Tastemaker Awards

9 top new pizza restaurants in Dallas vie for best pie in town

Today's theme: pizza.

Photo by Dillan Juul

CultureMap Dallas brings back its Tastemaker Awards, an annual celebration shining a light on the city's top culinary talent. It begins with a 10-part editorial series, profiling all of those nominated for an award in categories such as Neighborhood Restaurant of the Year, Bar of the Year, and Rising Star Chef. Check out our page with all the nominees, voted on by a panel of judges consisting of former CultureMap Tastemaker Award winners and local F&B experts.

It'll culminate in a party on May 12 at Fashion Industry Gallery, emceed by comedian CJ Starr, where attendees get to dine on bites from nominated restaurants and find out who the winners are in all the categories. (Tickets are on sale here.)

This entry is our Wild Card, a category that changes every year depending on what's hot. In 2022, that's pizza. It was a year that saw more than a dozen new pizza concepts open, tossing out all varieties and bringing an unprecedented array of styles and options that show how magnificently Dallas' pizza scene has evolved in the last few years.

Here are our nominees for 2022 Wild Card – Best new Pizza:

400 Gradi
Style: Neapolitan
Downtown Italian restaurant from Australian chef Johnny Di Francesco uses upscale authentic ingredients such as San Marzano tomatoes in more than a dozen varieties such as the Supreme with pumpkin, arugula, pine nuts, and goat cheese. They ferment their dough and pastas for 48 hours in a temperature-controlled room. Entrees include branzino, chicken breast with pepperonata and nduja sauce, and mussels in a garlic-chili jus with chargrilled bread. Zero Gradi, a companion gelato shop, recently opened next door and another 400 Gradi will open in McKinney in 2023.

Mission Pizza
Style: Massachusetts bar pizza
Pizza concept in Denton is available as a pop-up on weekends at Herf's Denton County Taphouse, and worth spotlighting because of its one-of-a-kind angle: It does "South Shore bar pizza," a crispy, cheesy style that originated in the bars of the South Shore of Massachusetts where founder Steve North grew up. It's a rich pie with a crisp, buttery, almost biscuity crust; crushed tomato sauce; and cheddar cheese, cooked in a pan like Chicago-style or Detroit-style, with sauce and cheese spread to the edge, so there's no exposed crust, and with crisp Detroit-style burnt edges.

Mondo Pizza
Style: Global
Fresh, worldly take on pizza on Lemmon Avenue is from veteran Dallas restaurateur Yaser Khalaf (Baboush, Souk Moroccan Bistro), no stranger to pizza; he previously owned LA Gourmet Pizza on McKinney Avenue. This is a small delivery and pickup only place, with pizza crafted through his international perspective. Chicken Shawarma has sumac & herb grilled chicken, goat cheese, and a saffron-garlic cream. The Mt. Gyro has shaved lamb and beef gyro meat, feta cheese, tzatziki crema, capers, arugula, and kalamata olives.

KillA Pie
Style: Detroit
Prosper restaurant specializes in Detroit-style square-shaped pies with thick-yet-airy crusts and crisped cheesy edges. Owners David Kazarian, Jay Clark, Shane Lambert, and Robert Wechsler worked with chef and cookbook author Peter Reinhart, tasting dozens of variations to refine their recipe. They make their dough from organic flour and put it through a 24- to 48-hour fermentation process before it gets rolled out and topped with tomato sauce, Wisconsin brick cheese, and toppings. There are also five creative salads and starters such as red pepper hummus.

NEONY Pizza Works
Style: Artisan New York
Indie pizzeria is a new concept opening in Oak Cliff at 829 W. Davis St. from Alex Ham, a commercial photographer who previously owned a pizza place in Korea, and his wife Eun Young. Ham calls it "nothing fancy but good-quality pizza" — an artisanal rendition of NY-style pizza but with a lighter dough that takes 4 to 5 minutes, which means you'll get it a little faster than you would a traditional NY-style pie. The toppings are pretty standard — pepperoni, margherita, veggie — but the notable element here is the crust, which is aged 72 hours and is super-airy and crisp.

Pizza Gianna
Style: Dallas Thin Crust
Lovers Lane pizzeria is from the same Nuccio family who founded Pizza by Marco/My Family's Pizza, a thin-crust neighborhood favorite beloved to old-school Dallasites. The pizza features their legendary sauce and trusted recipes, but with a more up-to-date business model including allowing for ordering and payment online. You can't beat pizzas such as the Augustus with EVOO, garlic, spinach, sun dried tomato, provolone, and feta, but their sub sandwiches including meatball and baked Italian with pepperoni, salami, pepperoncinis, Roma tomatoes, provolone, and parmesan are also divine.

Pegasus Pizza
Style: Neapolitan
Pizzeria is part of the Restaurants on Lamar collection at Omni Dallas Hotel, named for the iconic Pegasus on the hotel's front lawn. Their pizza is Neapolitan-style baked at high temperatures and topped with organic tomatoes and "craft" meats. Pizzas are 12-inch, perfect for the market, and include a Margherita, a Carne, BBQ Brisket, veggie with artichokes, olives, red peppers, mushrooms, spinach, and truffle oil, Buffalo Chicken, and Herb Chicken with chicken and white sauce. The bar is wine-centric, with wine on tap, 10+ wines by the glass, and seasonally inspired sangrias.

Motor City Pizza
Style: Detroit
Pizza is the foundation of this carry-out pop-up based in Lewisville with varieties such as a "Greektown" with black & green olives, red onion, spinach, tomato, and feta cheese, topped with Greek dressing. Owner Greg Tierney, a Michigan native who grew up eating Detroit-style pizza, is restlessly creative, offering seasonal specials with unexpected toppings such as mushroom gravy. In addition to the thick Detroit-style crust, he also makes some with a traditional-style crust, for those that are not deep dish fans.

PT Neighborhood Pizza
Style: Artisan thin crust
Offshoot of Dallas pizzeria chain Pie Tap uses a modern fast-casual service model where you bypass the usual counter-service and use your phone to order and pay. The menu bears a passing resemblance to Pie Tap, with a handful of pizzas plus sandwiches, sliders, beer, wine, and margaritas. They also have an option where you can get a slice and side, with a special oven that makes superior slices. One thing the two concepts do share is Pie Tap's pizza dough, which creates the light, crisp crust for which they're known.

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Where to Eat

Where to eat in Dallas right now: 10 new restaurants for October

Photo courtesy of Sophia's

Red snapper ceviche at Sophia's Cantina

CultureMap's monthly Where to Eat column highlighting the best restaurants to try returns for October with a theme of new and diverse. Every restaurant on this list is a recent arrival, including at least one that has been open for only a day. If you want hot, fresh, and new, you've come to the right list.

The list represents an exciting array, encompassing a one-of-its-kind test restaurant, a fashionable coffee shop, steakhouse, Mexican cantina, Italian speakeasy, and not one, not two, but three places to get dumplings.

Here's where to eat in Dallas for October 2026:

Coach Coffee Shop
Unique cafe just opened inside the Coach handbag store at Allen Outlet Malls, one of seven locations across the U.S., including Austin, which opened in 2025. The drink menu features coffee, espresso drinks including cappuccinos and lattes, cold brew, matcha lattes with rotating seasonal flavors, and lemonade. There are two signature items: Tabby Cake — an adorable chocolate treat shaped like Coach’s trademark Tabby bag and Lil Miss Jo Cookie — an edible version of the chain's coffee-cup animated mascot used in company ad campaigns. They also serve pastries such as salted chocolate chip cookies, blueberry muffins, vegan carrot cake muffins, cinnamon rolls, savory scones, ham and cheese croissant, and soft-serve in waffle cones.

Curry Tei & Bar
Hip Asian restaurant comes to downtown Plano courtesy of Michelle Vi Pepping, who also owns buzzy Okaeri Cafe in Richardson. Curry Tei gives her the opportunity to focus more deeply on favorite Japanese comfort foods, especially house-made curry and crispy katsu, along with a full bar featuring sake, Japanese whisky, and handcrafted cocktails. The curry can be ordered over rice or udon noodles, then topped with a choice from 10 proteins: tonkatsu fried pork cutlet, katsu fried chicken cutlet, tofu katsu fried tofu cutlet, shrimp katsu, karaage fried chicken, Japanese sausage, fried potato croquette, sliced beef, hamburger patty, or gyoza dumplings. Their bowls and noodles run the gamut from chicken teriyaki over rice to chilled green tea soba noodles with vegetable tempura. Popular starters include edamame, dumplings, and karaage fried chicken.

The chocolate bag is one of a few too-cute-to-eat treats at Coach Coffee Shop. Coach Coffee Shop/Instagram

Docent Steak
After two years in the making, the newest restaurant from Harwood Hospitality Group is open in the Harwood No. 14 development as a steakhouse with a menu centered on HWD Beef, Harwood’s exclusive beef product. Prime cuts include filet mignon, NY strip, ribeye, bone-in strip, Chateaubriand, and porterhouse. Docent also serves Kobe beef, including A5 Wagyu available by the ounce, and a rotating Kobe flight featuring five cuts. Non-steak options include crab cake, Kobe potstickers, steak tartare sliders, tempura lobster, oysters, spicy tuna tartare, and a seafood tower. As befits a steakhouse, there's a grand wine list, but also a big selection of sake. The main dining room has a white-tablecloth fine-dining ambience, while a lower level has a casual atmosphere with TVs. There's lots of art, a Harwood trademark.

L's Dumplings
Chef-owned Asian spot just opened on the Lewisville/Carrollton border, where it's doing dumplings and Hong Kong-style dim sum. There's an expansive menu with dim sum-style dishes, dumplings, and even Chinese-American staples like General Tso's Chicken. While the restaurant does not have room for the cart service that often goes with dim sum, it does have a dim sum menu with a dozen dishes you'd find at a traditional dim sum brunch: beef tripe, black pepper short ribs, siu mai topped with roe, Chinese broccoli in oyster sauce, steamed pork ribs with garlic, sticky rice chicken, wontons, and chicken feet in black bean sauce. Dumplings are offered in more than a dozen varieties including soft steamed dumplings, pan-fried dumplings with a crispy bottom, and soup dumplings, famous for containing broth inside the wrapper, creating an especially juicy filling.

Momo2Go
Well-regarded dumpling chain from Canada has opened a location in the Preston Lebanon Crossing shopping center, taking over a space previously occupied by Lalo's Cocina Mexicana, which closed in July. Momo2Go specializes in momos — the dumpling that's a foundation of Himalayan cuisine — and is a spinoff of a family-owned restaurant called Himalayan Kitchen, which debuted in Toronto in 2012. Their momos were so popular that they launched Momo2Go in 2016. They now have 10 including one in Irving, which franchisees Karma Gurung and Tashi Chetan opened in 2023. Frisco is their second location.

Veggie dumplings are a favorite at L's Dumplings.Photo courtesy of L's Dumplings

Ono Hawaiian BBQ
Fast-casual Hawaiian plate-lunch chain from California just opened a location in McKinney, specializing in island-style plate lunches that combine some form of meat plus white rice and macaroni salad. Meats include BBQ chicken, Kalua pork, kalbi short ribs, fried chicken katsu, and Spam musubi, consisting of a block of rice topped with a slice of Spam and wrapped in seaweed. A slightly healthier option combines the meats with rice and a side salad. McKinney is the second location in Texas, following Plano which opened in July. If all goes according to their plan, they will soon be ubiquitous, with 10 locations plotted for DFW.

Open House
New restaurant concept being tested by KFC has opened its very first location in McKinney, with a goal to put a modern twist on Colonel Sanders' fried chicken concept. The location has tableside service, touchscreen kiosks, breakfast, boba drinks, and more. New and unique menu items including sides such as Southwest corn, fried green beans, spicy pickles, and rainbow slaw, as well as the first breakfast lineup featuring chicken tenders sandwiches, hashbrown sticks, mini cronuts, brewed coffee, and iced lattes. The McKinney restaurant will serve as a testing ground for KFC, giving them a chance to try new food, drinks, service, and design ideas before rolling them out across the country.

Red: Italian
Unusual new restaurant in Denton is a subterranean spot in the basement of Ruby Rodeo, a bar and live music venue on Denton Square, where it's serving Italian food and speakeasy charm. The 58-seat underground space — which includes 10 seats at the bar — serves Italian classics, priced from $25 to $40, such as spicy sausage lasagna with arrabbiata sauce, cacio e pepe bucatini, chicken piccata, shrimp diablo, and espresso-crusted filet mignon with Italian seasoning. Appetizers include fried mozzarella, stuffed mushrooms, grilled artichokes, bruschetta, meatballs, flatbreads, and a classic Caesar. The concept comes from Victor García and Mike Church, who also own Ruby Rodeo, as well as the similarly-red-named Scarlett Lounge in Deep Ellum.

Sophia's Cocina & Cantina
Mexican restaurant in Farmers Branch is the new home of Hugo Miranda, the well-respected hospitality figure who previously helmed Hugo's Invitados, a Mexican concept that he opened in 2018 with entrepreneur Mark Hulme. Highlights from the menu (which has not yet been uploaded to the restaurant's website nor their Facebook page) include oysters, pork belly chicharron, sopa de Cebolla, mixed grill, ribeye black Angus tomahawk sliced tableside, whole Pacific snapper, crudos, and upscale tacos such as blue crab with spinach; and salads such as red beet carpaccio with arugula, goat cheese, avocado, and pumpkin seeds.

Yo-Chi
Aussie fro-yo chain known for self-serve bowls, bountiful topping bars, and lively vibe has made its U.S. debut in Dallas near Inwood Village, at 5710 Lovers Ln. #101, to be followed by a second location at NorthPark Center. Yay us. Founded in Melbourne in 2012, Yo-Chi first expanded outside Australia in 2025 with a location in Singapore, followed by London. They tout their use of "fresh milk" in their yogurt, with flavors such as vanilla, salted butterscotch, tart, acai, coconut, matcha, and cinnamon banana. Plus 40-plus toppings arranged in a communal, self-serve station, including mini mochi, pistachio spread, cookie dough, sauces, brownies, fruit, and more. In its Down Under home turf, Yo-Chi locations are said to have a club ambience, with people going there on dates and bouncers at the door on weekends.

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