This April edition of Where to Eat, the monthly column from CultureMap offering recommendations on restaurants to try, features 10 new destinations — some so new that they are opening this week. If you like surprises, you're in luck: It's an especially varied lineup that includes two downtown hotel updates, a celeb chef debut, a unique food hall lunch spot, and a restaurant that combines tacos and churros under one roof.
Here's where to eat in Dallas right now:
CBD Provisions
All-day restaurant at Joule Dallas hotel, closed since July 2025, has reopened for breakfast, lunch, brunch, and dinner with a new chef, menu, and interior design, following a months-long update. It's now under the direction of culinary director Sezer Deniz, who has 20-plus years experience working at Michelin-starred restaurants including the acclaimed Alinea in Chicago. He's added some French-sounding items such as Ancho Beef Bourguignon with horseradish spaetzle, but they're still keeping their signature and best known Pig's Head Carnitas, featuring a half pig's head on a plate, wherein diners pull strips of meat and tuck them into tortillas.
Grandma’s Country Kitchen
Southern-inspired, family-style restaurant recently opened in Southern Dallas with a menu of comfort classics like fried chicken, catfish, mashed potatoes, green beans, and desserts such as peach cobbler and banana pudding. Guests can also take advantage of catering services and events at the attached sister venue, The Reserve at Redbird, which accommodates up to 330 guests for all types of celebrations.
InSo
Short for Indus Social, this Southeast Asian fusion restaurant brings a lively concept to Irving, combining upscale dining and late-night lounge. They're serving a creative menu of Indian fusion food, cocktails, and entertainment, with dishes such as Chicken Tikka Tacos and a tomahawk ribeye. A notable selection of vegetarian dishes includes the Broiled Spinach, Burrata Cheese, and Artichokes with naan chips; and crepes with Swiss chard, potato, & pea tendrils. Executive chef is Michael Morabito, who comes from a restaurant family and who worked at Caesars Palace’s Palace Court in Las Vegas, The Mansion on Turtle Creek, and Colonial Country Club.
The Landing
The latest concept from celeb chef Tiffany Derry is this gastropub/sports bar opening April 9 at Grand Prairie's EpicCentral complex. The full menu is not yet posted online but will include smashburgers, wings, fried bologna sandwich, Caprese salad, a fried chicken salad, pasta roll-ups, and brisket egg rolls. Photos of the space show tufted couches to give it that living-room flair, for maximum comfort while watching sports and having a drink. This is the second venture in Grand Prairie for Derry and her partner Tom Foley; a location of their Italian concept Radici opened in EpicCentral in April 2025.
Luna Roja
New restaurant just opened at the Hilton Garden Inn in downtown Dallas, under the direction of chef Omar Larson (Kessaku, Monarch) with an American-Mex menu featuring entrees such as ancho glazed short ribs with sweet potato purée, or chipotle glazed chicken with charred poblano mashed potatoes. A dedicated taqueria menu offers tacos, served on heirloom corn masa tortillas. Luna Roja replaces Elm St. Cask & Kitchen, a Southern comfort food spot that had been there since 2019, and which replaced a restaurant called Grayson Social. Note: The hotel is under construction, but there's a separate, dedicated entrance for the restaurant.
Pan Pa' Vos
Bakery-cafe in far north Dallas near Carrollton combines the best traits of neighborhood bakery and French boulangerie. Founder Jaiver Diaz is a lifelong baker who opened the original location in his native Venezuela in 2017. He sold the the shop when he relocated to Dallas, where he ran a cottage bakery from his home. He opened this storefront in a former cleaners in 2025, where he's making croissants in a wide array of flavors — tiramisu, lemon curd, dulce de leche, strawberry & cream, Nutella — as well as croissant sandwiches, palmiers, Berliner-style filled doughnuts, and more. True to his Venezuelan roots, Pan serves savory empanadas as well as cachitos, a crescent-shaped roll filled with ham, ham & bacon, or ham & cream cheese.
Park Bistro
Food hall now open at Galatyn Commons office complex, across from the Eisemann Center for Performing Arts and the Galatyn Park Station DART rail stop, is a place to get a chef-caliber lunch at a great price. Created by Hospitality Alliance (AT&T Discovery District, Victory Social, Toyota Music Factory), Park Bistro is a cross between corporate cafe and food hall, featuring six mini-concepts under one roof, each with a different menu: breakfast, salads & sandwiches, burgers, Neapolitan-style pizzas, tacos, and gyro sandwiches. Miraculously, everything is under $10, and it's open to the public as well as workers in the building.
Pepper Lunch
International fast-casual chain from Japan just opened its first Texas location in Frisco in a shopping center anchored by 99 Ranch. Pepper Lunch features do-it-yourself teppanyaki, with meals served on 500 F hot plates, allowing diners to cook their own food at the table, a trend these days. Most of its menu items come in under $20 and can be complete in 20 minutes, making it a desirable option for workers and others with a limited lunch hour. The signature dish is their Pepper Rice, which comes in about a dozen options, including the best-selling Beef Pepper Rice, featuring sliced beef, white rice, corn, and spring onion.
Shorty's
Casual family-friendly restaurant just opened in McKinney's Historic Downtown Square, where it's channeling a quintessential Northeast-style hot dog shop. There are Coney-style hot dogs with chili, yellow mustard, and diced white onions, plus smashburgers, sandwiches, full bar, and appetizers like fried pickles. The buzzy dish is the twist on poutine which replaces traditional cheese curds with crumbled goat cheese instead (can you even call that poutine?). Founder Bryan McVay is a savvy restaurateur whose approach is informed by the street-style food culture of New York, keeping in mind portability, where you grab a bite. If that's not enough, mostly everything on the menu is $10 or less.
Tick Tock Taco x Churro On Top
Dual-branded restaurant in Fairview Town Center serves tacos and warm churros side by side. The idea is to start with tacos, then finish with dessert. Tacos varieties include beef bulgogi with steak and spicy kimchi, made with Zabihah halal meat, along with guacamole, salsas, sides, quesadillas, and chips. Churros come in flavors like white chocolate glaze pistachios, or get a milkshake adorned with intricately decorated churros. Fairview is their third location, but the first to add tacos — following the original in Arlington and a second shop in Richardson that opened in 2024.
