Tastemaker Tournament Finals

Which of these best new Dallas restaurants will emerge victorious? Up to you.

For our annual Tastemaker Awards, there is one category that isn't judged by our panel of food and beverage industry experts: Best New Restaurant. Instead, we pit the nominees against each other in a tournament so our readers can determine the winner.

Let it be known the competition has been fierce, and it's down to a face-off between two restaurants: Dallas Grilled Cheese Co. and Clark Food & Wine/C'Viche.

These two have so far competed masterfully, emerging from a pack that began with 16 nominees. We matched them up, bracket-style, then waved the checkered flag. They beat strong contenders such as Remedy, Small Brewpub and Cafe Momentum. They endured through three rounds of voting to make it to the finals.

You have until May 13 to help decide who wins; you can vote once a day. The winner will be announced at our Tastemaker Awards grand tasting event on May 14, where you will also learn who emerged victorious in categories such as neighborhood restaurant, breweries, bartenders, bars, burgers, chefs and rising star chefs.

Need help deciding where to place your vote? Here's our summary:

Clark Food & Wine/C'Viche
After a tenure in the corporate world, former Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek chef Randall Warder dives back into the restaurant fray by opening two adjoining concepts side-by-side, in the hottest stretch of Greenville Avenue. Clark Food & Wine is an American restaurant with a modern European sensibility. The menu features shared plates and house-smoked meats. C'Viche is a casual drop-in with several varieties of ceviche and a fabulous bar with sangria, tequila, mojitos, caipirinhas and margaritas.

Dallas Grilled Cheese Co.
As the name implies, this place is dedicated to the grilled cheese sandwich, with more than a dozen versions running from the classic with American cheese on white to a gourmet corker with American, cheddar and Gruyere on sourdough. Salads are nicely composed, but don't overlook the trio of soups, including tomato with basil. Located in hip Bishop Arts, DGC is the perfect match of restaurant and neighborhood.

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Buy tickets now to the Tastemaker Awards on May 14.

Vote for your favorite candidate for Best New Restaurant.

Photo courtesy of DGC

Vote for your favorite candidate for Best New Restaurant.

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Wings News

Pluckers Wing Bar opens first Dallas location in a decade in Mesquite

Pluckers Wing Bar celery with dip and chicken wings

Pluckers Wing Bar Facebook

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A Texas wing staple is bringing the wings to Mesquite: Pluckers, famous for its wings in many flavors, is opening at 1340 N. Peachtree Rd., in the old Joe’s Crab Shack space. According a marketing spokesperson, it's opening in mid-December.

This will be the first Pluckers to open in Dallas-Fort Worth in 10 years. The last location that opened in the Dallas area was Addison, which opened in April 2014, according to Pluckers marketing coordinator Dina Barrish in an email. (Although another location did open in Fort Worth in 2014 at Alliance.)

The Mesquite location will be the largest in the DFW area, at 7,000 square feet, with a turfed outdoor patio complete with table seating, Adirondack chairs, firepit, cornhole, and other yard games..

Pluckers first opened in Austin in 1995, founded by business partners Mark Greenberg and Dave Paul. They opened their first Dallas location on Greenville Avenue in 2002, and have since added locations in Addison, Plano, Arlington, Allen, Grapevine, and Fort Worth.

Some say their wings are the best in Texas, with 26 sauces and dry rubs, including lemon pepper, Dr. Pepper BBQ and maple chipotle.

They're one of the few chains that offers both flats versus drums, the two parts of a wing, which you can order exclusively, or else the default mix of both. They also offer boneless wings.

Other menu items include fried pickle spears, fried mac & cheese, chicken salad, naked boneless wings, sandwiches, and burgers. There's also a few fairground-like desserts, such as fried Twinkies.

Prices range from $9 for a basket of five wings to $35 for 50 Buffalo bites.

“The Mesquite expansion is special for us," says Pluckers co-founder Dave Paul in a statement. "For the first time in a decade, we’re opening a new location in the Dallas area. With our signature wings and drinks, plus new outdoor games and patio space, we can't wait to make Pluckers a go-to spot for the community."

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Fans of Dallas sports and Dallas food (including wings) can now score tickets to The Tailgate, CultureMap's all-out party devoted to everyone’s favorite way to get in the gameday spirit, presented by Verizon. The event goes down from 6-9 pm December 9 at The Empire Room. Find out more about it here. And watch for your chance to vote for your favorite local wing restaurant in our Ultimate Wing Showdown bracket-style tournament, coming soon.

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