Where to Eat

Where to eat in Dallas right now: 10 restaurants to take out-of-town guests

Steak & fries from Homewood.

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The holidays are nearing, life is mostly back to normal, and you've got guests coming into town. Of course, you'll want to be a savvy host with a command of Dallas' dining scene and a list of restaurants at the ready when it's time to take them out.

As part of our annual tradition, for our December edition of Where to Eat, we offer suggestions on the best restaurants to take your holiday visitors and show them what Dallas has to offer. (And if you just want to get takeout, click here for our list of restaurants offering Christmas to-go.)

Here are 10 restaurants to take your out-of-town guests:

Dakota's Steakhouse
Dallas is known for its abundance of steakhouses, and no Dallas restaurant list would be complete without a steakhouse entry. Dakota's — a gem we nearly lost that was rescued by a restaurateur who loved its 37-year legacy — more than fills the bill. They serve Prime steaks from famed purveyor Allen Brothers, which Dakota's grills and finishes in a 1200-degree Montague broiler, and which you can get topped with a dozen luxe treatments, from blue cheese to wild mushrooms to lump crab. They have all your classics: wedge salad, shrimp cocktail, oysters Rockefeller. But what puts Dakota's on the must-do list is its distinctive subterranean location, reachable only via an elevator that disappears into a downtown Dallas sidewalk — sure to wow, amaze, and delight your guests.

E-Bar Tex-Mex
Just as you need a steakhouse, so do you also need a Tex-Mex, and Dallas has plenty. But few operators can compete with Eddie Cervantes, the congenial host who developed an early and loyal following after first opening Primo's in 1981. That's a lot of years to be doing Tex-Mex, and he brought that experience when he opened E-Bar on Haskell Avenue, where he's been packing them in since it opened in 2013. In June 2021, he opened a second outpost on Greenville Avenue, where he's serving the faultless enchiladas, nachos, and tacos for which he's known, but with new elements including an occasional fancy steak and homemade corn tortillas. If you're just wanting to show your guests how Tex-Mex is done, go to the original on Haskell Avenue; if you're in the mood for a post-dinner stroll, hit Greenville Avenue.

Cattleack Barbeque
Along with steak and Tex-Mex, BBQ is one of the area's other essential cuisines, and Dallas' BBQ world has improved in the past few years, as more restaurants crack the mystery of letting meat sit for hours in a hot metal box. Cattleack was the only Dallas restaurant that made the top 10 on a big-deal Texas Monthly list in October, so that gives them valuable cred. In addition, they're open super-limited hours — Thursday-Friday 10:30 am–2 pm, and the first Saturday of the month — making them yet more alluring, as we all want what we cannot get. They're big on house-made sausages, plus offbeat dishes in the usually staid BBQ world such as beef bologna, spicy beef boudin, and Wagyu pastrami ribs. Things sell out quickly, so you get the added benefit of possible disappointment and further longing.

The Exchange at the AT&T District
Downtown Dallas complex owned by AT&T and managed by Hospitality Alliance shows how a food hall should truly be done. It's about quality. It's about consistency. Whether you visit on a busy weekend or a quiet Thursday afternoon, you're going to get food that hits a high bar, whether it's a thrillingly smooth frozen chamoy margarita at Jaxon, a gratifyingly fresh avocado toast with sprouts and pepita at Rise + Thyme, or a burger made with Wagyu beef at Bobbers. More than a dozen restaurants are there to satisfy a variety of tastes, and there's also the Discovery District of which it's a part, a pleasant outdoor oasis in downtown with immersive exhibits and entertainment.

Homewood
If your holiday guests are of the foodie variety and require a display of chef prowess, Homewood is your top bet. This is the place you're going to find your gremolata, your fermented honey/pecan relish, your matsutake rice middlins. Homewood's official cuisine is upscale comfort food, with entrees such as half chicken, grass-fed sirloin, and Wagyu rib eye, and there's a raw bar with oysters, bluefin tuna, and dry-aged beef tartare. But chef Matt McCallister is restless and creative, constantly turning out mad specials (which you can track on the restaurant's Instagram page), with arcane descriptions that are sure to impress your snooty friends. And bottom line, dishes like the signature Parker House rolls, served with a dipping sauce made of parmesan mornay and chicken drippings, really hit the spot.

Mermaid Bar
Restaurant at the Neiman Marcus store at Northpark Center is the younger sibling of the iconic Zodiac Room at Neiman Marcus in downtown Dallas (which reopened in November and is fully booked through the end of 2021, can you believe that). Mermaid shares the Zodiac's impeccable DNA as well as classic dishes such as the popover with strawberry butter, white bean chicken chili, and Mandarin orange souffle. The Mermaid lets you have a taste of the Zodiac but in a different environment, one graced with fanciful mermaid statues by Bjorn Winblad, and is a relaxing place to stop before or after a NorthPark shopping session.

Pepita's Vegan Taqueria
Denton makes for a nice day trip, with its classic Texas downtown square, Courthouse-on-the-Square Museum, and variety of shops. A visit provides an excuse to eat at Pepita's, a family-owned Mexican vegan restaurant that opened in July. Mexican food is a relatively easy cuisine to "veganize," and a number of Mexican vegan restaurants have opened around DFW in recent years. Pepita's is one of the best — and not just "Mexican vegan" but "vegan vegan" — from the Landeros family, who've held to a high standard at their original Mexican restaurant, Milpa (still open in Denton and a great place to start, with one of their 100-plus margaritas). Pepita's hews to that high standard on dishes such as portobello fajitas and chimichangas with fillings such as Beyond Meat ground beef, jackfruit chicken, soy al pastor, and jackfruit brisket birria.

Taco Y Vino
The Bishop Arts District stands as one of Dallas' best tourist attractions. With its walkable personality, brick storefronts, and array of shops, you and your holiday troupe can easily spend an afternoon. After you've worked up an appetite, grab some tacos and a glass of wine at Taco Y Vino, where they've deftly achieved their goal of blurring the line between fancy and casual. Tacos range from classics like barbacoa with cilantro crema to veggie with jackfruit. It's hard to find a host more gregarious than owner Jimmy Contreras, and he has lots of wine expertise, so you can count on a fine selection of boutique labels and at prices that don't gouge.

Taste of Peking
Between Dallas' vibrant Korean-American population and Toyota's recent relocation of its headquarters to Plano, Dallas-Fort Worth has enjoyed an explosion of new Asian restaurants, bringing an unprecedented level of variety and authenticity. Choosing one is a challenge, but Taste of Peking, located at 3131 Custer Rd., #182, Plano, has plenty to recommend, including juicy soup dumplings, plump wonton, and Peking duck, cut into chunks, battered, and fried with a crunchy crust. The big draw is the hand-pulled noodles, made to order and served in dishes such as beef noodle soup. Special bonus: Right now, they have Charlie Zhang, one of Dallas' most famous noodle guys, swinging and stretching his noodles in a fun show. (They do not currently have a website but a menu is posted here.)

Thunderbird Pies
You can brag authoritatively to your guests about how Dallas' pizza scene has improved vastly in the past decade, with better quality and greater variety — which takes you to the White Rock Lake area, home to Thunderbird Pies, slinger of Detroit-style pizza, created by the team behind Cane Rosso and Zoli's Pizza. What makes Thunderbird great is the crust; developed by World Pizza Champion Lee Hunzinger, it's crispy, crunchy, airy, and yeasty. T-Bird is also serving some of Cane Rosso's greatest hits including fried artichokes. And if Detroit-style isn't your thing, there's a Cane Rosso right next door where they're baking up authentic Neapolitan-style pies. Two pizza options in one location, the perfect place to hit after you've dragged said guests for an invigorating walk around the lake.

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Pizza News

California-based Burattino Pizza to bring pepperoni pies to Plano

dallas.culturemap.com

A small pizzeria chain from Southern California is expanding its presence in DFW: Burattino Pizza, known for its thin-crust pepperoni pies, is opening a location in Plano, at 6405 W. Parker Rd. #300, taking over a space previously occupied by Papa John's.

According to DFW franchisee George Gomiashvili, the restaurant is slated to open in December.

Burattino was founded in 2016 in San Pedro, California, then acquired by entrepreneur Emil Chiaberi, whose savvy use of social media transformed the concept into a viral sensation, with millions of followers across Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook.

The chain has five locations in California, one in Salt Lake City, and one in North Richland Hills, its first in Texas, where its opening in March was met with long lines, true to form considering its crazy social media following.

Gomiashvili, a veteran restaurateur and winemaker from California, says that Burattino embodies "California-style pizza," with a thin, crunchy-yet-chewy crust, edge-to-edge toppings, and bold, imaginative recipes.

”It’s a crisp, thin crust baked in brick ovens with a strong focus on high-quality pepperoni pies and unique ingredients like fermented black garlic," Gomiashvili says. "The goal has always been to keep the menu simple but do a few things extremely well."

Burattino is most famous for its pepperoni pizzas, with multiple pepperoni options including pork, beef, and wild boar; and for the crunchiness of its crust.

Other notable menu items include:

Dirty Pepperoni — pepperoni and black olives on Burattino's Black Garlic Sauce
White Clam — white garlic sauce, chopped clams, bacon, garlic, oregano, mozzarella, and Parmesan cheese
120 Pepperoni — pepperoni pizza with mozzarella and marinara sauce. The 120 stands for 120 slices of pepperoni
Mexican Pepperoni — red and green chorizo, bacon, garlic, red onion, jalapeños, mozzarella cheese, on chunky mild salsa

The Mercedes pizza is a sampler, allowing you to order three of Burattino's classic pizzas in one: Meatlovers, Hawaiian and Margherita, XL size only. Pizzas start at $13 for a cheese pizza and top out at $28 for the Mercedes.

In addition to pizza, they offer calzones, mozzarella sticks, salads such as a chicken Caesar, and baked wings in four flavors: plain, hot, Korean BBQ, and garlic parmesan. Much of their approach is "extreme" including the Cheese Lava Pie, with a four-cheese blend — mozzarella, provolone, feta, and Parmesan — placed both inside and on top of the crust, creating a hot cheese lava that makes for outrageous social media posts.

"The response to our recipes in North Richland Hills has been amazing," Gomiashvili says. "The 120 Pepperoni has been a standout, and our fermented black garlic pizzas and Cheese Lava Pie are other signatures that show what makes Burattino different."

Gomiashvili says they're still getting to know their audience in Texas, but that the reception they've received has been encouraging.

"Our approach is the same: distinctive pizza people love, generous portions, everyday prices and genuine hospitality," he says. "We want to become a neighborhood favorite that people feel connected to and come back to regularly."

In addition to Plano, they're also opening a location in Arlington at 6204 S. Cooper St. #108, forecast to debut in February 2027.

When it comes to scouting locations, they look for second-generation restaurant spaces that are easy to convert.

"Plano was a Papa John’s, and Arlington was a Simple Simon’s," Gomiashvili says. "Both had much of the infrastructure in place, which allows us to reopen more quickly. We also like Plano and Arlington for their dense, diverse communities and large families. That’s a great fit for our generous pizzas and everyday prices."

He says that the core menu and operating hours will be the same at all three locations. They'll also introduce specials and rotating pizzas.

"The main differences will be the service format and beverage program," he says. "Arlington will have a full bar with a cocktail program. Plano will focus mostly on delivery and takeout, potentially with some beer and wine to go rather than an extensive beverage program."

Meanwhile, for North Richland Hills, they've applied to sell beer and wine and anticipate they'll have approval in about a month.

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