Green Everywhere

Where to eat in Dallas right now: 10 restaurants with best salads

We have the best salads in Dallas right here.

Photo courtesy of North Italia

This being summer, and summer being the time when you theoretically eat fresher and lighter, one's thoughts turn to salads. At least, this one's thoughts do. If you search on the worldwide web for Best Salads in Dallas, you get this list and that, and they all seem to have one thing in common: They come topped with meat. How in the world when you think of a salad do you end up with meat?

Forget the other best salad lists. This is your list of the 10 best real salads in DFW:

Al Biernat's, hearts of palm
Steakhouses have some of the best salads around, and Al Biernat's is no exception. They have nine salad options including the popular favorite, the Al's Salad, with hearts of palm, avocado, shrimp, and crab. It's a stunner of a salad, but for our purposes, which is a salad not heaped with meat, go for the junior version: the hearts of palm salad, with mixed greens, bell pepper, and crunchy hazelnuts tossed in a hazelnut vinaigrette. Soon you'll be able to order it not only at the original location on Oak Lawn Avenue but also the second branch opening in North Dallas.

Blatt Beer + Table, kale-Caesar
Everyone has a kale salad, making it hard to stand out. But the kale-Caesar at this elevated gastropub at Preston Hollow Village stands out. It has Boston lettuce, baby kale, shaved fennel, Grana Padano cheese, and brioche-herb croutons, but what really gives it the pop is the fresh citrus twist in its citrus-Caesar dressing.

Knife Dallas, Teresa salad
For starters, this salad at John Tesar's edgy steakhouse at the Highland Dallas hotel has a really cool name. But that's not what makes this salad so special. It's a bold, ballsy heap of watercress, tempered by bits of Belgian endive, candied walnut, and goat cheese — simple but sophisticated, and the best salad in Dallas.

La Ventana, ensalada fresca
Salads are not what you would expect at this upscale taqueria chain and El Fenix sibling, but its ensalada fresca would prove you wrong. It has mixed greens, iceberg lettuce, tomato, candied peanuts, avocado, fresco cheese, with a charred cilantro vinaigrette, with the option to add shredded pork, brisket, or their other meats. But who needs it.

North Italia, Tuscan kale salad
New Italian eatery at Legacy West is part of the Fox Restaurant Concepts family, along with salad-serving restaurants such as True Food Kitchen and Flower Child. But it beats its siblings with its Tuscan kale salad, with an assortment of flavorful embellishments that makes you forget there's kale: crispy pancetta, charred grape, apple, and pistachio in a Parmesan vinaigrette.

Pie Tap Pizza Workshop, Sweet salad
Nascient Dallas pizza chain with two branches on Henderson Avenue and in the Design District has notably great pizza, but there's more to life and dinner than pizza. There's the sweet salad with kale, radicchio, apple, radish, pearled barley, candied pecans, and goat cheese, tossed in a pomegranate vinaigrette.

Rise No. 1, Rise No. 1 salad
While Rise specializes in souffles, it has one great salad that is as dear and delicate as everything else at this darling Dallas chain. It consists of baby greens, with blue cheese, roasted pecans, and Granny Smith apples, tossed in a pecan vinaigrette. Others do salads with these ingredients, but Rise just does them right.

Snappy Salads, Bam-Bam salad
The Bam-Bam used to be a special but recently got bumped up to regular menu status. No wonder, with its combination of baby spinach, baby arugula, lettuce mix, red cabbage, quinoa, red onion, dried cherries, and chopped almonds, in a housemade Sweet Parsley dressing. It officially comes with pulled chicken, if you must. Check it out at their new location downtown.

T Room, Green Goddess salad
The T Room is one of the city's top 5 ladies-who-lunch spots and you know that means salad. (Sorry to resort to stereotypes.) The winner is the Green Goddess salad with Romaine lettuce, hearts of palm, artichoke, tomato, and Parmesan chees tossed in a house-made green goddess dressing. Divine.

Taverna, beet salad
Beet salads sort of peaked in 2015 (to be replaced by kale, duh), but Alberto Lombardi's Italian mini-chain keeps the flame burning with an exceptional version that has roasted beets, mache, spinach, toasted hazelnuts, goat cheese, in a honey Champagne dressing.

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Lindsey Wilson and Jessica Baldwin contributed to this story.

Deep Ellum News

Mexican 'vibe' restaurant from California to open in Deep Ellum Dallas

Mama Por Dios

A buzzy concept from California is coming to Dallas: Mama Por Dios, a Mexican restaurant chain known for its vibe, will open its first location in Texas in Deep Ellum in the Epic development at 2525 Elm St., taking over the former La Neta space, which shuttered in May.

According to a spokesperson, the restaurant will open in early to mid-January.

Mama Por Dios was founded in Southern California in 2020 by chef Misael Guerrero, who famously got his start selling Mexican sushi out of his garage.

Since those early days, he's gone on to form a restaurant empire called Emme Group, with concepts that include Los Amores de Julia, El Rincon de Los Dolidos, and Culichi Town, a lower-priced chain known for Sinaloa-style Mexican sushi & seafood, which has a local presence: It opened a location in Mesquite in 2022.

Mama Por Dios — which translates to "Mother of God" — describes itself as modern Mexican, offering a unique blend of steakhouse, sushi bar, and seafood. The menu includes favorites like tacos and enchiladas, alongside luxe dishes like lobster with spaghetti, lobster enchiladas, and a surf & turf featuring a lobster tail balanced atop a skirt steak. Prices range from $18 for birria tacos to $48 for a bacon-wrapped filet mignon with mashed potatoes and asparagus.

But they also have a showy side that includes flamboyant presentations such as the bacon-wrapped shrimp which come strung on clothespins; or the trompito al pastor, served on a personal spit, as well as servers who walk around with shots while dancing with patrons.

There's a Gold Burger for $65 featuring Prime beef on a brioche bun garnished with 24k gold leaf, and a similarly gilded tomahawk steak for $400 that brings to mind the good old days of Salt Bae. Decor is swanky with low lighting, and there'll be a serious brunch offering on weekends.

Cocktails such as the Al Agua Pato — served in a mini bathtub with a rubber ducky — are made for Instagram. They offer margarita and mezcalita flights with flavors such as mango, tamarindo, and strawberry, and intriguing sips like Carajillo, a Spanish cocktail with Licor 43, espresso, and 43 different fruit, citrus, aromatic, and herbal ingredients.

There’s also a $20 per-person minimum spend, and the menu comes with a warning that everything is cooked to order — meaning some dishes may take 30 to 40 minutes. For many diners, waiting will surely be part of the experience.

deep-ellum tex-mex openings