This week in gluttony

These are the 14 best food and drink events in Dallas this week

Margaritas can be customized tableside this weekend at Mexican Sugar.

Photo courtesy of Mexican Sugar

A new month brings an onslaught of festive events, kicking off with one busy weekend thanks to the Kentucky Derby and Cinco de Mayo. (Dust off that derby hat.) Also make plans for not one, but two tequila dinners, a chicken and biscuit restaurant grand opening, an Italian wine expo, and a taco dinner benefitting furry friends in need.

Wednesday, May 1

Milagro Tequila Dinner at Te Deseo
Three courses will be paired with Milagro Tequila cocktails at Te Deseo. Start with a cocktail reception at 6 pm and plan to stay for salsa dancing and cigars on the rooftop after dinner. Tickets are $75, plus tax and gratuity.

Insolito Tequila Dinner at Barrel & Bones
The craft smokehouse in The Colony will host a three-course, spring-inspired cocktail pairing dinner featuring Insolito Tequila. Menu highlights include ceviche with strawberries, lime, jumbo shrimp, and whitefish, chayote and watermelon salad, and slow-roasted whole pig with lemongrass rice and homemade tortillas. Dinner is $65, plus tax and a small service fee, and begins at 7 pm.

Friday, May 3

Cinco de Mayo at Punch Bowl Social
Free chips and salsa? Yes, please. All locations of the “eatertainment” destination will get free chips and salsa for the table this weekend Friday through Sunday, perfect to pair with a $9 special on Patron Silver margaritas that come with complimentary souvenir Patron bottle glasses. Also find prizes hidden inside mini piñatas. The specials will run from 5-9 pm each night.

Cinco de Mayo at Mexican Sugar
All locations of the Tex-Mex destination, including Plano, Las Colinas, and Uptown Dallas, will share complimentary tequila tastings served from an ice luge all weekend long starting Friday at 5 pm. There’ll also be pop-up margarita bars featuring nitrogen margaritas, tableside-crafted margs with custom rims and fruit infusions, and mariachi and DJ music.

Saturday, May 4

Rise Southern Biscuits & Righteous Chicken Grand Opening
The Durham-based biscuit and chicken concept will celebrate its grand opening in Victory Park with giveaways and give back opportunities. The location will donate 10 percent of the day’s sales to Friends of Dallas Animal Services. The first 200 patrons will get a commemorative sticker, and drawings will be held all day for free food and prizes, including free Rise for a year. Doors open at 7 am.

Cinco de Mayo Glass Giveaway at Pappasito's
Need some new glassware? The Tex-Mex chain will give away the glass for those who order the Reserva Margarita - shaken with Corazon reposado tequila and Grand Marnier - on both Saturday and Sunday while supplies last. Save room for limited edition tres leches cheesecake, available only through May 5.

Seventh Anniversary Party at Jose
The Lovers Lane Mexican restaurant will mark seven years in business with a live cumbia band, specials from the Jose food truck, and Mi Campo tequila shots for $7. The party will run from 1-3 pm. Expect more live music on Sunday from 10 am-2 pm along with a local artisan market.

Sixth Annual Kentucky Derby Party at Republic Texas Tavern
The Preston Hollow restaurant and bar will celebrate “the most exciting two minutes in sports” with a watch party and a little wagering. Beginning at 4:30 pm, patrons can bid on the competing horses with money going into a pool to be paid out to winners. There’ll be mint juleps and a best-dressed contest, too. The party will run from 3-6:30 pm, with the race set for a 5:57 pm post time.

Derby Day at Ida Claire
The Southern-inspired Dallas dining destination will host a Derby Day party with a best hat contest. Take advantage of $7 mint juleps while waiting for the 150^th running of the Kentucky Derby, post time set for 5:57 pm.

Sunday, May 5

Cinco de Mayo at Truck Yard Dallas
Down to fiesta? The Truck Yard will host Tex-Mex food trucks, live music, mini dog races (pre-register online), and drink specials all day, including double margaritas that come with a free Luchador mask, while supplies last. Also try your luck with prize-filled pinatas, free for both kids and adults to play. The party will run from 11 am-11:30 pm and will happen at Truck Yard’s location in The Colony, too.

The Smokin’ Fiesta at Peticolas Brewing Company
Chef Gary Irvin of Rescue Markets, a culinary initiative by the nonprofit Pet Sitters Care that’s dedicated to nourishing homeless individuals and their pets, will host a Cinco de Mayo-themed taco party at Peticolas Brewing Company. Tickets start at $15.95 for a smoked taco plate with “all the fixin’s,” or get a six-beer tasting flight with the plate for $35.95. Proceeds will benefit Rescue Markets, and the plates will be available from 1-4 pm.

Cinco de Mayo Celebration at Taqueria La Ventana
Mechanical bull riding, DJ music, an LED robot show, pinatas, face painting, pinatas, and of course, margaritas and street tacos, will combine for one of Dallas’ biggest Cinco de Mayo parties. Taking place outside at Taqueria La Ventana, this year the event will also feature food and drinks from Meso Maya, El Fenix, and Del Toro BBQ. Admission is $10 and the party will run from 2-10 pm.

Above Wines Expo 2024
This outdoor Italian wine festival will take place in the Beehive Dallas Backyard in the Design District, featuring tastings from Italian winemakers, bites, and live jazz. Tickets start at $45 for entry at 5:30 pm, $60 for entry at 4 pm, and $90 for VIP entry at 3 pm. The event will run until 7 pm.

Monday, May 6

Borgo Turrito Wine Dinner at Partenope Ristorante
The Richardson Italian restaurant will host a four-course family-style wine dinner paired with wines (a sparkling, rose, and two reds) from Borgo Turrito in Pulgia. There’ll be seafood salad with octopus, calamari and fennel, mini calzones, and fried zeppoline. Tickets are $80, plus tax and a service fee, and dinner begins at 6:15 pm.

event-planner wine news-you-can-eat

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