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.

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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