• Home
  • popular
  • Events
  • Submit New Event
  • Subscribe
  • About
  • News
  • Restaurants + Bars
  • City Life
  • Entertainment
  • Travel
  • Real Estate
  • Arts
  • Society
  • Home + Design
  • Fashion + Beauty
  • Innovation
  • Sports
  • Charity Guide
  • children
  • education
  • health
  • veterans
  • SOCIAL SERVICES
  • ARTS + CULTURE
  • animals
  • lgbtq
  • New Charity
  • Series
  • Delivery Limited
  • DTX Giveaway 2012
  • DTX Ski Magic
  • dtx woodford reserve manhattans
  • Your Home in the Sky
  • DTX Best of 2013
  • DTX Trailblazers
  • Tastemakers Dallas 2017
  • Healthy Perspectives
  • Neighborhood Eats 2015
  • The Art of Making Whiskey
  • DTX International Film Festival
  • DTX Tatum Brown
  • Tastemaker Awards 2016 Dallas
  • DTX McCurley 2014
  • DTX Cars in Lifestyle
  • DTX Beyond presents Party Perfect
  • DTX Texas Health Resources
  • DART 2018
  • Alexan Central
  • State Fair 2018
  • Formula 1 Giveaway
  • Zatar
  • CityLine
  • Vision Veritas
  • Okay to Say
  • Hearts on the Trinity
  • DFW Auto Show 2015
  • Northpark 50
  • Anteks Curated
  • Red Bull Cliff Diving
  • Maggie Louise Confections Dallas
  • Gaia
  • Red Bull Global Rally Cross
  • NorthPark Holiday 2015
  • Ethan's View Dallas
  • DTX City Centre 2013
  • Galleria Dallas
  • Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty Luxury Homes in Dallas Texas
  • DTX Island Time
  • Simpson Property Group SkyHouse
  • DIFFA
  • Lotus Shop
  • Holiday Pop Up Shop Dallas
  • Clothes Circuit
  • DTX Tastemakers 2014
  • Elite Dental
  • Elan City Lights
  • Dallas Charity Guide
  • DTX Music Scene 2013
  • One Arts Party at the Plaza
  • J.R. Ewing
  • AMLI Design District Vibrant Living
  • Crest at Oak Park
  • Braun Enterprises Dallas
  • NorthPark 2016
  • Victory Park
  • DTX Common Desk
  • DTX Osborne Advisors
  • DTX Comforts of Home 2012
  • DFW Showcase Tour of Homes
  • DTX Neighborhood Eats
  • DTX Comforts of Home 2013
  • DTX Auto Awards
  • Cottonwood Art Festival 2017
  • Nasher Store
  • Guardian of The Glenlivet
  • Zyn22
  • Dallas Rx
  • Yellow Rose Gala
  • Opendoor
  • DTX Sun and Ski
  • Crow Collection
  • DTX Tastes of the Season
  • Skye of Turtle Creek Dallas
  • Cottonwood Art Festival
  • DTX Charity Challenge
  • DTX Culture Motive
  • DTX Good Eats 2012
  • DTX_15Winks
  • St. Bernard Sports
  • Jose
  • DTX SMU 2014
  • DTX Up to Speed
  • st bernard
  • Ardan West Village
  • DTX New York Fashion Week spring 2016
  • Taste the Difference
  • Parktoberfest 2016
  • Bob's Steak and Chop House
  • DTX Smart Luxury
  • DTX Earth Day
  • DTX_Gaylord_Promoted_Series
  • IIDA Lavish
  • Huffhines Art Trails 2017
  • Red Bull Flying Bach Dallas
  • Y+A Real Estate
  • Beauty Basics
  • DTX Pet of the Week
  • Long Cove
  • Charity Challenge 2014
  • Legacy West
  • Wildflower
  • Stillwater Capital
  • Tulum
  • DTX Texas Traveler
  • Dallas DART
  • Soldiers' Angels
  • Alexan Riveredge
  • Ebby Halliday Realtors
  • Zephyr Gin
  • Sixty Five Hundred Scene
  • Christy Berry
  • Entertainment Destination
  • Dallas Art Fair 2015
  • St. Bernard Sports Duck Head
  • Jameson DTX
  • Alara Uptown Dallas
  • Cottonwood Art Festival fall 2017
  • DTX Tastemakers 2015
  • Cottonwood Arts Festival
  • The Taylor
  • Decks in the Park
  • Alexan Henderson
  • Gallery at Turtle Creek
  • Omni Hotel DTX
  • Red on the Runway
  • Whole Foods Dallas 2018
  • Artizone Essential Eats
  • Galleria Dallas Runway Revue
  • State Fair 2016 Promoted
  • Trigger's Toys Ultimate Cocktail Experience
  • Dean's Texas Cuisine
  • Real Weddings Dallas
  • Real Housewives of Dallas
  • Jan Barboglio
  • Wildflower Arts and Music Festival
  • Hearts for Hounds
  • Okay to Say Dallas
  • Indochino Dallas
  • Old Forester Dallas
  • Dallas Apartment Locators
  • Dallas Summer Musicals
  • PSW Real Estate Dallas
  • Paintzen
  • DTX Dave Perry-Miller
  • DTX Reliant
  • Get in the Spirit
  • Bachendorf's
  • Holiday Wonder
  • Village on the Parkway
  • City Lifestyle
  • opportunity knox villa-o restaurant
  • Nasher Summer Sale
  • Simpson Property Group
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2017 Dallas
  • Carlisle & Vine
  • DTX New Beginnings
  • Get in the Game
  • Red Bull Air Race
  • Dallas DanceFest
  • 2015 Dallas Stylemaker
  • Youth With Faces
  • Energy Ogre
  • DTX Renewable You
  • Galleria Dallas Decadence
  • Bella MD
  • Tractorbeam
  • Young Texans Against Cancer
  • Fresh Start Dallas
  • Dallas Farmers Market
  • Soldier's Angels Dallas
  • Shipt
  • Elite Dental
  • Texas Restaurant Association 2017
  • State Fair 2017
  • Scottish Rite
  • Brooklyn Brewery
  • DTX_Stylemakers
  • Alexan Crossings
  • Ascent Victory Park
  • Top Texans Under 30 Dallas
  • Discover Downtown Dallas
  • San Luis Resort Dallas
  • Greystar The Collection
  • FIG Finale
  • Greystar M Line Tower
  • Lincoln Motor Company
  • The Shelby
  • Jonathan Goldwater Events
  • Windrose Tower
  • Gift Guide 2016
  • State Fair of Texas 2016
  • Choctaw Dallas
  • TodayTix Dallas promoted
  • Whole Foods
  • Unbranded 2014
  • Frisco Square
  • Unbranded 2016
  • Circuit of the Americas 2018
  • The Katy
  • Snap Kitchen
  • Partners Card
  • Omni Hotels Dallas
  • Landmark on Lovers
  • Harwood Herd
  • Galveston.com Dallas
  • Holiday Happenings Dallas 2018
  • TenantBase
  • Cottonwood Art Festival 2018
  • Hawkins-Welwood Homes
  • The Inner Circle Dallas
  • Eating in Season Dallas
  • ATTPAC Behind the Curtain
  • TodayTix Dallas
  • The Alexan
  • Toyota Music Factory
  • Nosh Box Eatery
  • Wildflower 2018
  • Society Style Dallas 2018
  • Texas Scottish Rite Hospital 2018
  • 5 Mockingbird
  • 4110 Fairmount
  • Visit Taos
  • Allegro Addison
  • Dallas Tastemakers 2018
  • The Village apartments
  • City of Burleson Dallas

    Tastemaker Awards

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

    Teresa Gubbins
    Apr 11, 2022 | 6:00 am
    Crust Pizza Co pizza
    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.

    pizzatastemakersbestsawards
    news/restaurants-bars
    series/dallas-tastemaker-awards-2022
    CULTUREMAP EMAILS ARE AWESOME
    Get Dallas intel delivered daily.

    Restaurant News Roundup

    Catch up on all that's happening in this Dallas restaurant news

    Teresa Gubbins
    Apr 15, 2026 | 3:15 pm
    Mar Y Sol
    Chase Hall
    Latin flavors at Mar Y Sol

    There's always a lot going on in the Dallas restaurant world, but the action this month seems unsurpassed. There are openings, closings, relocations, expansions, rebrandings, and new owners. So much news. There's also a wave of new menus just introduced for spring, because it's that time of the year.

    Here's what's happening in Dallas restaurant news:

    Delhi6 Indian Kitchen & Bar, an authentic Indian restaurant in Highland Village, has moved to a new, larger location at 2420 Justin Rd., in the former Lost Colony space. The restaurant was previously located at The Shops at Highland Village. Driven by growing demand and a loyal customer base, owner Vipul Jain made the decision to relocate and elevate the dining experience. A full-service bar is set to open soon, alongside an expanded menu that will feature Indian-Chinese specialties and creative fusion dishes. New offerings include wraps; tacos; pizzas; and an indulgent dessert selection, highlighted by cheesecakes infused with unique Indian flavors.

    Too Thai Street Eats, a Thai restaurant that opened in Carrollton in 2017, now has a second location in Frisco, at 9150 Warren Pkwy. #100, in a shopping center at Preston Road that is home to Asian chains such as 99 Ranch, Daiso, Teso Life, Royce Chocolate, and 85 Bakery. Specialties include khao soi, a coconut chicken curry noodle dish from northern Vietnam, and pad kra pao, a stir-fry with meat, garlic, chili, and basil, served with jasmine rice and a fried egg. Owner Kunya Chaiwasun, a native of Bangkok, also owns Best Thai Signature and Boba Tea and Treats.

    Honeybird, a small local chain specializing in sandwiches, doughnuts, coffee, and matcha drinks, has opened a location in Allen at 803 E. Main St. #G, in a strip center off Greenville Avenue. They do fried chicken sandwiches with buttermilk fried chicken and Havarti cheese, and a roast beef sandwich with onion and Gruyere cheese. Doughnuts are decadent, such as Banana Pudding with maple icing, or the Churro Cronut — a croissant doughnut with cinnamon sugar and cream cheese frosting. They stay on top of trends like their recent debut of the Dubai Chewy Cookie with a kataifi filling. Allen is their third location, joining their original location in Flower Mound which opened in 2022, and a location in Plano.

    Deviled Egg Co., a small local chain, just opened at The Sound at Cypress Waters at 3001 Olympus Blvd. #100 in Coppell, where it's serving deviled eggs in 18 varieties: traditional, everything seasoning, smoked salmon, south of the border, sriracha bacon, jalapeño popper, crab rangoon, chicken bacon ranch, Cali roll, Buffalo blue cheese, Buffalo chicken, chicken n a pickle, chicken Caesar, gyro, cheeseburger, BBQ chicken, gyro, and a rotating flavor. In addition to deviled eggs, they also offer protein bowls, coffee, and bagels. The company was founded by entrepreneur Raechel Van Buskirk and has three other locations: McKinney and Rockwall, which are, like Coppell, takeout only; and the original in Denison, which is also dine-in with a more extensive menu that includes appetizers, shareable dishes, and a full bar of fun cocktails.

    Hide Bar at 1928 Greenville Ave. quietly closed at the end of March, following the St. Patrick's Day festivities. The bar — which originally opened in Deep Ellum in 2017, then closed in 2020 during the pandemic — relocated to Lower Greenville in 2022, following a time-consuming and expensive makeover. Owner Nick Backlund told the DMN that he was closing Hide because he was not allowed to keep the bar open after midnight, due to limits in the neighborhood.

    Mirador Whipped ricotta with spring peas at Mar Y Sol.Mirador

    San Marzano Italian, a New York restaurant that opened a location in Uptown in 2024, has closed. The original location opened in New York's East Village in 2014, where it draws locals and NYU students for its mix-and-match approach where you choose a pasta and pair it with choice of sauce from selections, such as Bolognese, wild boar ragù, tomato-vodka, pesto, meatball, or shrimp scampi. They opened on a prominent corner at 3700 McKinney Ave., in the spot previously occupied by Public School 214.

    Dave's Hot Chicken has opened at 4909 Ross Ave. #100, in Dallas, in a space that was previously Marzano's Pizza. This is Dave's 15th location in DFW, joining Mesquite, Richardson, Irving, Addison, Plano, Arlington, Lewisville, Hurst, McKinney, Fort Worth, and Denton.

    Bit of Grub is a new restaurant in North Dallas at 19129 Preston Rd. #100 with a wide-ranging menu of American and Tex-Mex basics including fajitas, enchiladas, burritos, nachos, chicken-fried steak, Caesar salad, smashburgers, chicken sandwich, patty melt, onion rings, banana pudding, and fried apple pie. That location was previously a Dunkin Donuts, a Kenny's Cafe, and a Mexican place called Casa Mama's for a decade.

    Stan's Blue Note at 2908 Greenville Ave. has a new ownership team in Mo Sherbi & Reid McRae, who state that they are honored to carry on its legacy while bringing fresh energy. They're hatching a new menu, a new upstairs private E-lounge (a private area that can host game-watching parties or people can play games), and upgrades to the bathrooms and patios. They're adding a smashburger, but they promise that the patty melt is "safe and sound," as well as fried mozzarella sticks and spaghetti and meatballs.

    Ellie's Cafe & Tea Room is a renamed and refreshed cafe and tea room now open Plano in the High Street Antique Mall at 800 N. Central Expy., in the former Chocolate Angel space. The owners and staff are the same, but the name change took place because the Chocolate Angel license expired and was not renewed. The menu — featuring deviled eggs, avocado toast, spinach salad, quinoa bowl, turkey and Brie sandwich, and more — has been updated with new recipes and an overall refreshed experience.

    Bulla Gastrobar in Plano has a new menu for spring that includes calamari slow-cooked in its own ink, pork belly with piquillo confit, roasted sweet potatoes with goat cheese spread, cannelloni pasta filled with lamb and Idiazabal cheese, tempura asparagus with goat cheese and yogurt, and dulce de leche cheesecake.

    Mar y Sol, the Latin American restaurant, has updated its menu including adding a dedicated Nikkei section, showcasing Japanese-Peruvian inspired crudos and tiraditos; new street tacos; and a new Wood Fire Grill section. New dishes include lobster rice with lobster bisque, tacos with skirt steak or shrimp, quesabirria, branzino, and Lomo NY strip.

    Mirador has new dishes for spring including ricotta with English peas, butter lettuce salad, and cavatelli pesto with green garlic and arugula. New cocktails include a white Negroni with Bombay Sapphire and bianco vermouth, and a Ruby Spritz with hibiscus-infused tequila, elderflower, and prosecco.

    Hash Kitchen Ube pancakes at Hash Kitchen.Hash Kitchen

    Lazy Dog Restaurants has a new menu of seasonal dishes and cocktails for spring. Highlights include Korean fried chicken bao buns, chicken shawarma salad, deviled egg salad sandwich, chili-garlic cucumbers, and rigatori with burrata cheese and greens. New cocktails include a watermelon margarita and a yuzu skinny margarita. It's available at all six DFW locations in Addison, Allen, Arlington, Euless/Glade Springs, Plano, and Garland.

    Hash Kitchen has a new lineup of limited-time brunch items available through June including ube buttermilk pancakes with blueberry compote; strawberry shortcake pancakes layered with cream cheese frosting and strawberry compote; and the Hash brunch sammie with bacon, hash browns, eggs, cheddar, and hollandaise, served with fries.

    Snooze Eatery is expanding beyond its breakfast-and-brunch roots with a new lineup of lunch dishes rolling out nationwide: The Rachel sandwich with turkey, Swiss, slaw, and spicy bacon Thousand Island; Grilled 3-cheese and tomato soup; Cobb salad with habanero pork belly, avocado, pickled red onion, and chickpeas; beef-and-cheddar smashburger on pretzel bun; whipped cottage cheese toast with balsamic date spread; and steel-cut oats with maple cinnamon vanilla cream, berries, and toasted brown butter granola.

    Cantina Laredo has new dishes for spring at its Addison and Frisco locations, including carnitas nachos, sopecitos with carnitas and black beans; mahi mahi with cilantro lime rice and asparagus; and chopped salad with field greens, black beans, avocado, strawberries, queso fresco, spicy pumpkin seeds, and cilantro-lime vinaigrette. New tacos served with Mexican rice and ranchero beans include carnitas, chicken in cascabel sauce, and Angus beef brisket.

    Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden has contracted Proof of the Pudding, an Atlanta-based catering operation, as its preferred food and beverage provider. Proof's portfolio includes the PGA Tour, Gas South Arena, and The World of Coca-Cola, among others. They'll be doing the food for events such as neo-expressionist artist Hunt Slonem: Bunnies, Birds & Butterflies Exhibition (April 20-September 30) with a limited-edition drink that brings the magic of the exhibit to the table in a whimsical, themed tea at the DeGoyler House; plus new menus and picnic offerings for the Cool Thursdays Concert Series from April 23-June 11. For the first time, guests can also pre-order food.

    Hotel ZaZa has appointed new corporate executive chef Chad Blunston, who will oversee culinary operations across all properties including Group Therapy in Austin, Dragonfly in Dallas, Tipping Point in Memorial City, and Monarch in Houston. He previously served as VP of culinary at HM Alpha Hotels & Resorts.

    openingsclosingschefslistsfood news
    news/restaurants-bars
    series/dallas-tastemaker-awards-2022
    CULTUREMAP EMAILS ARE AWESOME
    Get Dallas intel delivered daily.
    Loading...