Essential Texas Eats

Texas lands 4 coveted spots on list of essential American restaurants

Food website Eater has released its first national list of essential restaurants across America, and saints be praised, four Texas restaurants are on it: Tei-An, the One Arts Plaza soba noodle palace from renowned chef Teiichi Sakurai; Franklin Barbecue, the world-famous barbecue spot in Austin; and two of Houston's most celebrated restaurants, Oxheart and Underbelly.

The list was compiled by Bill Addison, who was appointed as Eater's first national restaurant editor in April 2014. It represents an incredible amount of eating: 263 on-the-clock meals consumed in 29 cities during seven months of travel with 147 days in the field.

The restaurants are broken into categories, such as regional cuisine, tasting menus and global flavors. As might be expected, California and New York restaurants tally up the biggest numbers. But Addison hit the hinterlands as well, including Chicago; Las Vegas; and Boulder, Colorado. His list includes everything from the groundbreaking "meat-free" Vedge in Philadelphia to fantasy steakhouse Minetta Tavern in New York.

Addison, a former critic for Atlanta magazine and the Dallas Morning News, has what many a foodie would call the hottest critic job in the world: flying around to cities and eating at the best restaurants. But anyone who kept up with his reports would know that he was often called on to eat meals back-to-back.

"I asked myself about the meaning of the word essential at every stop," he writes in his introduction. "What are the indispensable restaurants across the nation right at this moment of our culinary history? Which ones jump-start the trends, which reset notions of cooking and hospitality, which illuminate a place or time? What assembly of restaurants, ultimately, reflects the fundaments of our culture?"

About Tei-An, Addison observes that "Dallas doesn't rank as one of the country's great bastions of Asian cuisines," but that "North Texas food lovers nonetheless know that they have something special in Teiichi Sakurai." Addison admires Sakurai's ability to transform soba into something exciting and recommends ordering the chef's seven-course omakase, where soba is always the finale.

Addison calls Franklin Barbecue "America's most famous barbecue joint" and counsels diners to order extra brisket for later: "It's Aaron Franklin's masterwork, a feat of smolder and flesh that reset the already towering standards in the Lone Star barbecue world ... so silken that, beyond the charred exterior, it has an almost pudding-like texture."

He says that Houston chef Justin Yu of Oxheart "may be the country's most visionary vegetable chef, combining ingredients that are ravishing to the eyes and electric on the palate." Only one of Oxheart's two six-course menus is focused solely on flora, "but both are meditations on the harvest," Addison writes.

He praises Underbelly chef Chris Shepherd for his efforts to create a sense of place. He describes a menu whose combination of boudin and chicken-fried pot roast "addresses the city's Cajun-Southern-Texan crossroads," while simultaneously drawing inspiration from the mom-and-pop restaurants in Houston's immigrant community.

"The crowds in the dining room rewardingly mirror the inclusive cooking," he says.

The soba at Tei An is anything but banal, according to Eater critic Bill Addison.

Soba noodles at Tei An restaurant in Dallas

Photo by Brad Murano

The soba at Tei An is anything but banal, according to Eater critic Bill Addison.

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Where to Eat

Where to eat in Dallas right now: 10 eclectic restaurants for September

Photo courtesy of Elephante

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The September edition of Where to Eat, CultureMap's monthly column recommending new or intriguing restaurants to try, boasts a motley assortment of places — ranging from a modest healthy-ish spot in McKinney to a flashy newcomer from out of town. Somewhere in between, there's authentic Indian; ramen and sushi in the suburbs; and street food from both Cuba and South Asia.

Here's 10 very varied restaurants to try in September 2026.

Bluebonnet & Thyme
Southern bistro and bar now open in Dallas' Victory Park is from chef Kendall Williams, who won a Most Creative prize at the 2025 State Fair of Texas for her Wagyu Bacon Cheeseburger Deviled Egg Sliders. Those aren't on the menu, but you can find deviled eggs, a Wagyu burger, and salmon croquette sliders — alongside dishes like Cornish hen, catfish and lasagna, steak and fries, birria empanadas, and country-fried steak, priced from $26-$52. There's a full bar with margaritas, martinis, and a tequila drink with pineapple and chili syrup. They're celebrating their grand opening this weekend with an event on September 10.

Cafe Zupas
Healthy-ish restaurant chain founded in Utah made its Texas debut in the spring in the McKinney Ranch Center Plaza, where it's winning over McKinney residents with its practical menu of quick eats. They do protein bowls, soups, salads, and sandwiches, such as chicken pesto sandwich, chicken club, potato and green chile soup, tomato basil soup, mangoberry salad, and strawberry harvest salad. Their signature is a free chocolate-dipped strawberry.

Elephanté
Italian restaurant from California is now open at the 23Springs development on Maple Avenue, where it's serving Southern Italian-inspired food and aperitivo-style drinks in an ultrachic two-story space. The menu includes pasta, wood-fired pizza, and dishes to share. Pastas are especially fetching, such as fusilli in arugula pesto with pistachio and Parmigiano; or cavatelli with Italian sausage, pecorino, and broccolini. They're open for lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch, when they serve unique-to-Dallas items like "green eggs" — scrambled eggs with zucchini and avocado. Wines by the glass are noteworthy, including three sparkling options. Dallas is the third location, following Santa Monica and Scottsdale, Arizona.

Filli Cafe
Tea house from Dubai just opened in Carrollton with all kinds of chai teas, espresso drinks, and South Asian street food. They take familiar dishes like breakfast and burgers and give it a creative South Asian fusion. For example, Shawarma Jalapeño Melt with chicken, jalapeños, and cheese. Or Aloo Tikki Sliders, featuring fried potato patties on Hawaiian buns. Or pizza topped with Indian butter chicken. The menu is entirely halal, meaning that all ingredients are processed according to Islamic guidelines. Filli has 70-plus cafes across 14 countries with nine in the U.S., including Chicago, New York, Virginia, Ohio — and now Dallas.

Flaming Bites
Fast-casual restaurant similar to the Halal Guys chain recently opened in Carrollton, with a menu of wraps, gyros, and platters featuring rice or french fries topped with choice of chicken, lamb, beef, falafel, and fish. Like the Halal Guys, this place is also all halal. For American-food holdouts, there are smashburgers, Philly cheesesteaks, chicken cheesesteaks, sliders, chicken tenders, nuggets, and wings.

Frita Baditos Frita, a Cuban-style burger. Photo by Noah Fecks

Frito Batidos
Chef-founded burger spot from Michigan is now open on McKinney Avenue with Cuban street food, including burgers (fritas) and milkshakes (batidos). The concept was launched in college town Ann Arbor by chef Eve Aronoff Fernandez in 2010 and has since expanded to Detroit and Brooklyn (where the burger earned a nod in the NY Times). A frita is a burger made from spicy chorizo, served with shoestring fries on a soft bun. Batidos are tropical milkshakes with fruit, crushed ice, and sweetened milk. The menu also has"loaded" fried plantains with black beans and cheese; coconut-ginger rice with black beans and Muenster cheese; churros; paletas; and cocktails such as margaritas, mojitos, and piña coladas.

Joey
Upscale Canadian chain just opened in Uptown Dallas on Maple Ave with a global menu: fire-torched sushi, steak, bowls, tacos, and burgers. Signatures include sirloin steak with "crispy" mashed potatoes, seared salmon sushi, and sea bass.There are also dumplings, Korean fried cauliflower, fajitas, lobster spaghetti, hibachi wings, tofu bowl, and steak frites. Fun cocktails include margaritas, spritzes, and slush drinks such as frozen spiked coffee with Jameson Irish whiskey. Here's something fresh: They have "low-alcohol cocktails" with half the usual dose. This is the second Joey in Dallas; the first opened at NorthPark Center in 2024.

Koishi House Ramen & Sushi Bar
Ramen comes to Fate, Texas via this suburban-focused chain from restaurateur Jason Chi, following Prosper, which opened as Koishi Ramen & Sushi Bar in May. Located on I-30, the Fate spinoff has an extensive menu with sashimi; 50 sushi rolls; and 10 ramen options including classic tonkotsu, spicy beef, katsu chicken, and veggie ramen. There are noodles, teriyaki-style entrees, dumplings, tempura, and bento boxes for lunch for $14-$15. A full bar features many whiskeys plus cocktails, affordably priced at $10-$11. The space is nicely appointed as well, with Asian lanterns and dark woods.

Lamberti's Ristorante and Wine Bar
This Italian restaurant in Las Colinas is the second location of a beloved local favorite. The first Lamberti's, at 7701 N. MacArthur Blvd. in Irving, has an interesting history: It started out as I Fratelli’s Ristorante and Wine Bar — the only restaurant venue in the I Fratelli's pizzeria chain. In 2017, the owners of I Fratelli sold the location to then-manager David Lamberti, who changed the name to Lamberti’s and built a loyal following with great food, atmosphere, and doting staff. This spinoff at Water Street has the same menu of pizza, pasta, and wine, but with delightful views of the Lake Carolyn waterfront. They also do crowd-pleasing lunch specials such as pot roast on Monday, spaghetti and meatballs on Tuesday, and chicken parm on Wednesdays.

Ulavacharu
Indian restaurant in Frisco from brothers Vinay Kumar Narahari and Vijay Narahari is an exciting destination for authentic Andhra cuisine, from the Indian state of Andra Pradesh, known for its bold South Indian flavors. Their menu features biryani — a popular and comforting dish combining fragrant rice with meat or vegetables and exotic spices — but they offer versions from a number of regions including Vijayawada, Guntur, Gongura, and Charminar. Other menu categories include Indo-Chinese spicy fried rice, tandoori oven cooked favorites like chicken tikka, curries, vegetarian specialties such as eggplant stuffed with coconut and peanuts, and fresh breads made on-site including naan and roti.

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