Holiday Dining

Master list of best restaurants in Dallas for New Year's Day 2020 brunch

Best way to begin 2020: with a mimosa.

Photo courtesy of Vital Fitness Studio

The year 2020 starts off on a Wednesday, but you can climb over hump day to ring it in with a festive New Year's Day brunch.

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 opens on New Year’s Day at 12 noon. 469-372-2080.

Blue Mesa Grill
Legendary brunch makes special weekday appearance with carving station featuring BBQ brisket, roasted Latin chicken, salmon and grilled veggies; omelet bar; ice cream sundae stand for kids and adults; and assortment of Tex-Mex, breakfast dishes, salads, desserts, champagne, Mimosas, OJ, coffee, tea, and soft drinks. 10 am-3 pm. $24, or $7 for 6-11 years old.

City Works
Fort Worth and Frisco locations are hosting a rock 'n' roll-themed brunch, with cocktails including the Hot Blooded and Flapjack Old Fashioned, along with massive HDTVs for college bowl viewing. Frisco 469-850-1850, Fort Worth 682-207-1500.

Doc B's Restaurant & Bar
No-fuss restaurant will be open all day for lunch and dinner, serving its famous candied bacon, The Angry Meatball, shredded Brussels sprouts salad, oven roasted chicken wings, and wedge burger. Fort Worth, 682-231-8820; Dallas, 469-998-2330.

Ellen's
Downtown Dallas staple serves brunch all the time, day and night; why should New Year's Day be any different? Because on New Year's, they're also offering every diner a free order of celebratory black-eyed peas. 469-206-3339.

Fearing's
Ritz-Carlton restaurant hosts a three-course prix fixe menu. 11 am-2:30 pm. $75, or $100 with champagne, mimosas, and bloody Marys. 214-922-4848.

LAW at Four Seasons Las Colinas
New Year's Day Disco Brunch features enhanced holiday breakfast buffet and Bloody Mary bar. Comes with two featured brunch cocktails or featured glasses of wine. 11:30 am-2 pm. $59, or $29 for 12 and under. 972-717-2420.

Perle on Maple
In addition to its regular hours, the restaurant at the Stoneleigh Hotel is hosting a special brunch with Bloodys, bubbles, and Stoneleigh burger, featuring their famous sparkle bar. 9 am-2 pm. 469-375-5846.

Meddlesome Moth
Design District gastropub opens early with a la carte brunch menu in addition to Black Eyed Pea Stew with cornbread, and “The Little Luther” breakfast sandwich: a duck fat doughnut, pork sausage, praline bacon, egg, white cheddar, and blackberry jam ($8-$19). 10am-3pm. 214-628-7900.

Meso Maya
New Year's Day brunch will feature interior Mexican cuisine along with $3 mimosas, bloody marys, and sangrias. 11 am-3 pm.

Mimi's Bistro + Bakery
$5 Mimosas and breakfast served all day at the locations in Arlington and Fort Worth. 817-466-3212.

Moxie's
Both Uptown Dallas and Plano locations of this gastropub are running a special New Year' Day version of the brunch they usually host on weekends. Start 2020 with poutine. 469-687-0050.

Norma's Cafe
Enjoy free samples of black-eyed peas and special menu additions including traditional corned beef and cabbage. plus a contest to win chicken fried steak for a year. 7 am–8 pm. Five locations at Oak Cliff, North Dallas, Frisco, Park Lane, Plano.

Oceanaire Seafood Room
Open 4–9 pm with $1 oysters at the bar. 972-759-2277.

Pappas Delta Blues Smokehouse
Smoked turkey breast, USDA prime beef brisket, jalapeño & cheddar sausage, cream corn pudding, or buttered collard greens & turnips. Open until 10 pm. 972-378-9903.

PS 214 and PS 972
Both Dallas and Addison locations of this bustling gastropub are hosting special holiday brunch not only on New Year's Day but also on New Year's Eve Day. Menu will be the same as their weekend brunch with chicken & green chili waffles, eggs benedict pizza, and boozy carafes including mimosas and bloody Marys. 11 am-3 pm. 214-599-6234.

Punch Bowl Social
Deep Ellum spot hosts a morning-after brunch with Barbacoa Brisket Hash, Griddled Breakfast Burrito, and a Bloody Mary bar. 10 am-3 pm.469-607-6880.

Razzoo's Cajun Café
All 21 Razzoo’s Cajun Café locations will be serving $5 Moonshine Marys and Hair of the Dog cocktails. These special prices are available all day on New Year’s Day.

The Rustic
Family-style Hangover Cure Brunch with free live music. 214-730-0596.

Street's Fine Chicken
Brunch menu is available all day with favorites like the show bird and biscuit sliders. Street’s also offers $3 mimosas and $5 Bloody Marys.

Wheelhouse
Design District pub reprises its "Rehab/Relapse" brunch on New Year's Day. "Rehab" is juice virgin-style; Relapse includes alcohol. They'll serve their traditional brunch menu from 11 am-3 pm, but the regular menu is available as well. 214-307-5690.

Whiskey Cake
Both locations will be open for New Year’s Day brunch featuring their regular brunch menu dishes. 10 am-3 pm. Plano, 972-993-2253; Las Colinas, 469-941-2253.

holidays

Sushi News

Frisco sushi restaurant Hinoki does a slimmed-down twist on omakase

Thanin Viriyaki

Hinoki

A new sushi restaurant has debuted in Frisco with a mini version of omakase: Called Hinoki, it's open for lunch and dinner at 8050 Preston Rd. #106, in a space previously occupied by another short-lived Asian restaurant called Imura, and is serving seafood both raw and cooked.

Hinoki is from chef Leo Kekoa, who previously worked for the acclaimed Nobu chain and who also owns the popular Kinzo Sushi in north Frisco, which he opened in 2022 to bring omakase to Frisco.

Omakase is the dining experience in which the chef prepares a multi-course tasting menu of small bites made to order, often at a premium price. While omakase has no set number of dishes, it usually ranges from 10 to 20 courses depending on how excessive the chef/restaurant is.

Hinoki offers a six-course menu they describe as omakase for $75. It's a starter version that rotates but usually includes a sushi course, oyster topped with caviar, soup, galbi, and mochi dessert. The restaurant also has a regular a la carte menu featuring sushi, hot items, and composed bentos boxes for lunch.

Hinoki sushi HinokiThanin Viriyaki

"Kinzo is my fine-dining omakase restaurant," Kekoa says. "Hinoki is designed as its more casual counterpart — still rooted in discipline and detail, but more accessible."

Kekoa created the menu but he says it’s a team effort, with two veteran chefs: Chikau "Harry" Kikuchi, who brings 25-plus years of experience to the sushi counter (he and Kekoa worked together at Nobu); and chef Sachiko Hashimoto presiding over the hot line and overseeing the preparation of Hinoki's home-style and regional Japanese dishes.

No sushi restaurant can ignore basics like the spicy tuna roll, California roll, dragon roll, and shrimp tempura roll, but Hinoki also has a few of distinctive rolls such as the Kumo roll with crab, avocado, and chipotle aioli, wrapped in soy paper, which has a pleasing texture that's a little more toothsome than the standard crisp seaweed wrapper.

There are creative bowls as the Sake Dashi, featuring sushi-grade raw salmon, Asian pear, crushed marcona almonds, yuzu shirodashi, and truffle oil; and hot dishes such as miso black cod, teriyaki salmon, and Kushiyaki skewers with chicken thigh, kurobuta sausage, and shishito pepper. Most items average about $20.

Kekoa calls his lunch offering "honest and efficient."

"We’re bringing back the Japanese bento [referring to the cute boxed lunch with compartments for courses], such as our chirashi bento with fish, sushi rolls, and seaweed salad," he says.

Hinoki also has a full bar with sake, wine, beer, and cocktails.

Kekoa lives in Frisco and is bullish on his hometown.

"With Universal Studios on the way and PGA nearby, I believe this city deserves a neighborhood sushi spot done right," he says. "I want Hinoki to bring fine-dining service at a price more people can enjoy."

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