This Week in Gluttony

Tastemaker Awards headline the best food and drink events in Dallas

There are plenty of food events happening around town this week, and they are more interesting than your average beer or wine dinner. For example, you could swing by our Tastemaker Awards on Tuesday, as we honor the top talent in the local restaurant community.

So go ahead. Pick your poison:

Monday, May 5

The following restaurants are beckoning you with Cinco de Mayo specials:

Abuelo’s. Dos Equis draft beers for $2.50 and Mexican flag margaritas for $5.95.
Campuzano Mexican Food. Complimentary appetizer with drinks.
Cubiertos. Puebla margarita for $5 with melon, lime and pomegranate, plus menu specials such as $5 shrimp and pineapple salad and $23 chiles en Nogada.
On the Border. Special Cinco de Mayo drinks, including Angry Orchard Hard Cider blended with sweet and sour, topped with a shot of cinnamon whiskey on the rocks, plus frozen margaritas in mango, strawberry or wild berry.
Blue Goose. All-day happy hour includes $1 off liquors, $2.25 domestics, $3.25 premium beers, $3 top shelf frozen margaritas.
Mattito's Tex-Mex. Festivities include live band, Bob Armstrong queso-eating contest, mechanical bull rides, tequila tastings, games and prizes, and drinks specials.
Chuy's. Happy hour all day includes margaritas served in a commemorative cup, plus free fully loaded Nacho Car from 4-7 pm.

Tuesday, May 6

CultureMap Tastemaker Awards
We are proud to launch the Tastemaker Awards in Dallas, our annual tribute to the talent in the local restaurant community, with a kickass party in the Design District. From 6-9 pm, foodies can indulge in fine food and killer cocktails while toasting the winners in 10 categories, from Best Rising Star Chef to Best New Restaurant. You can also expect the famous CultureMap swag and other party tricks. Proceeds benefit Carry The Load and North Texas Food Bank. Tickets are $45 and include food, three premium drinks and valet. There are limited tickets at the door, so secure your spot online.

Herman Marshall Whiskey Dinner at Bone Daddy's Grapevine
Killer barbecue and Texas whiskey will come together for the Herman Marshall Whiskey four course dinner including bacon wrapped chicken jalapeno, chopped salad, 12 oz. bone-in pork chop topped with a Herman Marshal Bourbon Gravy with granny smith baked cinnamon apples and garlic mashed potatoes and housemade bread pudding with Herman Marshall Whiskey sauce. Seats are $50 per person, and reservations can be made by calling 817-251-0835.

Wednesday, May 7

Larry McMurtry Texas-themed dinner at the Dallas Museum of Art
Author Larry McMurtry discusses The Last Kind Words Saloon, his first novel in five years, with author/collaborator Diana Ossana. During the event, the DMA cafe is serving a Texas-themed three course dinner inspired by Texas settings in McMurtry's fiction. Dishes include Green Valley Farm’s snow pea shoot salad or roasted corn and poblano chowder, jalapeno and bacon stuffed free range chicken breast or spiced and braised beef brisket, and Dude Sweet Chocolate semi-sweet chocolate tart or pecan pie with soured cream. Dinner is $22, and you can purchase live simulcast tickets online.

Thursday, May 8

Taco Talk with José R. Ralat at Four Corners Brewing Company
From 6-9 pm, Slow Food Dallas presents a talk and taco fest with José R. Ralat, who starts with the taco's humble Mexican beginnings and ends with its place in Dallas food culture today. Admission includes the talk plus two tacos: one al pastor and one fried potato. Beer is available for sale before, during and after the presentation. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online.

Humane Hearts Hoedown at The Southwestern
The Humane League honors Rip Esselstyn, author of the bestselling book The Engine 2 Diet, with its first Humane Hero award. Join the nonprofit for a vegan buffet, including "chickn" and waffles. VIP cocktail hour starts at 6:30 pm; party follows at 7:30. Tickets start at $25 and can be purchased online.

Saturday, May 10

5th Annual Boil for the Brave Crawfish Boil at The Foundry
Hosted by the Rosedale Group, the annual Boil for the Brave Crawfish Boil raises funds for the construction and renovation of veterans' homes in the Dallas community. Guests can indulge in unlimited crawfish, potatoes and corn, as well as beer provided by Andrews Distributing. Tickets are free to U.S. military veterans and $25 to all other attendees and can be purchased online. Fun starts at 1 pm.

Everyone and their mom is enjoying a margarita today for Cinco De Mayo.

Urban Taco Facebook

Everyone and their mom is enjoying a margarita today for Cinco De Mayo.

unspecified

Pizza News

Yonx Pizza seduces north Dallas suburbs with New York-style pies

Yonx

Yonx Pizza, by the slice.

A pizzeria with a dedicated following has debuted in Melissa: Yonx Pizza Bar & Co., an indie spot that does New York-style pizzas as well as pizza by the slice, has opened a location at 1521 McKinney St. #700 — an address that had pizza history as it was home for nearly a decade to a Palio's Pizza, which closed in 2025.

Yonx is from Robert Hede, a restaurant veteran who was previously involved with the Village Burger Bar chain, where he was a partner. He switched from burgers to pizza in 2022 when he connected with NY Pizza and Pints, a small local pizzeria chain, opening a location in Wylie at 1125 FM 544 #800. After two years, he broke off from the chain to found Yonx at the same address.

Yonx does the kind of New York-style thin-crust pizza that Dallas-Fort Worth loves, in a standard 14-inch, as well as a massive 24-inch "Kong" size. They also do slices, which can be ordered as a lunch with a Caesar salad for $9.99.

Varieties include familiar favorites like pepperoni, as well as slightly gourmet options with New York-inspired names such as:

Balsamic on Bleeker St., with garlic sauce, mushrooms, shaved ribeye, mozzarella cheese, arugula, and balsamic drizzle
Bronx Bomb, with Sicilian marinara, mozzarella, meatballs, mushrooms, and ricotta cheese
Brooklyn, basically a meat-lovers with Sicilian marinara, mozzarella, sliced ham, chopped meatball, beef, & pepperoni
Greenwich Garden, a vegetarian with Sicilian marinara, mozzarella, red & green bell peppers, white onions, mushrooms, spinach, & black olives

Prices range from $16 for a 14-inch cheese pizza to $46 for a NY Giant Supreme Soho with Sicilian marinara, mozzarella, pepperoni, sausage, beef, red & green bell peppers, white onions, sliced mushrooms, & black olives.

Yonx Pizza soup in a bread bowl.Photo courtesy of Yonx

There are also sandwiches on house-made toasted focaccia such as the Italian tower with melted provolone cheese, sliced ham, salami, lettuce, red onion, pepperoncinis, & sundried tomato aioli.

Appetizers include comforting soups served in a bread bowl including tomato basil and jalapeno cream soup with charred jalapenos. Plus wings, garlic knots, and "Brooklyn Ballers" — their signature meatballs in marinara, made in-house. topped with whipped ricotta and Parmesan, served with pesto and focaccia ends.

A full bar features frozen margaritas and frozen mojitos made with agave gold tequila. The best day to order those is "Frozen Fridays" from 11 am-10:30 pm when the blueberry mojitos are $6 and the margaritas are $5.

The Melissa location opened in January, with the same menu as the Wylie original, and has been met with an unprecedented wave of positive reviews on Facebook: one comment after another raving over how great the pizza is, and what a godsend it is — positive reviews that began to stack up even before the place had officially opened, the likes of which have been rarely seen.

This location boasts almost double the size of the original in Wylie, with a covered patio where they'll host live music on the weekends outside.

Hede, who has been hands-on at the Melissa location since it opened, says he's all-in on these northernmost suburbs of Dallas.

"I like this area — I feel like all the growth is heading out in this direction, there's just a lot of activity up here," he says.

pizza openings