We have selected 16 restaurants, which we have divided into five categories: Gourmet, Business, Trendy, Budget and Personal Recommendations. The restaurants are listed alphabetically within these different categories, which serve as guidelines rather than absolute definitions of the establishments.
In general, there is a sales tax of 8.25% added to food and drink bills. However, in reality, this tax varies and some restaurants only add the tax to either food or drink. Tipping of between 15 and 20% is expected and in some restaurants this may be added to the bill.
The restaurants below
have been grouped in four different price categories:
$$$$ (over US$55)
$$$ (US$35 to US$55)
$$ (US$15 to US$35)
$ (up to US$15)
The price ranges quoted are for a three-course meal for one, including sales tax but excluding tips, unless otherwise stated.
GourmetFrench Room
By some accounts the most expensive dinner in Texas, this bastion of refinement stands as one of the most elaborate dining experiences anywhere. As beautiful as the marble-and-gold-leaf decor is the divine cuisine, urged to modernism by a youthful culinary staff. Lavish dishes might include jumbo lump crab fishcake with a treatment of lemongrass and ginger lobster sauce, and tomato chutney. Attentive service never fails beneath the watchful cherubs gracing the ceiling frescoes.
Hotel Adolphus, 1321 Commerce Street
Tel: (214) 742 8200.
Website:
www.hoteladolphus.com Price: $$$$
TrendyCafé Madrid
Dallas’ first authentic Spanish restaurant and tapas bar, this casually cool hangout has evolved with sophistication over the years. The lengthy list of tapas ranges from the traditional potato omelette
tortilla with a dollop of garlic-parsley aioli or roasted duck breast with sliced, sherry-laced carrots to empanadas filled with shredded tuna steak and green olive.
4501 Travis Street
Tel: (214) 528 1731.
Website:
www.cafemadrid-dallas.com Price: $-$$
Fireside Pies
This is certainly not the usual pizza joint, but it’s where you’ll find spectacular pizzas. Inside a handsome, casual stone-and-wood building you’ll find a hip crowd hanging out over starters, wine and pies. Pizzas are baked in a wood-burning oven, topped with a fire-roasted tomato sauce, liberally garnished with four kinds of cheese, then decorated with such add-ons as meatballs, balsamic-roasted chicken, truffle oil and rocket salad. Weather permitting, the patio is divine.
2820 North Henderson Avenue
Tel: (214) 370 3916.
Website:
http://firesidepies.com Price: $$
Trece
Upscale Mexican hacienda setting in the Knox-Henderson district brings fashionably-attired patrons out for lively food and livelier cocktail scene. Start with the sensational guacamole, prepared with flourish at your tableside, then indulge in a lobster crepe with green and red salsas, all particularly good when paired with a cucumber-lavender mojito. Ask for a tasting to acquaint you with some of the 120 tequilas stocked at the bar.
4513 Travis Street
Tel: (214) 780 1900.
Price: $$$
BudgetBubba’s
This small diner, done out in art deco style in the fashionable Park Cities’ Snyder Plaza, is ground zero for lovers of pure Southern comfort food. Devotees believe there is no better fried chicken on Earth, and the home-made rolls and biscuits are dream-worthy. Fried catfish is good too, as is the country-style breakfast.
6617 Hillcrest Avenue
Tel: (214) 373 6527.
Price: $
Primo’s Bar & Grille
A long-time hangout in Uptown, this wonderful spot only gets better with age. The Sunday brunch is heavenly, but any day of the week is perfect for top-rate margaritas and a plate of the delicious tacos camperos filled with beef fajita meat. Pile on jalapeno,
cilantro, a slice of avocado and a spoonful of the tomato salsa on the table. It’s a good spot to take a break from shopping; relax on the patio or in one of the rooms inside the hundred-year-old building with creaky wooden floors.
3309 McKinney Avenue
Tel: (214) 220 0510.
Website:
www.primosdallas.comPrice: $-$$
Sonny Bryan’s Smokehouse
A family business dating from 1910, this hometown favorite has won a James Beard Award for regional classic food. The tiny, no-frills location opened in the 1950s, and serves deeply smoked turkey, ham, pork ribs, sausage, pulled pork, sliced brisket, ranch beans, potato salad and very cold beer.
Sonny Bryan’s is an old smoke shack, with little in the way of decor other than a few beer signs, which add to the overall charm of the place.
2202 Inwood Road
Tel: (214) 357 7120.
Website:
www.sonnybryans.com Price: $
Personal RecommendationsGloria’s
Festive in an understated manner, this longtime Oak Cliff favorite is in fact a pair of colorful rooms where happy diners feast on sensational Salvadorean and Mexican delights. The
tamale is satiny and filled with chicken and potato before steaming inside a banana leaf, and the lush
carne asada is tenderised, grilled beef steak with divine black beans. The home-made flour tortillas are unforgettable.
600 West Davis Street
Tel: (214) 948 3672.
Website:
www.gloriasrestaurants.comPrice: $-$$
La Duni Latin Cafe It is impossible to ignore the front table laden with lavish sweets. A hefty wedge of Venezuelan chocolate truffle cake is highly recommended, perhaps after savouring the grilled Argentinian-style Picanha steak with chimichurri mojo or the Brazilian-style roasted chicken bathed in champagne and juice from green oranges. The divine mint-spiked mojito cocktail is the best in town, while the warm setting and leisurely pace are soothing.
4620 McKinney Avenue
Tel: (214) 520 7300.
Website:
www.laduni.comPrice: $$
Stephan Pyles
Widely known as one of the architects of Southwestern cuisine, Pyles, the much-loved native of West Texas, returned to the Dallas dining scene with a roar after taking a sabbatical for extensive food study around the world. Quickly, his namesake restaurant was hailed the nation’s best by
Esquire magazine, thanks to such ‘New Millennium Southwestern cuisine’ features as a tasting of exotic ceviches, duck confit empanadas, wood-fired whole fish, and coriander-cured rack of lamb. Special drinks include Pisco Sour and smoky-apple Martini. A lovely update of a 1960s office building provides a warm, inviting setting in which to feast.
1807 Ross Avenue
Tel: (214) 580 7000.
Website:
www.stephanpyles.com Price: $$$$
Taverna Pizzeria and Risotteria
Quite possibly the loudest place in town, this busy hangout for the well-heeled denizens of Uptown and the Park Cities neighborhoods happens to serve the most sublime Italian fare in the city. Related to the longtime favorite Lombardi’s restaurants,
Taverna specialties include exquisite seafood risotto, pizza topped with choices like anchovies or eggs, and beef tenderloin carpaccio sings with accompaniments of crispy rocket and Parmesan shavings. Wine choices are smart, just like the casual décor and snappy service.
3210 Armstrong Avenue
Tel: (214) 520 9933.
Website:
www.tavernabylombardi.com Price: $$
Nightlife:The bars, restaurants and clubs in Dallas run the gamut of styles (be that musically, gastronomically or sartorially), which is hardly surprising from the city where both the frozen margarita and spicy Tex-Mex were invented. If you want to find the cowboy boots, big hats, country ballads, barbecues and massive sides of steak, then, of course, they are here. Being adjacent to the Deep South, there is also plenty of jazz, blues, rock’n’roll, heavy metal and piano bars, as well as international cuisine, vegetarian food, huge sandwiches, burgers and ribs. With over 5,000 restaurants, Dallas claims to have four times as many eateries per person as New York.
The main areas to explore in and near Downtown are as follows:
Victory Plaza, the new US$3 billion complex on the north end of Downtown, with
Ghostbar (website:
http://ghostbar-dallas.n9negroup.com) and
Liquid Sky (website:
http://liquid-sky-dallas.n9negroup.com) among its white-hot nightspots; the booming Uptown district called
McKinney Avenue, also just north of Downtown, slightly east of Victory Plaza, and nearby Greenville Avenue, northeast of Downtown. Downtown proper is heating up again, thanks to the multimillion-dollar renovations of historic buildings once occupied by offices and banks. A club labelled as ‘private’ may well simply be in a ‘dry’ part of town and so nominal membership is required to allow them a ‘liquor’ license. Most bars are open until 0200, with the minimum drinking age being 21 years.
The weekly
Dallas Observer (website:
www.dallasobserver.com) and weekend entertainment sections in the
Dallas Morning News (website:
www.dallasnews.com) and the
Fort Worth Star-
Telegram (website:
www.star-telegram.com) provide listings information on nightlife in Dallas.
Bars: Greenville Avenue’s contrast in bar styles is shown by the sophisticated cocktail atmosphere of
Mick’s (located at 2825) and ironically, since Mick is usually a name associated with Ireland, the darts-throwing, raucous, Irish-owned ambience at
The Dubliner (located at 2818). Pubs are often spots that offer good eating as much as drinking.
The Old Monk, 2847 North Henderson Avenue, is a few minutes from downtown and offers simple, wholesome dishes, such as steamed mussels and fish and chips. The bar scene has become especially lively at Uptown cocktail lounges such as
Urban Oasis, a lounge at the luxurious
Hotel ZaZa, 2332 Leonard Street, and Downtown at cool cocktail settings like that at
Fuse, 1512 Commerce Street; posh
Purgatory, 2208 Main Street; and the sleek
Living Room Bar, with music, a cool terrace and a wall of cowboy and horse art, off the lobby at the
W Hotel, 2440 Victory Park Lane.
Clubs: As well as nightclubs, Dallas has quite a tradition of ‘Gentlemen’s Clubs’, which can range from the cabaret style of
Cabaret Royale, 10723 Composite Avenue (website:
www.cabaretroyale.net), to the
Million Dollar Saloon, 6848 Greenville Avenue (website:
www.milliondollar.com), with happy hour, sports broadcasts on big-screen TVs, full dinner menu, cigar selection and wine lists. The dance scene thrives at such places as
Obar, 1602 Main Street, an exclusive nightspot with specialty drinks, VIP table and bottle service, guest star DJs from the East and West coasts, valet parking, a fabulous outdoor patio and glitzy style;
One, 3025 Main Street, home to dancing divas and unisex bathrooms; and
Lizard Lounge, 2424 Swiss Avenue (website:
www.thelizardlounge.com), with varied music styles and star DJs.
Live Music: Many ordinary bars have live music and the Deep Ellum is a good area to head for. Don’t be fooled by the names of some venues, the
Gypsy Tea Room, 2548 Elm Street (tel: (214) 651 0789; website:
www.gypsytearoom.com), does have a tea room but it also has a concert room for live country and rock music bands of both national and local reputation.
Gilley’s, 1135 South Lamar Street (tel: (214) 421 2021; website:
www.gilleysdallas.com), is home to country music shows; and
Trees, 2709 Elm Street (tel: (214) 748 5009), is one of the oldest live music venues with a rock‘n’roll penchant in a warehouse-style interior. The favorite pick for jazz, Latin beats and world music is
Sambuca, 2120 McKinney Avenue (tel: (214) 744 0820; website:
www.sambucarestaurant.com).
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