We're at the peak of the 2025 edition of our annual
CultureMap Tastemaker Awards, celebrating the people and places that make Dallas a dynamic dining destination.
The awards include two parts: this special
editorial series which highlights restaurants, bars, and chefs who've been nominated in nine categories by our judging panel comprised of last year's winners and local dining experts; and a celebration of the nominees and the winners at an awards ceremony and signature tasting event on Thursday, May 1 at the new Astoria Event Venue. (Tickets are on sale now: $75 for general admission or $99 for VIP.)
So far, the series has covered
Best Neighborhood Restaurants, Rising Star Chef, Best Coffee Shops, Best Eatertainment Restaurant, Best Bars, and Pastry Chef of the Year. We've also launched our Best New Restaurant category, with an accompanying tournament where you can vote once per day for your favorite nominee in a bracket-style competition. It has already reached the final round and it's down to two nominees. Voting ends on April 29.
For Restaurant of the Year, the list of nominees includes a widely-varied lineup that extends from a grand hotel steakhouse to a tiny Asian omakase place; from a family-owned BBQ spot to an exacting bagel shop.
Here are our 10 nominees for the Tastemaker Awards Restaurant of the Year in 2025:
Cafe Momentum
Charitable restaurant that serves as a culinary training facility for disadvantaged youth has risen as an inspirational standard, first at its original location in Dallas, and now with spinoffs in Atlanta, Denver, and Pittsbugh. Beyond the accolades, it's a great place to visit in downtown Dallas with a staff comprised of experienced chefs led by founder Chad Houser — whose latest award is the James Beard Humanitarian of the Year Award, given to an individual or organization working in the food realm who has given selflessly and worked tirelessly to better the lives of others and society at large, which he'll receive in June. The menu features signatures such as their smoked fried chicken plus seasonal offerings such as a roasted cabbage with sweet potato and peanuts.
El Carlos Elegante
Stunning Mexico City-inspired eatery in the Design District from Dallas-based Duro Hospitality (The Charles, Bar Charles, Sister, Café Duro, Casa Duro) has earned raves for its innovative food menu featuring Argentinian-style wood-fired meats and fish, house-made tortillas, and traditional masa-based dishes, as well as a seasonal craft cocktail menu, a standout mezcal program, and a global list of wines and champagnes. The setting is breathtaking, with front and back courtyards, retractable roofs, fountains, and fireplaces. The restaurant also earned a nod from the Michelin Guide.
Mirador
With the precarious status of the Zodiac Room at Neiman Marcus, this restaurant atop Forty Five Ten Downtown Dallas stands to dominate the downtown lunch realm, and you couldn't find a prettier space, with 11-foot floor-to-ceiling windows and a wrap-around terrace over looking Tony Tasset’s outdoor sculpture Eye. Chef Travis Wyatt, himself a nominee for Best Chef in the 2024 Tastemaker Awards, oversees a menu of simple but well-considered dishes such as orecchiette pasta with San Marzano tomatoes or chicken paillard with Swiss chard. They recently added Saturday brunch, so now you have a place to get a French omelet with mornay sauce and optional caviar.
Mister Charles
Sophisticated restaurant and bar from Duro Hospitality would be swoon-worthy on its own with its globally-inspired plays on French and Italian dishes, its soaring 38-foot ceilings, iconoclastic design, classic cocktails, and rare wines. Not to mention menu highlights such as egg salad sandwich & caviar, a cured salmon tart with crème fraîche, or corn and truffle beignets. The capper is the location itself, one rife with local history: the former Highland Park Soda Fountain building at 3219 Knox St. The Tastemaker Awards is not alone in its admiration: the restaurant also earned a nod from the Michelin Guide.
Rye
Acclaimed restaurant on Lower Greenville is an American, small-plates and cocktail restaurant with a small, super seasonal menu that changes frequently. They do an a la carte menu, plus two testing menus, one vegetarian and one not. It's hard to overstate the creativity and level of execution, with stellar dishes such as their cornu-copia, featuring five expressions of corn on one plate: white corn tamale, red corn grits, yellow corn ice cream, blue corn chips, and charred maitake mushrooms with huitlacoche. There's an excellent cocktail and wine list, plus a wonderful atmosphere with wood floors and red brick walls. Rye earned a Recommended from the Michelin Guide.
Starship Bagel
A bagel shop on a best restaurant list might seem unexpected, but Starship is no ordinary shop. Founder Oren Salomon takes an obsessive approach to bagels, with an adherence to the tradition of bagel-making that extends to using kosher ingredients only. No drippy egg-and-bacon bagel sandwiches here — instead, you'll find options like the Millennial Falcon with a bagel, cream cheese, tomato, avocado, sprouts, pickled red onion, and crushed red pepper. His dedication has earned Starship national acclaim including winning Best Bagel at the annual New York BagelFest, and making the list of James Beard finalists for Outstanding Bakery in 2025.
Stillwell's
Texas steakhouse from Harwood Hospitality Group is located on the 7th floor of the swanky boutique Hôtel Swexan, where it aims to be a gathering spot for locals and guests alike, with a lively bar, cocktails, plush seating and mid-century jewel-toned and walnut adorning design. Menu highlights include chilled shellfish and caviar, staek tartare, lobster corn dogs, plus big statement steaks like a 32-oz Tomahawk or a 28-day dry-aged New York strip, and equally over-the-top sides such as beef tallow fries, Port Salut mac & cheese, and jumbo onion rings with Green Goddess. The restaurant also earned a Recommended in the Texas Michelin Guide.
Tatsu
Deep Ellum restaurant is from acclaimed sushi chef Tatsuya Sekiguchi, a native of Japan and fourth-generation sushi master who excels at traditional, Edomae-style sushi; edomae-style means the seafood is either cured, preserved, or aged, a classic style that predates refrigeration. At Tatsu, he offers an omakase sushi experience in an intimate setting with limited openings and limited seating as well. The experience is indulgent, yet exactingly designed with such thoughtful care that diners are asked to skip heavy fragrances to make the tasting experience pure. Tatsu was the only restaurant in Dallas to win a star from the Texas Michelin Guide.
Written By the Seasons
Sophisticated indie restaurant with two locations — Oak Cliff and the Quad in Uptown — is from a dream team that includes owners Brenton Phillips, Hailey Nutt, and Tripp Russ (Tribal Cafe), partnered with acclaimed chef couple Dennis Kelly and Melody Bishop (Lark on the Park, Knox Bistro) — all committed to actually fulfilling the farm-to-table ethos, not just throwing around the words as an empty marketing slogan as so many restaurants do. They rotate in new dishes frequently, incorporating global flavors such as the spicy kimchi pancake — putting forth a kind of California cool combined with rustic authenticity. The restaurant also earned a Recommended in the Texas Michelin Guide.
Zavala's Barbecue
Family-owned barbecue spot in Grand Prairie has won multiple awards from all the usual suspects includingTX Monthly, and rightfully so: Zavala's wins over customers for its flawless smoked brisket and ribs, plus truly original dishes such as pizza-flavored sausage and sides like their decadent cheesy hominy spiked with jalapeno. The place has a casual backyard feel and it's hard to resist the infectious charm of owner Joe Zavala, who wears his hometown pride (he was born in Grand Prairie) and an unfettered enthusiasm for barbecue.
