• Home
  • popular
  • Events
  • Submit New Event
  • Subscribe
  • About
  • News
  • Restaurants + Bars
  • City Life
  • Entertainment
  • Travel
  • Real Estate
  • Arts
  • Society
  • Home + Design
  • Fashion + Beauty
  • Innovation
  • Sports
  • Charity Guide
  • children
  • education
  • health
  • veterans
  • SOCIAL SERVICES
  • ARTS + CULTURE
  • animals
  • lgbtq
  • New Charity
  • Series
  • Delivery Limited
  • DTX Giveaway 2012
  • DTX Ski Magic
  • dtx woodford reserve manhattans
  • Your Home in the Sky
  • DTX Best of 2013
  • DTX Trailblazers
  • Tastemakers Dallas 2017
  • Healthy Perspectives
  • Neighborhood Eats 2015
  • The Art of Making Whiskey
  • DTX International Film Festival
  • DTX Tatum Brown
  • Tastemaker Awards 2016 Dallas
  • DTX McCurley 2014
  • DTX Cars in Lifestyle
  • DTX Beyond presents Party Perfect
  • DTX Texas Health Resources
  • DART 2018
  • Alexan Central
  • State Fair 2018
  • Formula 1 Giveaway
  • Zatar
  • CityLine
  • Vision Veritas
  • Okay to Say
  • Hearts on the Trinity
  • DFW Auto Show 2015
  • Northpark 50
  • Anteks Curated
  • Red Bull Cliff Diving
  • Maggie Louise Confections Dallas
  • Gaia
  • Red Bull Global Rally Cross
  • NorthPark Holiday 2015
  • Ethan's View Dallas
  • DTX City Centre 2013
  • Galleria Dallas
  • Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty Luxury Homes in Dallas Texas
  • DTX Island Time
  • Simpson Property Group SkyHouse
  • DIFFA
  • Lotus Shop
  • Holiday Pop Up Shop Dallas
  • Clothes Circuit
  • DTX Tastemakers 2014
  • Elite Dental
  • Elan City Lights
  • Dallas Charity Guide
  • DTX Music Scene 2013
  • One Arts Party at the Plaza
  • J.R. Ewing
  • AMLI Design District Vibrant Living
  • Crest at Oak Park
  • Braun Enterprises Dallas
  • NorthPark
  • Victory Park
  • DTX Common Desk
  • DTX Osborne Advisors
  • DTX Comforts of Home 2012
  • DFW Showcase Tour of Homes
  • DTX Neighborhood Eats
  • DTX Comforts of Home 2013
  • DTX Auto Awards
  • Cottonwood Art Festival 2017
  • Nasher Store
  • Guardian of The Glenlivet
  • Zyn22
  • Dallas Rx
  • Yellow Rose Gala
  • Opendoor
  • DTX Sun and Ski
  • Crow Collection
  • DTX Tastes of the Season
  • Skye of Turtle Creek Dallas
  • Cottonwood Art Festival
  • DTX Charity Challenge
  • DTX Culture Motive
  • DTX Good Eats 2012
  • DTX_15Winks
  • St. Bernard Sports
  • Jose
  • DTX SMU 2014
  • DTX Up to Speed
  • st bernard
  • Ardan West Village
  • DTX New York Fashion Week spring 2016
  • Taste the Difference
  • Parktoberfest 2016
  • Bob's Steak and Chop House
  • DTX Smart Luxury
  • DTX Earth Day
  • DTX_Gaylord_Promoted_Series
  • IIDA Lavish
  • Huffhines Art Trails 2017
  • Red Bull Flying Bach Dallas
  • Y+A Real Estate
  • Beauty Basics
  • DTX Pet of the Week
  • Long Cove
  • Charity Challenge 2014
  • Legacy West
  • Wildflower
  • Stillwater Capital
  • Tulum
  • DTX Texas Traveler
  • Dallas DART
  • Soldiers' Angels
  • Alexan Riveredge
  • Ebby Halliday Realtors
  • Zephyr Gin
  • Sixty Five Hundred Scene
  • Christy Berry
  • Entertainment Destination
  • Dallas Art Fair 2015
  • St. Bernard Sports Duck Head
  • Jameson DTX
  • Alara Uptown Dallas
  • Cottonwood Art Festival fall 2017
  • DTX Tastemakers 2015
  • Cottonwood Arts Festival
  • The Taylor
  • Decks in the Park
  • Alexan Henderson
  • Gallery at Turtle Creek
  • Omni Hotel DTX
  • Red on the Runway
  • Whole Foods Dallas 2018
  • Artizone Essential Eats
  • Galleria Dallas Runway Revue
  • State Fair 2016 Promoted
  • Trigger's Toys Ultimate Cocktail Experience
  • Dean's Texas Cuisine
  • Real Weddings Dallas
  • Real Housewives of Dallas
  • Jan Barboglio
  • Wildflower Arts and Music Festival
  • Hearts for Hounds
  • Okay to Say Dallas
  • Indochino Dallas
  • Old Forester Dallas
  • Dallas Apartment Locators
  • Dallas Summer Musicals
  • PSW Real Estate Dallas
  • Paintzen
  • DTX Dave Perry-Miller
  • DTX Reliant
  • Get in the Spirit
  • Bachendorf's
  • Holiday Wonder
  • Village on the Parkway
  • City Lifestyle
  • opportunity knox villa-o restaurant
  • Nasher Summer Sale
  • Simpson Property Group
  • Holiday Gift Guide 2017 Dallas
  • Carlisle & Vine
  • DTX New Beginnings
  • Get in the Game
  • Red Bull Air Race
  • Dallas DanceFest
  • 2015 Dallas Stylemaker
  • Youth With Faces
  • Energy Ogre
  • DTX Renewable You
  • Galleria Dallas Decadence
  • Bella MD
  • Tractorbeam
  • Young Texans Against Cancer
  • Fresh Start Dallas
  • Dallas Farmers Market
  • Soldier's Angels Dallas
  • Shipt
  • Elite Dental
  • Texas Restaurant Association 2017
  • State Fair 2017
  • Scottish Rite
  • Brooklyn Brewery
  • DTX_Stylemakers
  • Alexan Crossings
  • Ascent Victory Park
  • Top Texans Under 30 Dallas
  • Discover Downtown Dallas
  • San Luis Resort Dallas
  • Greystar The Collection
  • FIG Finale
  • Greystar M Line Tower
  • Lincoln Motor Company
  • The Shelby
  • Jonathan Goldwater Events
  • Windrose Tower
  • Gift Guide 2016
  • State Fair of Texas 2016
  • Choctaw Dallas
  • TodayTix Dallas promoted
  • Whole Foods
  • Unbranded 2014
  • Frisco Square
  • Unbranded 2016
  • Circuit of the Americas 2018
  • The Katy
  • Snap Kitchen
  • Partners Card
  • Omni Hotels Dallas
  • Landmark on Lovers
  • Harwood Herd
  • Galveston.com Dallas
  • Holiday Happenings Dallas 2018
  • TenantBase
  • Cottonwood Art Festival 2018
  • Hawkins-Welwood Homes
  • The Inner Circle Dallas
  • Eating in Season Dallas
  • ATTPAC Behind the Curtain
  • TodayTix Dallas
  • The Alexan
  • Toyota Music Factory
  • Nosh Box Eatery
  • Wildflower 2018
  • Society Style Dallas 2018
  • Texas Scottish Rite Hospital 2018
  • 5 Mockingbird
  • 4110 Fairmount
  • Visit Taos
  • Allegro Addison
  • Dallas Tastemakers 2018
  • The Village apartments
  • City of Burleson Dallas

    Tastemaker Awards

    16 best new restaurants in Dallas compete for coveted Tastemaker title

    Teresa Gubbins
    Jul 29, 2021 | 2:22 pm
    Hawthorn tuna
    Your mission: To try all of these 16 new restaurants.
    Hawthorn

    Probably the most popular part of CultureMap's Tastemaker Awards, our annual celebration of the best in Dallas food and drink, is the category of Best New Restaurant.

    This category is different from the rest of our editorial series, where we spotlight nominees in categories such as best bars, best neighborhood restaurants, best rising star chefs, and best ghost kitchens. Those are determined by a panel of judges consisting of former CultureMap Tastemaker Award winners and local F&B experts.

    But the Best New Restaurant is the only category decided by you, via a bracket-style competition where 16 new restaurants go head to head.

    You can vote once a day for your favorite. The voting goes four rounds, culling down to two finalists.

    Who will win? Find out at the Tastemaker Awards party on August 19 at Fashion Industry Gallery, where we’ll dine on bites from nominated restaurants while emcee CJ Starr reveals the winners. Buy tickets here.

    The list of 16 nominees is described below. These are the brave restaurants who opened during what had to be one of the most challenging times to ever open a restaurant.

    To vote, click here. Don't delay: The first bracket ends on Monday, August 2. Start clicking!

    Ame
    French-Indian concept in the former Hattie's space is from mother-daughter duo Afifa and Sabrina Nayeb (Laili, 8 Cloves). The food is upscale Indian with French techniques such as Aloo Tikki with purple potato, goat cheese, and pepita seeds; Beet Samosa with walnuts, ginger, serrano, potato, yellow beet, and peas; and Masala Baked Eggplant with pine nuts and turmeric bechamel. A companion cocktail lounge called Elephant Bar boasts a big selection of champagne.

    Anju
    Spot in Uptown Dallas provides an Asian and American dining and drinking experience. The menu features food from China, Korea, Vietnam, and Japan — noodle bowls, cheesy fries, and a kimchi of the day — while the cocktail program offers a choice between Korean or American mixology. One key feature is the patio, an award-winning stunner with a tree sprouting in the middle. They also host a variety of fun entertainments including karaoke and standup comedy.

    Belse Vegan
    State-of-the-art vegan dining at this plant-based restaurant in downtown Dallas comes with celebrity aura: It's a spinoff of Little Pine, founded in Los Angeles by electronic musician Moby (who is no longer involved, but still fun to name-drop). There's something refreshing about the matter-of-fact approach they take, with dishes such as a flight of ketchups served with French fries that make it feel like a restaurant that just happens to be vegan.

    Elm & Good
    Modern American tavern in the Kimpton Pittman Hotel, in the landmark Knights of Pythias temple in Deep Ellum. The menu changes frequently but might include a board such as the one with Raclette cheese, Genoa salami, pickled cauliflower, and fingerling potatoes. Weekend brunch every Sunday from 10 am-3 pm is a highlight, with shrimp & grits, smoked brisket hash, and a French-style omelet with parmesan, chives, Yukon gold hash browns, and arugula.

    Encina
    Seasonal restaurant in the old Bolsa space in Oak Cliff is from chef Matt Balke and front-of-the-house partner Corey McCombs. They're putting out an uncomplicated yet adventurous menu with influences from Texas, California, and the South, with a focus on seasonality and fresh ingredients. A typical entree might be the lamb and pork bratwurst with green chili hominy grits and apple mustard, or The Cliff Flatbread with goat cheese, provolone, confit tomatoes, and arugula.

    Hawthorn
    Upscale restaurant in AT&T's Discovery District in downtown Dallas is from Apheleia Restaurant Group (Oak Dallas, Merchant House) and combines fine dining with an elegant clubby atmosphere. Open for lunch and dinner, it's definitely there if you want an ambitious meal, with caviar, Wagyu beef, and Prime steaks from Allen Bros., plus a long and glorious wine list. There's also a separate full menu of sushi, sashimi, and raw-bar specials such as oysters and poke.

    Hai Di Lao Hot Pot
    Chinese hot pot chain was founded in China in 1994 is expanding into the U.S., where it debuted in Los Angeles in 2013. You choose your soup base, different meats and veggies, and a huge sauce bar. The food is well regarded but it's all the other stuff that makes this place such a trip: A robot delivers your order to the table playing music, and there’s an item on the menu called "dancing noodles," wherein a "noodle dancer" makes hand-pulled noodles tableside.

    Jaxon
    Restaurant-beer garden features 34 beers on tap and modern/classic fare influenced by Texas, Louisiana, and New Mexico. Design elements include a mixed media collage of movie stars and Texas celebs; antlers at the beer taps; cactus terrariums; and artwork from vintage bricks. In addition to a dining room seating 165, Jaxon has a 10,000 square-foot patio with views of AT&T Discovery District's courtyard and 104-foot-tall, 6K-resolution media wall.

    Krio
    Cajun-Asian restaurant in the Bishop Arts District began as a pop-up before owners Dan Bui and Connie Cheng found this permanent location. Specialties include jambalaya eggrolls, with chicken jambalaya stuffed into an eggroll, and Cajun-esque baos, with pickled carrots, green onion, sriracha aioli, and choice of chicken, Andouille sausage, or shrimp. Their slogan sums it up: "Where the Far East meets the Deep South."

    Lucky's Hot Chicken
    Nashville-style spicy hot chicken from Vandelay Hospitality Group (East Hampton Sandwich Co., Hudson House, Drake’s Hollywood) does chicken tenders and wings, plus sides such as mac 'n' cheese, coleslaw, baked beans, collard greens, beer, and soft-serve. It debuted in a landmark mid-century building where Brinker International founder Norman Brinker opened his first concept, Brink's; at least five more locations are on the way.

    Manpuku
    Chain of Japanese barbecue (yakiniku) restaurants from Tokyo opened its first restaurant in Texas in Dallas, on Greenville Ave. The yakiniku experience focuses on bites of raw protein and vegetables cooked tableside over small grills and eaten fresh and hot. In addition to a la carte items such as beef tongue, guests can order omakase-style for two or four and receive a selection of meats, plus sides, salads, and soft serve, for a fixed price of $40-$100 per person.

    Marugame Udon
    Chic udon noodle concept from Tokyo first came to the U.S. with a flagship store in Waikiki, Hawaii, before expanding to California, then Texas. It serves Sanuki-style noodles — a thicker noodle, uniquely chewy yet tender, whether in soup or topped with sauce. In addition to noodle bowls, there's tempura, Japanese street food, robata-style char-grilled skewers, and sandwiches such as Spam and cheese on lightly toasted Japanese milk bread.

    Meridian
    Modern Brazilian cuisine from chef Junior Borges is the fine-dining spot that's part of an entire slate of restaurants rolled out at The Village, the massive residential apartment community in the middle of Dallas, which executed a mixed-use lifestyle project with food and entertainment in early 2021. The restaurant features Brazilian-inspired dishes, with snacks, cocktails, salads, brioche, or a family-style feast from a live-fire hearth.

    Monarch
    Downtown restaurant is located at The National, a residences-plus-hotel in downtown Dallas, is another newcomer to Dallas that vows to change the local Italian scene, via dishes like a $55 lasagna and a $12 side of charred asparagus. Its skytop perch affords amazing views, making it the latest special-occasion choice. It comes from gregarious Chicago chef Danny Grant, who has his sights set on Dallas with other openings in the works.

    Rise & Thyme
    Charming seasonal American cafe in the AT&T Discovery District in downtown Dallas is from celebrity chef Amanda Freitag, a Food Network regular who has battled Bobby Flay on Iron Chef America, competed for the title of America's Next Iron Chef, and serves as a judge on Chopped. It's a practical and accommodating place, open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, with salads, sandwiches, pastas, and patty melts.

    Wok Star Chinese
    Modern-but-authentic take on Chinese food from David Romano is now open at The Hill, at US-75 and Walnut Hill Lane, with some hyper-authentic dishes — including the hugely popular xio long bao, aka soup dumplings, as well as hand-pulled noodles and two kinds of buns, veggie and pork pan-fried. They also do the "Chinese" Americans grew up with, such as General Tso's chicken, kung pao chicken, and beef & broccoli.

    tastemakersawardsbests
    news/restaurants-bars
    series/dallas-tastemaker-awards-2021

    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 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 glitzy steakhouse on Maple Avenue (now run by Sam Romano, son of co-founder Phil Romano), Nick & Sam's Grill, Dos Jefes, and more. He created Coal Vines as an homage to the casual neighborhood restaurants reminiscent of his upbringing in New York.

    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. It's being designed by the international design firm Rockwell Group and is slated to open in early summer.

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

    Palladino was approached by the landlords to open a restaurant in the center. Given Palladino's 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, with a target date of "soon," and the menu has yet to be revealed, although 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."

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

    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

    openings
    news/restaurants-bars
    series/dallas-tastemaker-awards-2021
    CULTUREMAP EMAILS ARE AWESOME
    Get Dallas intel delivered daily.
    Loading...