Best New Restaurants

Acclaimed East Dallas noodle shop makes national best restaurants list

Khao Noodle Shop shows "proof that Houston isn’t the only city in Texas with a multifaceted, diverse dining scene," one editor says.

Photo courtesy of Khao

Three Texas restaurants are basking in the national spotlight. Eater, the Vox Media website dedicated to restaurants, has named establishments in Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio to its list of the 16 best new restaurants in America for 2019.

Restaurant editor Hillary Dixler Canavan (with an assist from Eater's various city editors) spent four months and traveled to 17 cities to compile the list. She takes over for Bill Addison, who left his role as Eater's national critic to work at the Los Angeles Times. It includes places that opened between May 2018 and May 2019. Texas, New York, and California dominate the list, claiming three spots each.

The Texas representatives include:

Khao Noodle Shop (Dallas)
Indigo (Houston)
The Jerk Shack (San Antonio)

They're joined by a mix of nationally prominent restaurants like Atomix, the Korean restaurant in New York City that was a finalist for a James Beard Award, as well as more obscure places like Tacos 1986, a buzzy taco stand in Los Angeles.

Khao Noodle Shop is the small, acclaimed restaurant that opened in a neighborhood of East Dallas that boasts a growing food scene. Chef-owner Donny Sirisavath, who was a nominee for Rising Star Chef of the Year in the 2019 CultureMap Dallas Tastemaker Awards, creates spicy Laotian food, including handmade boat noodles, fried shrimp balls, and more.

Eater Dallas editor Amy McCarthy writes that the restaurant provides "proof that Houston isn’t the only city in Texas with a multifaceted, diverse dining scene." She should know; the Dallas-based writer also serves as editor of Eater Houston.

For Houston restaurant Indigo, the recognition joins the growing national chorus that has praised chef Jonny Rhodes' innovative tasting menu concept that reinterprets African American culinary traditions by considering the political and social contexts that shaped its dishes. Food & Wine, GQ, and Texas Monthly have also included the restaurant on their various best-of lists. Rhodes also earned a James Beard semifinalist nomination for Rising Star Chef.

San Antonio's The Jerk Shack won the CultureMap San Antonio Tastemaker Award for the best new restaurant of 2019. Chef-owner Lattoia Massey serves Jamaican cuisine — including jerk chicken, natch — along with steamed fish, goat curry, and other dishes. Eater Austin editor Nadia Chaudhury cites the jackfruit tacos and braised oxtails as other dishes that set it apart.

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Burger News

Northeast burger chain Slap Burger set to smash in Richardson

Slap Burger

Smash burger from Slap Burger, coming to DFW.

A buzzy burger concept from the Northeast is coming to Texas: Called Slap Burger, it's a small smash burger chain based in New Jersey, and it's opening its first Texas location in Richardson, at 888 S. Greenville Ave., in a center called the Arabian Village, taking over a space that was previously occupied by a CBD shop.

Slap Burger was founded in Paterson, New Jersey as a smash burger joint that adheres to the principles of halal, including using meat from halal purveyors and avoiding certain ingredients such as pork. (Their bacon and hot dogs are made from beef.) Halal has been increasing in popularity, due to both a growing Muslim population as well as a rising demand for "ethical" clean-label food.

Slap now has five locations in the Northeast — two in NJ and three in NY — as well as an expansion to Tampa, Florida.

They specialize in smash burgers, loaded hot chicken tenders, and cheese fries topped with slap sauce. They make a decadent banana pudding dessert, and they also keep late-night hours.

Their burgers are four ounces, featuring the lacy and crispy edges that are a signifier of a smash burger, topped with caramelized onions, American cheese, and pickle on Martin's potato buns, which they toast on the outside, leaving the inside of the bun soft.

They do two other burger styles: the Slap’N Melt, which features cheese stuffed into a beef patty, then seared so the exterior is hard and the interior is melting cheese; and the Slap N Jack, a double patty burger with caramelized onions, mushrooms, and pepperjack cheese.

Other menu options include hot dogs, as well as fried chicken in a number of ways: as a sandwich with pickles and cole slaw on a griddled bun; as tenders; in a loaded platter over choice of mac & cheese or fries; or chicken & waffles, with choice of an Oreo or Fruity Pebbles waffle.

Alcohol is not allowed at a halal restaurant, but Slaps has house-made lemonade in a variety of flavors such as dragonfruit, strawberry, orange Curacao, and mango.

Shepherding the concept to DFW is Adam Shawish, the enterprising owner of Arabian Village, who is transforming the center into an exciting foodie destination with businesses such as Arwa Coffee, recognized as the first Yemeni-style coffee shop in DFW.

Shawish was inspired after visiting Slap Burger while on a trip to the Northeast, seeking interesting concepts that might make a good fit at the center.

"One night, my wife and I had already had dinner, but I was determined to try it and they were open late," Shawish says. "I fell in love with it on the first bite. Texas has a lot of burgers, but I said, 'This is my type of hamburger.' It's very simple, not mixed with anything, the buns are not too soggy — just a pure burger experience, not like anything else in Dallas-Fort Worth."

Shawish says that construction is underway and they hope to get it open by Christmas.

"My office is right next door," he says. "Every time I get ready to go home for the day, I ask the kids what they want for dinner, and I can't wait for Slap Burger to open so that I won't have to ask."

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