The dining scene in Dallas is so dynamic right now that pretty much every month we see a slew of new restaurants. New is good, but diners in the know want to know where the hot ones are. They don't want to go to some new branch of a chain in Royse City (all props to Royse City), they want to know where the other diners in the know are eating.
Here's where they're eating. Here are the 10 hottest new restaurants in Dallas right now:
Chicken Moto
Fried chicken fans are flocking to this Korean-inspired fried chicken restaurant from husband and wife Sandy and Greg Bussey, Steve Shin, and Sam Osee (all of Bbbop Seoul Kitchen), who describe it as Texas Southern comfort meets South Korean Seoul food.There's Korean fried chicken offered as a full bird, half bird, or quarter, with choice of dark or light meat, and two glaze options: soy ginger or sweet and spicy chili. You can also get a fried chicken sandwich, or a panko-crusted chicken plate with curry fries.
Easy Slider
Dallas food truck Easy Slider, which specializes in basic little burgers, has graduated to the restaurant world with a newly opened brick-and-mortar location in Deep Ellum. There are burgers with cheese; with bacon and peanut butter; with goat cheese and strawberry jam; with blue cheese slaw; and with jalapeños, French-fried onions, and barbecue sauce. There's also a caprese-style portabella mushoom burger topped with mozzarella, tomato, and pesto. New menu items include tater tots, onion rings, a fried chicken sandwich, salads, and seasonal fruit soft-serve ice cream.
Flower Child
There's always a line at this bright and cheerful fast-casual healthy concept from Fox Restaurant Concepts, the Arizona-based group that also owns True Food Kitchen. The menu has lots of vegetarian and vegan options such as the Mother Earth bowl, combining ancient grains with sweet potato, portabella mushroom, avocado, cucumber, broccoli pesto, leafy greens, red pepper miso vinaigrette, and hemp seed. Salads include kale with grapefruit, apple, black currant, smoked almonds, white cheddar, and apple cider vinaigrette.
Lovers Seafood
It must be weird to be Rex's Seafood, and watch your old space at 5200 Lovers Ln. suddenly be mobbed, as it has since Lovers Seafood moved in.Owners Tracy Rathbun and Lynae Fearing, who also own Shinsei, have some pretty good mojo, not only with seafood but also with attracting the locals. They've also assembled a crack team of familiar faces, including chef Aaron Staudenmaier, formerly of Abacus. It's kind of a Rathbun family reunion — general manager is Max Heidenreich, who was at Abacus and opened the original Jasper's in Plano.
Mirador
Restaurant atop Forty Five Ten, across from The Joule hotel, features a chef team with Josh Sutcliff, in collaboration with Junior Borges, executive chef of The Joule, that's totally legit. But jeepers, with a deviled eggs here, and a chicken paillard there, the menu sure does seem to rip off take its cues from the grande dame department store restaurant The Zodiac Room. And Mirador doesn't have the popovers. Need the popovers!
Public School 972
Taking over the old Mi Piaci space, this is the second area branch of a California gastropub concept with a school theme; the first opened in Dallas' West Village in late 2014. Signature starters include bacon-cheddar tots, buffalo cauliflower, and fiery calamari. Entrées, salads, and sandwiches include a smoked turkey sandwich; beet salad with arugula; a bison burger; fish and chips; and the vegetarian-roasted poblano with quinoa, black beans, and squash on cilantro lime rice. Public School VP Phil Kastel is down with Addison, and so are we.
Q Tacos and Machos Cantina
Michael Martensen keeps expanding his role from cocktail specialist to restaurant creator, and his latest is this taco stand, taking over the space on Cedar Springs formerly occupied by Quesa, a Mexican restaurant that never got much attention. Martensen partnered up with the owners of Quesa to do a reset. In addition to tacos, the new concept has a walk-up window and a bar.
Revolver Taco Lounge
It's been called Fort Worth's hottest and most written-about taqueria, and it won Fort Worth Restaurant of the Year in CultureMap's 2016 Tastemaker Awards. Now it's in Deep Ellum. Dallas diners don't have to drive to FW to get their Revolver fix. In addition to tacos, the Dallas branch will serve prix-fixe dinners in a small space at the back of the restaurant, featuring chef-owner Regino Rojas' take on Michoacan cuisine.
Town Hearth
It's new and it's Nick Badovinus, which is pretty much all you need to lure in Dallas diners. The charismatic chef plies meat at this Design District steakhouse, taking a page out of the book of Knife with big big steaks such as a bone-in 48-ounce steak that's meant to be shared. Town Hearth also has a raw bar featuring a seafood cocktail and oysters, one of Badovinus' obsessions, and an over-the-top decorative scheme that includes 64 chandeliers.
Wheelhouse
One of a trio of eateries from Tim Headington (The Joule), Wheelhouse is inspired by the modern American gastropub, with an urban atmosphere. Open for lunch and dinner, its menu pays homage to bar culture, with distinctive takes on contemporary pub fare. That means pretzels, kettle corn, house-made sausages, oysters on the half shell, beef jerky, pork ribs with kimchi slaw, and smoked trout dip.
