Tastemaker Awards

8 best breweries in Dallas for 2022 put the craft in craft beer

It's all about the beer.

Courtesy photo

We're back for another entry in the 2022 CultureMap Dallas Tastemaker Awards, our annual celebration shining a light on the city's top culinary talent.

It's a two-pronged affair that begins with profiles of all those who've been nominated for an award, 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.)

We've already covered categories such as Neighborhood Restaurant of the Year, Bar of the Year, Best New Pizza, Pastry Chef, and Rising Star Chef.

Now we're spotlighting craft beer breweries, the ones who take grain, hops, yeast, and water and transform it into a flavorful, effervescent, refreshing drink.

Here are our nominees for 2022 Brewery of the Year:

Cedar Creek Brewery
Small craft brewery located 50 miles southeast of Dallas near Cedar Creek Lake was already an award-winning brewery when it joined forces with the folks from LUCK at Trinity Groves to open a spinoff called Cedar Creek Brewhouse & Eatery at The Shops at Mustang Station in Farmers Branch. A wall of 14 taps is split between Cedar Creek's brews and other labels, some nominees such as Hop and Sting, plus a full bar and a beer-appropriate menu of food including pretzels, wings, hummus, pizza, and burgers, as well as weekend brunch on Saturday and Sunday.

Odd Muse Brewing Company
Warehouse-style craft brewery tap room in Farmers Branch was opened in late 2019 by hobby brewer Bobby Diaz, his wife, and his college roommate, and is named for his daughters (Olivia and Daniella Diaz). Their vision is to function as a brewery that brings some pride to its neighborhood, with at least a dozen appealing beers on tap such as pilsner, IPA, and a sour ale with Cara Cara orange and tangerine. They're a fun place, hosting comedians and trivia nights, with drink specials and food truck fare such as birria tacos from @roodiesdfw.

Say When Brewing Company
Small craft beer brewery in Denison opened in 2021 and are making three already-popular beers: Oatmeal Blonde, Texas Copper, and Local Motive IPA. Their facility is primarily production-only, although they will fill growlers on-site. But they're expanding their distribution to bars and growler stations such as the Green Growler at 507 W. Main St. in Denison, The Brass Tap, Mellow Mushroom in McKinney and Denton, Beerhead Bar & Eatery in Plano, and Guitars & Growlers in McKinney.

Trinity Forest Brewing Company
Legend has it that the idea for Trinity Forest Brewing Company was hatched over beer at the Whole Foods Market in Uptown. Founders Ricky Del Bosque, BK Hatcher, and David Tosetto wanted to share their love for craft beer and the great outdoors, specifically The Great Trinity Forest, the urban park in southern Dallas which they say is the driving force behind what they're doing at the brewery. They do not have a physical brewery, but there are dozens of shops and bars across Texas where Trinity Forest brews such as the Smash IPA are sold and served.

Tupps Brewery
Brewery housed in an old cotton mill in McKinney hosts regular happy hours, weekend tours, and tastings, but Tupps' beer can also be found in cans on the shelves at Whole Foods Market, Total Wine and More, and the like. Since they were founded in 2015, they've grown exponentially throughout North Texas, Austin, San Antonio, East Texas, West Texas, El Paso, Lubbock, Abilene, Amarillo, Houston, and Oklahoma, making them one of the top 10 independently owned breweries in Texas.

Hop and Sting Brewing Co.
Hop & Sting team consists of Brian Burton, Jon Powell, and Lane Joseph, all of whom worked for Grapevine Craft Brewery whose headquarters they took over in 2018. They brew small batch craft ales and lagers, with 10 year-round beers including lager, Fire Engine Red, and white IPA, plus rotating seasonal beers. They're very into community, such as donating a portion of their sales to organizations such as animal rescues and another that helps kids with mental and physical disabilities to play baseball.

Outfit Brewing
Brothers Jordan Young and Mike Frazer opened Outfit in 2018 in a former warehouse near 183 and Mockingbird, which they've transformed into a pleasant place, with games and video, to enjoy their lineup of easy-drinking beers or pick up a growler or beer in cans to go. Everything comes in at under 8 percent ABV, bravo, such a welcome departure from the ever-escalating incline to higher-alcohol beers. They have more than a dozen beers on tap including selections such a German-style Kolsch, cream ale, an unfiltered lager, and a variety of IPAs in different styles.

Vector Brewing
Extremely popular microbrewery and brewpub in Lake Highlands is a mom-and-pop that serves beer, cider, coffee, stone-baked pizzas, and more. They opened in 2020, at the height of the pandemic, and now have more than a dozen creative brews - how about the red ale they brewed with Funky Picnic from Fort Worth, with buckwheat, rice, and koji, usually used to make sake. You can get it in all ways: in 5-ounce tasters, half pours, or full pours, as well as 16-ounce crowler cans to-go. They also package many of their beers in 16-ounce cans and bottles.

bests craft-beer tastemakers awards

Spring Arrival

West Dallas gets new Spanish-Peruvian restaurant with big-name chef

Photo courtesy of Ulloa's

Paella will be on the menu.

A new restaurant with a high-profile culinary director will bring Spanish and Peruvian flavors to West Dallas: Called Ulloa’s, it is coming to 727 Fort Worth Ave., with a projected opening in March 2027.

The concept is from philanthropists Susan and Woodrow Gandy, who were previously investors in the historic Belmont Hotel just around the corner. They've teamed up with Dallas celebrity chef Kent Rathbun as culinary director, along with Christopher Tunnell as general manager to lead the front of the house.

Rathbun is a name Dallas diners know well, with a resume that includes The Mansion on Turtle Creek, the Landmark Restaurant at the historic Melrose Hotel, Seventeen Seventeen at the Dallas Museum of Art, Abacus, Jasper's, Rathbun’s Blue Plate Kitchen, and more. He's won numerous awards and made multiple appearances on Food Network. He was most recently behind the launch of On The Rocks, an Italian bistro in Burleson.

Chef Kent Rathbun will be the culinary director of Ulloa's. Photo courtesy of Kent Rathbun

Tunnell’s background spans both culinary direction and front-of-house operations. He worked at Los Angeles hot spots Ketchup, Geisha House, and Les Deux, as well as the Mandalay Bay and The Mirage in Las Vegas, before moving to Dallas to open The Mexican, the upscale restaurant in the Design District.

“I am truly excited to partner with Chef Kent Rathbun, whose reputation is amazing — not only in the DFW Metroplex, but in the culinary world,” Tunnell says. “He has been with this project since the beginning, helping develop it; this will be a very chef-driven, culinary-forward restaurant.”

The team's vision for Ulloa’s is both culinary and urban, with hopes of anchoring the corridor and attracting other businesses to Fort Worth Avenue — a stretch connecting downtown Dallas with Oak Cliff that remains somewhat underdeveloped despite its panoramic skyline views.

The restaurant is named for Spanish explorer, astronomer, and scientist Antonio de Ulloa, who spent extensive time in the Mexican peninsula before becoming Louisiana’s first governor. During his travels, Ulloa documented a fogbow — a circular rainbow formed when sunlight meets mist that causes silhouettes standing between the sun and fog to appear ringed in light, a phenomenon known today as “Ulloa’s Rings.”

That vibrant phenomenon inspired both the restaurant's identity and logo. The concept promises "bold, worldly flavors in a welcoming neighborhood setting inspired by exploration and discovery,” the owners say.

Ulloa's Rendering of Ulloa's.Rendering courtesy of Ulloa's

While the menu remains in development, Tunnell describes the culinary direction as “Spanish soul with a Peruvian heart.” The kitchen will merge the coastal flavors of both traditions — ranging from paellas and ceviches to crafted cocktails and signature adaptations by Rathbun.

The 200-seat, two-story space will feature a downstairs dining room, a large bar, and an outdoor patio. Upstairs, plans call for a secondary bar, a private dining room, a patio, and an expansive balcony patio, offering views of the city's skyline and of the Margaret Hunt Hill and Margaret McDermott bridges.

While the upstairs space will be available for private events, the owners intend for it to operate primarily as an organic extension of the main restaurant. The buildout will include a guest elevator along with ample parking, including both self-parking and valet options.

The team says the restaurant will have have an aesthetic that's “warm, theatrical, generous, elegant but alive, with the energy of a great Spanish tapas bar and the soul of Peruvian hospitality.”

Ulloa’s plans to launch with dinner service first, followed by lunch and weekend brunch.

restaurants bars peruvian flavors west dallas oak cliff kent rathbun