown in Texas — if not one of the most vibrant in the nation — is in Carrollton. More often referred to as Dallas’ New Koreatown, Carrollton packs hundreds of restaurants into its borders, many of them hot pot spots, global Taiwanese tea shops, and Korean barbecue chains. Among the newer places focused on pho is Tran Tran and Tyler Nguyen’s first restaurant dedicated to Saigon. The married couple are uniquely serving pho from north Vietnam, which is hard, if not impossible, to find elsewhere in North Texas. The pho tái năn replaces raw beef with slices stir-fried in tallow, and the pho trộn is a rare dry noodle dish with steak, peanuts, and dipping broth on the side. 

Find more info here.