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    Tastemaker Awards

    The 9 best restaurants in Dallas remind us of our vibrant dining scene

    Teresa Gubbins
    Jul 29, 2020 | 6:00 am
    Los Azulejos Restaurante Bar
    Los Azulejos Restaurante Bar/Facebook

    The coronavirus has put much on hold, but it hasn't defeated the 2020 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards, our annual celebration of the best in Dallas-Fort Worth food and drink where we spotlight bars, chefs, and restaurants. It's our way of honoring the extraordinary spirit of the Dallas-Fort Worth culinary scene.

    It seems so long ago in December 2019 when we began making lists of the best of DFW. After weeks of paying tribute to categories such as best bar, best rising star chef, and best neighborhood restaurant, we end on the grandest of all: Restaurant of the Year.

    From these 9 restaurants, one will win the top award, to be announced at our Virtual edition of the CultureMap Tastemaker Awards, taking place on July 30.

    Here are our nominees for the 2020 Tastemaker Awards Restaurant of the Year:

    Asian Mint
    Asian restaurant in North Dallas is known for its fresh food, modern atmosphere with cool pastel colors, and dessert bar with signature green tea layer cake. The menu does New Bangkok-style food with noodles, fried rice, curry, soups, and steamed seafood. With few restaurants of its caliber in the area, it's a destination not only for residents in this North Dallas neighborhood, but also staffers and visitors from Medical City nearby. Founder Nikky Phinyawatana also has a second branch, The Mint, in the Shops at Highland Park.

    Blue Sushi Sake Grill
    Sushi chain with three locations in Dallas-Fort Worth has added a new lineup of vegan sushi, featuring products from Ocean Hugger Foods, which uses vegetables in magical ways. Ahimi raw "tuna" is made from Roma tomatoes. Unami "eel" is made from eggplant. What is especially persuasive about these items is their texture: firm-yet-fleshy. Blue Sushi is a forerunner in this category, already well known for its selection of vegan sushi, and is a favorite with the Dallas-Fort Worth vegan crowd and for those who don't do raw fish.

    Bonton Market Cafe
    Market and restaurant are an offshoot of Bonton Farms, The menu will be driven by what's in season. Dishes include green tomato sandwich with house-made pimento and upland cress, served on sourdough bread from The Commissary; red beans and rice with fried chicharrones; a butter lettuce salad with goat cheese, pepitas, and dried cherries; and "fish and greens," with cornmeal breaded catfish, braised collards, smoked ham hock, burnt lemon, and sweet-and-sour pickled seasonal vegetables.

    Boulevardier
    Wine-drinking lawyer brothers Brooks and Bradley Anderson (Veritas Wine Room) and chef Nathan Tate opened this French restaurant in a charming brick storefront in Oak Cliff in 2012. In addition to the lengthy wine list you might expect, there is charcuterie galore, onion soup, escargot, and grilled asparagus with guanciale and a crispy poached egg. Some just drop in for a glass of bubbly and oysters on the half shell, from an iced seafood case at the bar.

    Cafe Momentum
    Charitable restaurant concept serves as a culinary training facility for disadvantaged youth. But happily, it's also a place to get a very good meal, with a staff of experienced chefs led by founder Chad Houser. Menu follows the seasons, with dishes such as root vegetable salad with watercress, and short rib with polenta and fried onions. Tucked into an unusual niche facing the DART Rail line, the restaurant boasts decorative plates with themes donated by staff members and local celebrities.

    Khao Noodle Shop
    xRestaurant specializing in Laotian food is at a foodie intersection in East Dallas, serving boat noodles and Laotian bites. Khao is from chef Donny Sirisavath, who previously hosted pop-ups before finding a home for this rice noodle shop.

    Malibu Poke
    Fast casual poke shop from Dallas seafood king Jon Alexis is inspired by Southern California, as the name shows. The restaurant features two hot trends: poke and bowls. The menu specializes in seafood bowls, but like most bowl places, you can also assemble your own.

    San Martin Bakery & Restaurant
    Bakery and restaurant chain from Guatemala makes its entry into the United States market with a first location in Uptown Dallas, in the former McKinney Avenue Contemporary space. It offers fantastic European-styled baked goods including sourdough breads, croissants, and other puff pastries at crazy bargan prices, along with a coffee bar and a cozy cafe open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

    The Charles Dallas
    Dallas Design District stunner is an Italian-inspired eatery starring chef J Chastain (Stephan Pyles, Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek) and Chas Martin (Nick & Sam's, Hotel Zaza). It has a wood-fired grill, fresh crudo, and house-made pasta. A signature dish is the cappelloni with white ragu – ground veal and pork stuffed into hat-shaped pasta. Their risotto uses "ancient grains" farro, quinoa, and kamut, and they have a large assortment of vegetable dishes including grilled kale, grilled broccoli, and grilled beets.

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    news/restaurants-bars
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    Steakhouse News

    High-profile Palladino's Steak & Seafood heads to Preston-Royal Dallas

    Teresa Gubbins
    Jun 18, 2025 | 10:54 am
    Filet Mignon
    Getty Images
    Filet Mignon will be on the menu.

    A high-profile new steakhouse is coming to North Dallas: Palladino’s Steak & Seafood, an eponymous concept from Dallas restaurateur Joseph Palladino, will open at 5959 Royal Ln., in the former Spec's space.

    Palladino is the larger-than-life ex-NYPD police officer-turned-restaurateur known for concepts such as Nick & Sam's Steakhouse and the Coal Vines pizza chain.

    Palladino's Steak & Seafood is a newly created concept, which will combine steakhouse, Italian dishes, and seafood, particularly sushi. The first location is already penciled in for New York, opening in the former Michael Jordan Steakhouse at Grand Central Terminal, which closed in 2018.

    The New York location is being designed by the international design firm Rockwell Group and according to a spokesperson, is slated to open in early summer. The Dallas spinoff will open in winter 2025.

    Palladino first landed on the Dallas restaurant scene in 1998 to partner up with the equally larger-than-life restaurateur Phil Romano, and went on to have a hand in the creation of Nick & Sam’s, the swanky steakhouse on Maple Avenue (now run by Sam Romano, Phil Romano's son), Nick & Sam's Grill, Dos Jefes, and Coal Vines, his homage to the casual neighborhood restaurants reminiscent of his upbringing in New York.

    Joseph Palladino and Troy AikmanJoseph Palladino and one of his many celebrity pals, Troy Aikman.Instagram

    Palladino was approached by Preston Royal's landlords to open a restaurant at the center. Given his local following and celebrity draw, as well as the large local appetite for steakhouses, Dallas made sense as a second location, particularly at the highly desirable intersection of Preston and Royal.

    On the culinary side, Palladino is partnered with veteran chef Sam Hazen, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America as well as an instructor there. His star-studded resume includes La Côte Basque, the Quilted Giraffe, Quatorze, Michelin three-star Le Gavroche, Terrace in the Sky, Cascabel, and Tavern on the Green. He was most recently at Tao, the glitzy Asian concept from Tao Hospitality, where he worked for a decade, giving him sushi expertise.

    Palladino is busy getting the New York location open first, and the menu has yet to be revealed.

    "But it'll have high-quality steaks and seafood, along with some of my trademark specials and Italian dishes," Palladino says.

    However, Hazen previewed a dish on Linked In, consisting of a slice of toast with a cut-out center of pate, with accompaniments that included cornichons and mustard — like a pate version of the classic "egg in a hole."

    The hospitality will match the cuisine and ambience. “I intend to bring a very special steakhouse to the city, one that the locals can embrace," Palladino says. "They’re going to receive a good experience — that’s important to me.”

    Palladino's"Pate in a hole" dish shared by Palladino's chef Sam Hazen.Sam Hazen

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