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. 

The most decorated pizzaiolo in Texas is still going full throttle to bring Dallas-Fort Worth a taste of Naples. With ongoing elite rankings in 50 Top Pizza, a certificate of veracity by the AVPN (Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana), plus a gold medal from the Real Pizza Napoli Olympics (yes, it’s a real event), chef Dino Santonicola and his wife Megan will expand their downtown Dallas pizzeria to West 7th’s Artisan Circle in Fort Worth this spring. Meanwhile, their Partenope Richardson will soon have a private room large enough for a 35-person festa. Seems like a good time to raise a glass from the Italian bottle list — accompanied perhaps by the gold medal-winning Montanara pizza, notable for its flash-fried and baked crust — and wish the Santonicolas a hearty “Congratulazioni!”

It typically (and refreshingly) feels like nothing’s changed since 1980 at this date-night standby, with Champagne-Brie soup and live piano served nightly in what feels like a Victorian drawing room lit up with candles. However, for the first time since the restaurant was acquired in 1998 by Mohsen Heidari, father to present-day owners Pasha and Sina Heidari, a handful of seasonal dishes will be sprinkled into the menu’s mix of French classics, which include escargots bourguignon and Dover sole meunière. (Also note the secret, off-menu lobster Thermidor.) To switch it up this spring, try lobster terrine spotlit by buttery Champagne sauce, Rohan duck à l’orange, or a delightful beet tartare with cashew cream. The refinements call for snuggling into your favorite “Godfather” booth before summer’s updates are introduced.

The excellent Levantine pleasures served at Open Sesame Lebanese Grill, Mo Kamal’s casual strip that debuted on Oak Lawn Ave. in 2017, can now be enjoyed in a modern space that reinterprets the style elements of ancient Babylon. A (very heavy) 18th-century carved wooden door opens to a strikingly spartan dining room with limewash walls, draped arches, and a hand-painted mural by Egyptian artist Dina Elsaid on the ceiling. It’s a far cry from the many maximalist dining rooms in town, as well as Kamal’s original restaurant, but the cooking by Kamal’s sister, chef Zeina Kamal, is as satisfying as ever. For dishes at Babel not found at Open Sesame, try chef Zeina’s shish barak (beef dumplings), akawi cheese and sujuk sausage-stuffed flatbread, and lamb-stuffed ravioli.

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.

Find more info here.

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. 

Kham and Yim Phommahaxay’s ice cream, tea, and coffee shop, opened in November 2021, is a natural fit for downtown McKinney. Meaning “milk” in Japanese, Miruku Creamery aims to be a “happy place,” with monthly rotating soft-serve flavors — such as Thai tea, cranberry-cherry, and peaches-and-cream — all starting with organic whole milk. The emphasis on quality extends to ceremonial-grade matcha from Japan, cocoa from France, and coffee beans from Dallas roaster Full City Rooster. Delightfully elaborate sundaes combine Kham’s French culinary training and flavor-pairing expertise with Yim’s design sensibility for treats dressed up with fresh fruit compote, Dalgona honeycombs, popcorn, and Japanese cheesecake. And don’t even get us started on the “matcha-licious” cloud, coffee, and sago drinks.

Find more info here.

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.