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Tours in Dallas |
We have selected 16 restaurants, which we have divided into five categories: Gastronomic, 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)
$$ (US$15 to US$35)
$ (up to US$15)
The price ranges quoted are for a three-course meal for one, including sales tax but excluding tips, unless otherwise stated.
In general, there is a sales tax of 8.25% added to food and drink bills. However, in reality, this tax varies and some restaurants only add the tax to either food or drink. Tipping of between 15 and 20% is expected and in some restaurants this may be added to the bill.
The restaurants below have been grouped in four different price categories:
$$$$ (over US$55)
$$$ (US$35 to US$55)
$$ (US$15 to US$35)
$ (up to US$15)
The price ranges quoted are for a three-course meal for one, including sales tax but excluding tips, unless otherwise stated.
Gastronomic
French Room
By some accounts the most expensive dinner in Texas, this bastion of refinement stands as one of the most elaborate dining experiences anywhere. As beautiful as the marble-and-gold-leaf decor is the divine cuisine, urged to modernism by a youthful culinary staff. Lavish dishes might include jumbo lump crab fishcake with a treatment of lemongrass and ginger lobster sauce, and tomato chutney. Attentive service never fails beneath the watchful cherubs gracing the ceiling frescoes.
Hotel Adolphus, 1321 Commerce Street
Tel: (214) 742 8200.
Website: www.hoteladolphus.com
Price: $$$$
By some accounts the most expensive dinner in Texas, this bastion of refinement stands as one of the most elaborate dining experiences anywhere. As beautiful as the marble-and-gold-leaf decor is the divine cuisine, urged to modernism by a youthful culinary staff. Lavish dishes might include jumbo lump crab fishcake with a treatment of lemongrass and ginger lobster sauce, and tomato chutney. Attentive service never fails beneath the watchful cherubs gracing the ceiling frescoes.
Hotel Adolphus, 1321 Commerce Street
Tel: (214) 742 8200.
Website: www.hoteladolphus.com
Price: $$$$
Trendy
Café Madrid
Dallas' first authentic Spanish restaurant and tapas bar, this casually cool hangout has evolved with sophistication over the years. The lengthy list of tapas ranges from the traditional potato omelette tortilla with a dollop of garlic-parsley aioli or roasted duck breast with sliced, sherry-laced carrots to empanadas filled with shredded tuna steak and green olive.
4501 Travis Street
Tel: (214) 528 1731.
Website: www.cafemadrid-dallas.com
Price: $-$$
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: $-$$
Fireside Pies
This is certainly not the usual pizza joint, but it's where you'll find spectacular pizzas. Inside a handsome, casual stone-and-wood building you'll find a hip crowd hanging out over starters, wine and pies. Pizzas are baked in a wood-burning oven, topped with a fire-roasted tomato sauce, liberally garnished with four kinds of cheese, then decorated with such add-ons as meatballs, balsamic-roasted chicken, truffle oil and rocket salad. Weather permitting, the patio is divine.
2820 North Henderson Avenue
Tel: (214) 370 3916.
Website: http://firesidepies.com
Price: $$
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: $$
Trece
Upscale Mexican hacienda setting in the Knox-Henderson district brings fashionably-attired patrons out for lively food and livelier cocktail scene. Start with the sensational guacamole, prepared with flourish at your tableside, then indulge in a lobster crepe with green and red salsas, all particularly good when paired with a cucumber-lavender mojito. Ask for a tasting to acquaint you with some of the 120 tequilas stocked at the bar.
4513 Travis Street
Tel: (214) 780 1900.
Price: $$$
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: $$$
Budget
Bubba's
This small diner, done out in art deco style in the fashionable Park Cities' Snyder Plaza, is ground zero for lovers of pure Southern comfort food. Devotees believe there is no better fried chicken on Earth, and the home-made rolls and biscuits are dream-worthy. Fried catfish is good too, as is the country-style breakfast.
6617 Hillcrest Avenue
Tel: (214) 373 6527.
Price: $
This small diner, done out in art deco style in the fashionable Park Cities' Snyder Plaza, is ground zero for lovers of pure Southern comfort food. Devotees believe there is no better fried chicken on Earth, and the home-made rolls and biscuits are dream-worthy. Fried catfish is good too, as is the country-style breakfast.
6617 Hillcrest Avenue
Tel: (214) 373 6527.
Price: $
Primo's Bar & Grille
A long-time hangout in Uptown, this wonderful spot only gets better with age. The Sunday brunch is heavenly, but any day of the week is perfect for top-rate margaritas and a plate of the delicious tacos camperos filled with beef fajita meat. Pile on jalapeno, cilantro, a slice of avocado and a spoonful of the tomato salsa on the table. It's a good spot to take a break from shopping; relax on the patio or in one of the rooms inside the hundred-year-old building with creaky wooden floors.
3309 McKinney Avenue
Tel: (214) 220 0510.
Website: www.primosdallas.com
Price: $-$$
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.com
Price: $-$$
Sonny Bryan's Smokehouse
A family business dating from 1910, this hometown favourite has won a James Beard Award for regional classic food. The tiny, no-frills location opened in the 1950s, and serves deeply smoked turkey, ham, pork ribs, sausage, pulled pork, sliced brisket, ranch beans, potato salad and very cold beer. Sonny Bryan's is an old smoke shack, with little in the way of decor other than a few beer signs, which add to the overall charm of the place.
2202 Inwood Road
Tel: (214) 357 7120.
Website: www.sonnybryans.com
Price: $
A family business dating from 1910, this hometown favourite has won a James Beard Award for regional classic food. The tiny, no-frills location opened in the 1950s, and serves deeply smoked turkey, ham, pork ribs, sausage, pulled pork, sliced brisket, ranch beans, potato salad and very cold beer. Sonny Bryan's is an old smoke shack, with little in the way of decor other than a few beer signs, which add to the overall charm of the place.
2202 Inwood Road
Tel: (214) 357 7120.
Website: www.sonnybryans.com
Price: $
Personal Recommendations
Gloria's
Festive in an understated manner, this longtime Oak Cliff favourite is in fact a pair of colourful rooms where happy diners feast on sensational Salvadorean and Mexican delights. The tamale is satiny and filled with chicken and potato before steaming inside a banana leaf, and the lush carne asada is tenderised, grilled beef steak with divine black beans. The home-made flour tortillas are unforgettable.
600 West Davis Street
Tel: (214) 948 3672.
Website: www.gloriasrestaurants.com
Price: $-$$
Festive in an understated manner, this longtime Oak Cliff favourite is in fact a pair of colourful 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.com
Price: $-$$
La Duni Latin Cafe
It is impossible to ignore the front table laden with lavish sweets. A hefty wedge of Venezuelan chocolate truffle cake is highly recommended, perhaps after savouring the grilled Argentinian-style Picanha steak with chimichurri mojo or the Brazilian-style roasted chicken bathed in champagne and juice from green oranges. The divine mint-spiked mojito cocktail is the best in town, while the warm setting and leisurely pace are soothing.
4620 McKinney Avenue
Tel: (214) 520 7300.
Website: www.laduni.com
Price: $$
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.com
Price: $$
Stephan Pyles
Widely known as one of the architects of Southwestern cuisine, Pyles, the much-loved native of West Texas, returned to the Dallas dining scene with a roar after taking a sabbatical for extensive food study around the world. Quickly, his namesake restaurant was hailed the nation's best by Esquire magazine, thanks to such ‘New Millennium Southwestern cuisine' features as a tasting of exotic ceviches, duck confit empanadas, wood-fired whole fish, and coriander-cured rack of lamb. Special drinks include Pisco Sour and smoky-apple Martini. A lovely update of a 1960s office building provides a warm, inviting setting in which to feast.
1807 Ross Avenue
Tel: (214) 580 7000.
Website: www.stephanpyles.com
Price: $$$$
Widely known as one of the architects of Southwestern cuisine, Pyles, the much-loved native of West Texas, returned to the Dallas dining scene with a roar after taking a sabbatical for extensive food study around the world. Quickly, his namesake restaurant was hailed the nation's best by Esquire magazine, thanks to such ‘New Millennium Southwestern cuisine' features as a tasting of exotic ceviches, duck confit empanadas, wood-fired whole fish, and coriander-cured rack of lamb. Special drinks include Pisco Sour and smoky-apple Martini. A lovely update of a 1960s office building provides a warm, inviting setting in which to feast.
1807 Ross Avenue
Tel: (214) 580 7000.
Website: www.stephanpyles.com
Price: $$$$
Taverna Pizzeria and Risotteria
Quite possibly the loudest place in town, this busy hangout for the well-heeled denizens of Uptown and the Park Cities neighbourhoods happens to serve the most sublime Italian fare in the city. Related to the longtime favourite Lombardi's restaurants, Taverna specialities include exquisite seafood risotto, pizza topped with choices like anchovies or eggs, and beef tenderloin carpaccio sings with accompaniments of crispy rocket and Parmesan shavings. Wine choices are smart, just like the casual décor and snappy service.
3210 Armstrong Avenue
Tel: (214) 520 9933.
Website: www.tavernabylombardi.com
Price: $$
Quite possibly the loudest place in town, this busy hangout for the well-heeled denizens of Uptown and the Park Cities neighbourhoods happens to serve the most sublime Italian fare in the city. Related to the longtime favourite Lombardi's restaurants, Taverna specialities 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: $$
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