New Year's Day Brunch

These are the best New Year's 2018 brunch restaurants in Dallas-Fort Worth

A toast to 2018.

Flour and Vine

Just about every restaurant and bar celebrates New Year's Eve. But it takes a true hospitality trooper to get up the next morning and throw down a spread. New Year's Day brunch is the ticket, whether you're recovering from a night out or eager to start your 2018 with a bang.

Here's a list of restaurants in Dallas-Fort Worth where you can celebrate the New Year with a bite to eat:

Blatt Beer & Table
Preston Hollow gastropub will do full-service brunch menu with chicken & waffles, biscuits & gravy, vegan Southern tofu tacos, and cinnamon roll waffles. Cocktails include their Guinness Bloody Mary, Beermosa, and the classic Bubbly Bar with rosé, prosecco, cava, or brut sparking wine with choice of juice and seasonal fruit. 11 am-3 pm. $9-14. 469-372-2080.

Blue Mesa Grill
All five locations of this chain known for its award-winning brunch will debut a "Market Fresh Sunday Buffet Brunch" with new cook-to-order stations including a street taco bar, omelets and huevos ranchero, a new apple-kale salad, fried chicken, Southwest mac ‘n cheese bar, enchiladas, and adobe pie. A dessert bar overflows with bars, brownies, seasonal flans, churros, fruit cobblers, and made-to-order Belgian waffles. Includes fresh orange juice, agua frescas, champagne, mimosas, coffee, tea, or soft drinks. 10 am-2 pm. $22 or $7 for 12 and under. Addison 972-934-0165, Arlington 682-323-3050, Dallas 214-378-8686, Fort Worth 817-332-6372, and Plano 214-387-4407.

Blue Sushi Sake Grill
Both Uptown and Preston Hollow Village locations of this sleek sushi chain will be open with a menu that includes $5.50 maki rolls, specialty sashimi for under $10, and a variety of hot plates and cocktails at discounted rates. Blue will also offer a unique set of New Year's dishes from December 29–January 1 that includes a specialty starter, maki roll, nigiri, and dessert. On New Year's Day, they'll extend happy hour from 12-8 pm. Noon-10 pm.

Chef Point Cafe
Guy Fieri's favorite restaurant in Watauga will welcome 2018 with a New Year's Day a la carte brunch menu that includes steak and eggs, chicken and waffles, crab benedict, huevos rancheros, monte cristo sandwich, and a "breakfast burger" topped with bacon and fried egg. Libations include Texas bacon Bloody Mary and a mimosa flight with champagne and four juices. $13-23. 817-656-0080.

City Works
New Shops at Clearfork restaurant is hosting a "recovery brunch" with a menu of sweet and savory items that includes steak and eggs, a breakfast sandwich on a biscuit with sausage and scrambled eggs, and French toast stuffed with Bailey's-flavored cream cheese. Or just drink your brunch with the Churchill Bloody Mary, a 20-ounce goblet of spicy Bloody Mary with grilled shrimp, pepperjack cheese, cherry tomato, and Slim Jim on a skewer. 10:30 am-2 pm. $12-$16. 682-207-1500.

Cru Wine Bar
All three branches of this wine bar — West Village, Plano's Shops at Legacy, and Watters Creek in Allen — will do a bargain brunch with two courses plus bottomless mimosas. 10:30 am-3 pm. $20.18. 214-526-9463.

Fearing's Restaurant
Ritz Carlton's finest will host a special-edition brunch with the opportunity to upgrade to a menu featuring champagne, Bloody Mary, and mimosas. Three-course à la carte brunch menu called "The Whole Enchilada" includes choice of starter, main course, and dessert, from options that include chipotle cheddar biscuits, tortilla soup, pumpkin muffin tops, warm apple cider doughnuts, hazelnut French toast, Granny's fried chicken, and banana pudding. 10 am-3 pm. $65, or $95 with beverage. 214-922-4848.

Greenville Avenue Pizza
Both locations, at Greenville Avenue and Peavy Road, are serving a special black eyed pea pizza with choice of Alfredo or pizza sauce, mozzarella, and Hoppin' John, consisting of black eyed peas, sausage, bacon, rice, and spices. 11 am-1 am. Small $17, large $23. 214-826-5404.

Hilton Anatole Hotel
The hotel's Media Bar & Grill will kick off an early brunch on New Year's Day beginning at 7 am. A second brunch wave will commence at 9 am including a mimosa and Bloody Mary bar. $35. 214-761-7498.

Knife Dallas
Highland Dallas steakhouse is offering a special available only on New Year's Day: Knife's famed Bacon Sampler, paired with a flight of five Bloody Marys. Like a drinkable sampler. There is your regular Bloody Mary; the Texas Mary with serrano pepper; and the Bloody Pirate, with rum and citrus. They do a Michelada with Deschutes IPA, and finally the Black Mary, with La Caravedo Pisco, tomato juice, lemon juice, and fish stock. $32 for both, $16 for Bloody Mary Sampler. 214-443-9339.

Little Red Wasp
Downtown Fort Worth bistro reprises its successful New Year's Day brunch with French toast, corned beef hash, chicken biscuit, short rib benedict, doughnut holes, and house-made granola. Cocktails include a pear mimosa and a non-alcoholic mixed berry mule with fresh berries and ginger beer. Prices a la carte. 11 am-4 pm. 817-877-3111.

Mudhen Meat and Greens
Dallas Farmers Market eatery hosts a "Hangover Brunch" with full a la carte brunch menu, plus seasonal mimosa and craft cocktail specials. Menu specials include a Croissantwich with Duroc ham, whiskey cheddar, and an over easy egg on a croissant with crispy herb fingerling potatoes. Posole Verde has pork in green chili broth served with bison tamales. 9 am-4 pm. 214-698-7000.

Pōk the Raw Bar
West Village poke shop gets an appropriately late start by opening at noon with poke bowls. As an added perk, all bowl purchases will come with a complimentary matcha beverage from a selection that includes matcha with OJ, matcha with ginger, and matcha wih yuzu lemonade. 214-484-1139.

Princi Italia
Both locations of this Italian restaurant — Dallas and Plano — will do a bargain brunch with two courses and bottomless mimosas for $20.18 214-739-5959.

Public School 214 and PS 972
Chef-driven gastropub will host brunch with the ever-popular chicken & green chili waffles or eggs benedict pizza with prosciutto, grana Padano, hollandaise, and two fried eggs. A selection of $8 carafes includes the Beermosa made with fresh OJ, Ommegang Witte, crème de peche, and lavender simple syrup; and a Bloody Mary with a bacon sea salt rim, garnished with a chicken wing. 11 am-3 pm. 214-599-6234.

The Rustic
Uptown hang will serve its popular Jam & Toast Brunch, ordinarily available only on weekends. The spread includes local cheeses, baked eggs with white cheddar, bacon and sausage from Rudolph’s Market, Nashville-style spicy fried chicken, challah french toast, smoked cheddar grits, and small-batch doughnuts baked to order. Add a Bloody Mary pitcher or Mimosa carafe.10 am-3 pm. $17. 214-730-0596.

Texas Spice at Omni Dallas Hotel
Downtown Dallas hotel restaurant will host brunch with huevos rancheros, breakfast burrito, brisket hash, French toast, smoked salmon platter, steel-cut oats, parfait, grits, and bagels, plus $20 breakfast buffet with fruit, yogurt, cereals, eggs and omlets, breads, and bakery selections. 6-10:30 am. 214-652-4810.

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Spring Arrival

West Dallas gets new Spanish-Peruvian restaurant with big-name chef

Photo courtesy of Ulloa's

Paella will be on the menu.

A new restaurant with a high-profile culinary director will bring Spanish and Peruvian flavors to West Dallas: Called Ulloa’s, it is coming to 727 Fort Worth Ave., with a projected opening in March 2027.

The concept is from philanthropists Susan and Woodrow Gandy, who were previously investors in the historic Belmont Hotel just around the corner. They've teamed up with Dallas celebrity chef Kent Rathbun as culinary director, along with Christopher Tunnell as general manager to lead the front of the house.

Rathbun is a name Dallas diners know well, with a resume that includes The Mansion on Turtle Creek, the Landmark Restaurant at the historic Melrose Hotel, Seventeen Seventeen at the Dallas Museum of Art, Abacus, Jasper's, Rathbun’s Blue Plate Kitchen, and more. He's won numerous awards and made multiple appearances on Food Network. He was most recently behind the launch of On The Rocks, an Italian bistro in Burleson.

Chef Kent Rathbun will be the culinary director of Ulloa's. Photo courtesy of Kent Rathbun

Tunnell’s background spans both culinary direction and front-of-house operations. He worked at Los Angeles hot spots Ketchup, Geisha House, and Les Deux, as well as the Mandalay Bay and The Mirage in Las Vegas, before moving to Dallas to open The Mexican, the upscale restaurant in the Design District.

“I am truly excited to partner with Chef Kent Rathbun, whose reputation is amazing — not only in the DFW Metroplex, but in the culinary world,” Tunnell says. “He has been with this project since the beginning, helping develop it; this will be a very chef-driven, culinary-forward restaurant.”

The team's vision for Ulloa’s is both culinary and urban, with hopes of anchoring the corridor and attracting other businesses to Fort Worth Avenue — a stretch connecting downtown Dallas with Oak Cliff that remains somewhat underdeveloped despite its panoramic skyline views.

The restaurant is named for Spanish explorer, astronomer, and scientist Antonio de Ulloa, who spent extensive time in the Mexican peninsula before becoming Louisiana’s first governor. During his travels, Ulloa documented a fogbow — a circular rainbow formed when sunlight meets mist that causes silhouettes standing between the sun and fog to appear ringed in light, a phenomenon known today as “Ulloa’s Rings.”

That vibrant phenomenon inspired both the restaurant's identity and logo. The concept promises "bold, worldly flavors in a welcoming neighborhood setting inspired by exploration and discovery,” the owners say.

Ulloa's Rendering of Ulloa's.Rendering courtesy of Ulloa's

While the menu remains in development, Tunnell describes the culinary direction as “Spanish soul with a Peruvian heart.” The kitchen will merge the coastal flavors of both traditions — ranging from paellas and ceviches to crafted cocktails and signature adaptations by Rathbun.

The 200-seat, two-story space will feature a downstairs dining room, a large bar, and an outdoor patio. Upstairs, plans call for a secondary bar, a private dining room, a patio, and an expansive balcony patio, offering views of the city's skyline and of the Margaret Hunt Hill and Margaret McDermott bridges.

While the upstairs space will be available for private events, the owners intend for it to operate primarily as an organic extension of the main restaurant. The buildout will include a guest elevator along with ample parking, including both self-parking and valet options.

The team says the restaurant will have have an aesthetic that's “warm, theatrical, generous, elegant but alive, with the energy of a great Spanish tapas bar and the soul of Peruvian hospitality.”

Ulloa’s plans to launch with dinner service first, followed by lunch and weekend brunch.

restaurants bars peruvian flavors west dallas oak cliff kent rathbun