Design District Dining Guide

Best neighborhood eats: 6 hot restaurants in Dallas Design District

Meddlesome Moth blazed the hipster trail into the Design District when it openedin 2010.

Photo courtesy of Meddlesome Moth
FT33 is a laboratory for chef-owner Matt McCallister to experiment withtechniques and flavor combinations.

Photo by Kevin Marple
Pakpao attracts serious foodies who appreciate its authenticity.

Photo courtesy of Pakpao Thai
Ascension has been praised for its coffee and wine selection, but it's also alikable spot to grab a bite.

Ascension Coffee
At Royal Sixty, longtime caterer Wendy Krispin does a classic ladies lunch everyweekday, such as grilled pimento cheese on pumpernickel.

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Oak is the Design District ideal, with its mesh of fine dining and restful,elegant decor.

Photo courtesy of Oak

That the Dallas Design District would rank as one of the hottest neighborhoods for good eats should hardly be a surprise. This once-industrial area was singled out by the city for redevelopment in the mid-2000s. Apartment and lofts have been built, along with galleries, retail and restaurants such as Kay Agnew's Bridge Bistro.

In the past year, some of the city's hottest restaurants have opened in the district, along with a bowling alley called Bowlounge and a wine retailer called the Wine Poste, which hosts tastings nearly every week. The energy has spilled outside the district to streets nearby with openings such as Off Site Kitchen and Slow Bone joining veterans Original Market Diner and Mama's Daughter's Diner, each bringing their own independent, unique spirit.

Here's six spots that answer the question about where to eat in the Design District:

Ascension
Its coffee is unique, and it's been praised as a top wine bar. But Ascension is also a likable, serviceable place to grab a bite. Its welcoming atmosphere is matched by a broad menu that extends from oatmeal and breakfast tacos at breakfast, to light sandwiches at lunch, to chicken and mozzarella penne pasta at dinner.

FT33
The Design District is home to the most buzzed-about restaurant in Dallas. You may think FT33 is a restaurant, but it's really a laboratory for chef-owner Matt McCallister to experiment with techniques and flavor combinations. If you want cutting edge in Dallas, with artistic presentation on the plate, this is the place. The menu frequently changes, but so far they've kept the smoked potatoes, a perfect dish that manages to be both novel and supremely satisfying.

Meddlesome Moth
The Moth blazed the hipster trail into the Design District when it opened in 2010 as this generation's 8.0. That meant craft beer instead of wine coolers and a double dose of bacon on the Cobb salad. The bar staff can be insufferably rude, and the signature "Moth Balls," consisting of ricotta cheese in a cream sauce, is rather funky. But, hey, it was there first, and some of those dozens of beers on tap are unique.

Oak
The first restaurant from husband-and-wife restaurateurs Richard and Tiffanee Ellman (Pakpao, Belly & Trumpet), Oak is the Design District ideal, with its mesh of fine dining and restful, elegant decor. The kitchen has had its bumps with staff turnover, but current chef Richard Gras is on track with a new fall menu featuring dishes like roasted bone marrow with short rib marmalade.

Pakpao
Exotic sibling of Oak (and Belly & Trumpet) specializes in Thai, as prepared by chef Eddy Thretipthuangsin. This Thailand native is hitting the two key demographics: the serious foodies who appreciate authentic dishes such as steamed prawn with mung bean noodle and shiitake mushroom, served in a clay pot, and the trendy diners who love that Pakpao means kite and can see some hanging from the ceiling.

Royal Sixty
Longtime caterer Wendy Krispin does a classic ladies lunch every weekday, with sandwiches, salads, soups and tea, served in a subtly elegant space with tablecloths and chandelier. Dishes such as grilled pimento cheese on pumpernickel with sweet potato fries, smoked salmon and feta cheese omelet, and tilapia on succotash feature just enough innovation to make them intriguing.

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Coming attraction

Dallas hospitality pros team up for new restaurant in Inwood Village

Rendering courtesy of

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Dallas restaurateur Bob Sambol, who brought Bob's Steak & Chop House to the city in the 1990s, is partnering with a prolific Dallas hospitality group to open an intimate new eatery called Charlie’s in Inwood Village.

Planned for spring or summer of 2027, Charlie's - a partnership between Sambol and Vandelay Companies - will take over the space at 5450 W. Lovers Ln. #225 formerly occupied by longtime Dallas favorite Adelmo's.

The restaurant will be small, with about 30 tables, and will serve dinner only. It will also take reservations the old-fashioned way: by landline phone in the restaurant.

Specifics about the menu, chef, and exact opening timeline will be announced closer to the restaurant's debut. But a rendering included with the press release shows a white brick exterior with black shutters, and text beneath the restaurant name that suggests the involvement of "steak," "chop," and "seafood."

Sambol describes Charlie's as "low-key" and "quietly sophisticated," with a "warm palette" and calls this a "very personal" project, which will be built in the spirit of small East Coast neighborhood dining rooms of the past, such as a place his father once owned called The Continental in New Jersey.

“After 30 years, I wanted to create something that feels humble and familiar with great hospitality, a beautiful room, people you know and a restaurant you want to return to again and again," Sambol says in the release. "Nothing overly complicated. Just a really special place for the neighborhood.”

Charlie's restaurant owners Vandalay Companies' Hunter Pond and Rick Dunlap flank Bob Sambol.Photo by Samantha Marie Photography

Sambol says he's had a longtime friendship with the Vandelay Companies' Hunter Pond and Rick Dunlap, whose restaurants include Hudson House, Anchor Sushi, Drake’s, and a variety of other brands. He says he’s watched the restaurant development investors grow up and make a name for themselves in Dallas hospitality.

“I’ve known Hunter and Rick since they were in grade school, and seeing what they have built is truly remarkable. It’s a surreal moment to partner with them on such a personal project” Sambol says.

Pond calls the partnership with Sambol a "fun and unique project ... that no one in Dallas has done in quite some time."

Charlie’s will be "deliberately different" from many of the big city's large-scale "highly produced" restaurants, the owners say, adding that it "will embrace an understated, old-school elegance."

“Charlie’s isn’t about trying to make the biggest restaurant or the loudest statement. It’s about creating a timeless one," Pond says. "That restraint is what makes the project so exciting to us.”

As for Charlie's predecessor at the coveted Inwood Village address, Adelmo's — known for its Italian food "with accents" of French and Mediterranean — occupied the space for 10 years before closing in December 2025 and reopening this year in the Preston Valley Shopping Center, at the southwest corner of Preston Road.

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