Hungry bears

Where to eat in Dallas right now: 10 hot restaurants for October

Start founder Erin McKool was a Park Cities mom who couldn't find fast food sheliked.
The dining room at East Hampton Sandwich Co. has a cool, beachy vibe.
Tamale pie is a signature dish at Urban Rio in Plano.

Photo by Marc Lee

October is here, and you're wondering where to eat. What are the cool spots, the top chefs and — holy mother of Paula Deen — where are the foodies hanging out? We found them. They're all here: the 10 hot restaurants in Dallas right now.

Boulevardier
The new restaurant from lawyer brothers Brooks and Bradley Anderson (of Veritas Wine Room fame) and chef Nathan Tate of Restaurant Ava, Boulevardier is the gourmand pick of the moment; in fact, it just made Texas Monthly's Pat's Picks. The menu is supercalifragalicious if you like meat. There is charcuterie, steak frites, cassoulet, marrow bones, burgers, lamb stew and — no surprise from these oenophiles — a big wine list.

East Hampton Sandwich Co.
Huh, a place that specializes in sandwiches. Potbelly? No, silly: East Hampton Sandwich Co., where sandwiches are fancy and, at $8 to $16, pricey too. The menu includes the new must-have, a lobster roll, plus turkey with avocado, three chicken sandwiches and the always-popular cheeseburger. Unlike Potbelly, EHSC has beer and wine.

Mecca
If you weren't all over the old Harry Hines spot, now's your chance to try Mecca, the breakfast institution, which moved to this new location in East Dallas, in the old Tipperary Inn space, in September. Breakfast is the thing to get, and it's served all day: pancakes, migas and the signature big-as-a-house cinnamon roll.

Nora
For five years, Afghan Grill served excellent middle-Eastern dishes in a modest space in far North Dallas. Now its younger sister, Nora, gets the spotlight, bringing unique specialties like braised pumpkin to the gourmet-starved neighborhood of Greenville Avenue.

Ocho Kitchen + Cocktails
As you might surmise from the name, Ocho Kitchen + Cocktails is equal parts food and booze. Owners of this Preston Center spot include Benjamin Crosland and Brian Black (Il Sole, Mi Piaci), while Santa Fe chef Eric DiStefano devised the menu of Mexi-American dishes such as meatloaf and mashed potatoes and a Kobe burger. Mexi? Well, the meal does start with chips and salsa.

Sea Breeze Fish Market & Grill
Many people insist that Sea Breeze does the best, most authentic lobster rolls in town; they were certainly the first. Many people like the lobster roll so much, they'll drive to Plano to get one. Here's another reason: Sea Breeze is doing whole-belly fried clams, another New England signature, in which the entire clam is fried, not just the chewy muscular "strip." Nobody else has them — not yet, anyway.

Start
Park Cities mom Erin McKool couldn't find suitable fast food for her kids. So she opened her own place: Start, where the burgers are grass-fed, the eggs are cage-free and the fast-food chowing can go down with less remorse. Even the compostable to-go containers are guilt-free. Yay, Mom.

Tillman's Roadhouse
Before Bishop Arts became the white-hot center it is today, Tillman's Roadhouse was there first, doing funky down-home food with a fun, party vibe. The digs have gotten a lot nicer, but 20 years later, the spirit is the same. Owner Sara Tillman celebrates her anniversary October 5 with live music and a cake and a party all month long.

Tried and True
Hyperkinetic chef Nick Badovinus expands his empire with Tried and True, taking over the old Neighborhood Services Tavern space. It's different from NST. It's more like his other concept, Off Site Kitchen. And, yet, it's not exactly the same. Anyway, it's Nick. What more do you need to know?

Urban Rio
If you like upscale Tex-Mex, then Urban Rio must be on your list. D Magazine's Nancy Nichols loved its complex sauces and salsas, and the cocktails aren't bad, either. For dwellers of the northern 'burbs, it's a snap. For everyone else, it's right off the DART Rail downtown Plano stop.

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New and Noteworthy

Dallas Mexican hot spot makes The Infatuation list of best new restaurants

Photo by Dan Padgett

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Three new Texas restaurants have charmed restaurant review platform The Infatuation and ended up on its Best New Restaurants of 2026 list. One Dallas restaurant, Olōyō, is among the 25 selected across the United States.

In addition to Olōyō, Roya in Austin and Zaranda in Houston made the list. The Infatuation has a presence in each of those cities plus more across Texas. The platform specializes in themed lists and also posts reviews of single businesses to add context for readers.

The Infatuation team ate at more than 2,600 new restaurants in 2026, the introduction to the list explains. It doesn't list criteria or points for consideration, except that there was much debate over favorites and they would "recommend them to pretty much anyone."

The expandable list lays out some key notes such as price, cuisine, neighborhood, a tagline, dish recommendations, and other unique highlights. Users can then click through to see a longform review with a numerical rating.

Olōyō's fixation on heirloom masa had its intended effect on The Infatuation's Kevin Gray, who wrote, "Olōyō will give you a new appreciation for corn." The East Dallas Mexican eatery that made its list began with two people — that is, acclaimed chef Olivia López and partner Jonathan Percival — "building a following through their pop-ups, turning heirloom corn into incredible tortillas and tamales," Gray notes. "Now they have a permanent spot in East Dallas, where they're serving upscale Mexican food in a homey room packed with Mexican art and jugs carved into animal shapes."

Gray recommended a number of dishes, including the barbacoa huarache and any mole on the menu.

Known in its pop-up days as Molino Olōyō, Olōyō restaurant opened in May, after nearly yearlong wait, and also was included in Texas Monthly's 2026 Top 50 Tacos list.

Olōyō received the highest rating of the three Texas restaurants, though the others weren't far off. At a 9.3, it should be well worth the price, which falls in the highest possible category.

Like Olōyō, Austin's Roya was also a pop-up first, serving beautiful Persian food for holidays and special events. It was so popular, it was only a matter of time before Chef Amir Hajimaleki opened a brick-and-mortar restaurant, and it's just as ornate as the food. That was in February.

Zaranda has a Mexican hyperfocus similar to Olōyō, but on fish rather than corn. James Beard Award-winning chef Hugo Ortega and his wife, Tracy Vaught, opened it in October of 2025, imagining an alternate history in which California remained united across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Like Zaranda itself, reviewer Brooke Viggiano mostly kept the focus on the fish, breaking down the different ways to eat it: with tortillas, salsas, and really "whatever you throw at it." She also broadened her scope to recommend the ribeye with bone marrow butter.

True to the Best New Restaurants list intro, Viggiano basically recommended Zaranda to everyone, including diners celebrating special occasions, going on a date, and having a casual meal. "It’s also great for impressing out-of-towners who want the full Houston picture in one meal," Viggiano wrote.

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