Once again, Texas Monthly has published its list of the state's best new restaurants. Led by food critic and executive editor Pat Sharpe, the 21st edition of the list highlights the magazine's favorite dishes from around the state.

Texas Monthly utilized the same format for its 2021 list, opting not to publish a ranked list due to the difficulties restaurants faced during the pandemic.

"This year, in the wake of the delta and omicron coronavirus variants, we made the same decision," Sharpe writes.

Open to restaurants that opened between December 1, 2020 and December 1, 2021, the list breaks down dishes into the following categories: small plates, sandwiches, large plates, sweets, and cocktails.

Separate features highlight Texas-made beers, wines, and spirits; provide an overview of popular outdoor dining options in major Texas cities; and a look ahead to 2022's most anticipated new restaurants.

Seven Dallas bars and restaurants receive recognition for their dishes or drinks:

• charred eggplant dip at Sister
• seared foie gras at Tango Room
• Thunderburger at Thunderbird Pies
• 48-hour crispy wagyu tongue at Cry Wolf
• Jerk Lamb Chops at Roots Southern Table
• Chocolate Crémeux at Carte Blanche
• The Charlemagne at Elephant Bar, which makes the best Cocktails list

The patio dining list suggests favorites like Casablanca, José's, and Mi Cocina's new location at Klyde Warren Park.

Finally, Texas Monthly is looking forward to the arrival of New York restaurants Carbone and Sadelle's as well as three new projects from veteran restaurateur Nick Badovinus: Brass Ram, Pop Top, and Royal Bastard.

Looking at the state’s other major cities, Houston takes eight spots, while Austin eateries earn seven. San Antonio and Fort Worth have five entries each.

Three restaurants receive slightly longer profiles:

• March, the Houston restaurant devoted to elegant, Mediterranean-inspired tasting menus
• Up Scale, a San Antonio restaurant that focuses on steaks, seafood, and sushi
• Meridian, Dallas chef Junior Borges’s modern Brazilian restaurant, whose style Sharpe calls "a global melting pot, inspired not only by the country’s long-standing mix of Indigenous, Portuguese, and African cultures but also by relative newcomers from Japan and Italy (the menu includes a pasta section). Borges' most memorable dishes tap into his childhood, including the dessert of yuca-and-coconut cake topped with lime ganache and presented on a limpid pool of condensed-milk anglaise."

Head to the Texas Monthly website to see the complete list of selections from across the state.