Chow Fun

Where to eat in Dallas right now: 10 hot restaurants for August

For August, we're forecasting hot with a side of spicy, and that's how we like our restaurants too. These 10 restaurants are nearly all new, mostly all spicy and absolutely all hot.

Zoli's NY Pizza Tavern
One of the most hotly anticipated openings of the summer, this New York-style pizzeria has lots going for it: Three kinds of pizza: hero sandwiches: quality ingredients: an Oak Cliff address: and an enthusiastic owner in pizza wizard Jay Jerrier, who has already worked wonders at Neapolitan-style pizzeria Cane Rosso.

Bread Zeppelin
Unique concept has chopped salads, which you can get in a bowl or served in a crusty, hollowed-out baguette. The ordering setup is similar to fast-casual concepts such as Chipotle or Salata, where you file through a line, choose your ingredients, then head to a chopping station to have it made complete.

Pakpao Thai
New Thai restaurant from owners of Oak and Belly and Trumpet is attracting widespread interest, from foodies to artsy types who live or office in the Dallas Design District. Chef Eddy Thretipthuangsin, who trained at Le Cordon Bleu, has a menu with novelties such as bamboo shoot salad and clay pots.

Howard Wang's
Dallas Chinese institution hits the 'burbs and hits 'em big. New branch in Southlake has a big lounge, ample dining room, roomy chairs and oversized portions. But big doesn't mean sloppy; the preparation on dishes like stir-fried vegetables and Peking duck is careful top-notch.

Jeng Chi
Venerable family-owned restaurant in Richardson's Chinatown district is widely celebrated as having the best dumplings in town. It recently moved from a longtime address to a bigger spot a few doors down. The new space is bigger, and you can get beer and wine now too.

Sakhuu Express
After being deposed at his former restaurant, Thairrific, chef Kyla Phomsavanh rebounded with Sakhuu, the Chinese-Thai restaurant he opened in East Dallas. No stopping him now: He's opened a second to-go spot on Lemmon Avenue, with curries and noodles, plus new items such as shrimp wraps.

Pho Is For Lovers
Vietnamese chain-let specializing in pho spreads its wings north, with a new branch in Allen. Menu of pho, banh mi sandwiches, noodles and rice is the same as the other two locations (Greenville Avenue and Preston at Belt Line). But the Allen location is larger and more spacious. This is the suburbs, after all.

Malai Kitchen
With talented chef Paul Singhapong rumored to have returned to Dallas (after leaving town for a while), now's the time to visit Malai, which he helped open in 2011. Malai has a primo location in West Village, where it serves slightly gourmet Thai and Vietnamese food: from pad Thai to "Vietnamese meatballs" made with pork, green onion and caramel.

Lemongrass
Low-key yet resilient, Lemongrass has prevailed through the ups and downs and ups again of Deep Ellum. Lunch is hotter than dinner, with $10.95 plates combining stir-fried veggies with some kind of chicken, pork, beef or tofu. White tablecloths make it a popular option for business lunches.

Mot Hai Ba
Vietnamese restaurant from chefs Jeana Johnson and Colleen O'Hare remains THE restaurant of summer 2013. If you're a foodie, if you like to ogle who's who or if you just plain like it spicy, MHB is where it's at. The menu changes from lunch to dinner; if you have pho on the brain, you have to catch it at lunch.

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Pakpao Thai in the Dallas Design District features the culinary talents of chef Eddy Thretipthuangsin.

Short rib at Pakpao Thai restaurant in Dallas

Pakpao Thai/Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/pakpaothai]

Pakpao Thai in the Dallas Design District features the culinary talents of chef Eddy Thretipthuangsin.

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Closure News

Deep Ellum sushi tops 5 surprising restaurant closures in Dallas

Deep Sushi

In the cyclical world of Dallas restaurants, January is often a time for closures — not only because it's the beginning of a new year but also because the post-holiday lull, with all its New Year's resolutions and diets and dry spells, can make January a challenging month for business.

These five closures all come as a surprise: from a longtime location of a bakery chain to a BBQ startup to a veteran vegan spot. Two closures involve restaurants that have been open in Dallas — one in the Park Cities, the other in Deep Ellum — for decades.

Here are five sad closings that just occurred around Dallas:

Bread Winners Cafe & Bakery
Revered local cafe chain closed its location in Plano at 4021 Preston Rd. after 20 years. In a post on Instagram, the bakery said that their lease had come to an end, and they closed on December 24. The chain has three other locations: NorthPark Center, Allen, and the original on McKinney Avenue in Uptown Dallas.

Casa del Vegano
Popular vegan Mexican restaurant on Jefferson Avenue in Oak Cliff closed on January 2, after five years. On their Instagram post, they said that they fought hard to stay alive. "We pushed, adjusted, sacrificed, and held on as long as we could. Unfortunately, after falling two months behind and facing heavy fees and penalties, we reached a point where we could no longer continue," they said. They may offer some of their dishes at their more casual sister restaurant, Vegan Food House, also in Oak Cliff.

Deep Sushi
Longtime sushi restaurant in Deep Ellum has closed after 30 years — impressive for any restaurant, but especially in Deep Ellum. A notice on their website says "closed until further notice," but a spokesperson for the ownership confirmed that it has closed for good. Deep Sushi opened in 1996, just as the neighborhood was shifting from an underground rock nexus into a broader entertainment zone with restaurants and bars. It was founded by a group of physicians with sushi savvy, at a time when there were only a handful of sushi spots in the city. They engaged Tetsuji Yamaguchi, who had his own eponymous restaurant on Inwood Road, to consult on the menu, and for a few years, it was one of the hottest destinations in town.

New York Sub
Park Cities sandwich shop that's been open at 3411 Asbury St. across the street from SMU since 1974, is closing at the end of February. According to an Instagram post, owners Andrew and Edith Kelley were in the middle of negotiating another 10-year lease when their landlord sold the building. "While the new owners have been kind, we simply can’t make the new financial terms work," their post says. Their goal is to find a new location nearby or else find someone who wants to take over the shop.

Tejas Brisket Co.
Fast-casual BBQ takeout spot in East Dallas is closing its storefront at 1318 N. Peak St. Owners Tifany Swulius and Antonio Guevara gave it their all, including adding breakfast tacos, but to no avail. In a Facebook post, they said they were no longer able to continue to operate a storefront with their current hours -- not even after a tout in November in TX Monthly. They'll maintain a catering operation, and meanwhile will keep serving brisket until they run out, which they predict will be on or around January 16.

deep-ellum closings