Awards News

These 10 bars in Dallas are nominees for 2023 Tastemaker bar of the year

Many criteria go into the making of a good bar, including a nicely crafted cocktail.

PM Lounge

Make some noise for the 2023 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards, here to honor the best in Dallas food & drink. In this annual celebration, restaurants and food industry pros get nominated in categories such as Best Restaurant, then voted on by a panel of past winners and industry experts.

We're featuring those nominees in a special editorial series which will be followed by a tasting event and awards ceremony on May 4 at Fashion Industry Gallery (F.I.G.). Tickets are on sale now.

The awards fall into 10 categories including Restaurant of the Year, Chef of the Year, Pastry Chef, Brewery, Bartender, Wine Program, Best New Restaurant, and our annual wild card, this year being Best Burger.

Sponsors include Goodstock by Nolan Ryan, Deep Ellum Brewing Company, Ellum Ranch Patio Water, Topo Chico Sparkling Mineral Water. A portion of proceeds benefits the nonprofit Harvest Project Food Rescue.

We've already celebrated nominees for Rising Star Chef and Neighborhood Restaurant, and now we're covering Bar of the Year: the 10 bars that shone most brightly in the past 12 months.

These are our nominees:

Apothecary
Greenville Avenue bar is a sibling of restaurant-cocktail bar Rye, and is known as a swanky yet avant-garde cocktail lounge with ultra-inventive tipples. They love to push the envelope on daring cocktail creations and creative presentation, using tools like centrifuges, liquid nitrogen, and sous vide, but always with the ultimate goal of making a great drink.

Catbird
Glossy lounge on the 10th floor of the Thompson Hotel in downtown Dallas is the place to go if you're craving an espresso martini in a space with a private-club vibe and great views. The space is beautiful, including a rooftop patio dense with greenery and strings of lights. They also have a limited menu of small plates, wine by the glass, and a gently-enforced "smart casual or better" dress code; no beach or swim attire, team T-shirts, baseball hats, athletic shorts, or sweatpants.

Charlie's Starlight Lounge
Amiable bar on the eastern fringe of Deep Ellum is a sibling to dance club The Nines and has everything you want in a dive bar: authentically funky building, super-chill vibe, groovy crowd, and hospitable staff who welcome all who enter. Drinks are both well-made and cheap, and there's an array of engaging distractions like karaoke and fun DJs that keep things feeling fresh.

Clifton Club
Sophisticated lounge serving cocktails and bites is from hospitality pro Greg Katz, who is making the Fitzhugh Avenue area his own, first with his popular restaurant Beverley's, and now a bar nearby where Beverley's patrons can get a nightcap after dinner. Named for a beach in South Africa where Katz grew up, the space is charming and well appointed - check out the breezeway blocks and shotgun-style bar.

Common Table - Frisco
Friendly Frisco bar has a little touch of Uptown Dallas cool with this bar, originally founded as a craft beer palace in Uptown Dallas. They've kept the craft beer faith, with two dozen craft beers on draft at all times, a staff well trained in beer, and one of the best draft systems in DFW. They also offer cocktails, wine, more than 100 whiskeys, a serious menu of food, and a hopping weekend "hip hop brunch."

Dahlia Bar & Bistro
Open since 2020, Dahlia gets points for succeeding in a location where, for one reason or another, many a predecessor failed. It's just the right concept for this restored Ross Avenue brick storefront, one that comes with a sweet outdoor courtyard space which veteran bar operators and owners Chris and Mark Beardon have transformed into a kind of botanical garden. As befits the bar's name, cocktails have a floral influence. They also serve food - salads, sandwiches, desserts - and a brisk weekend brunch.

District 9 Draught Haus
Beer haus and restaurant is a venerable neighborhood spot in Lake Highlands, named for the East Dallas council district in which it resides, and with a celebrity tie, too: It's from Andy Thompson, guitarist for '90s alt-rock band the Buck Pets, and his wife Dana, who've fashioned a thoughtful German-themed taproom and growler bar. There's bratwurst on the menu, and 28 taps on the wall, spotlighting German beers including lagers, bocks, and double bocks, as well as that wonderful luxury: eight wines on tap, as well.

Grapevine Bar
"Infamous dive bar!" they proudly crow at the Grapevine, a beloved neighborhood haunt that's been around since 1996, bringing together everyone from prom queens to drag queens. It's the perfect destination if you're seeking a fun little bar for weekend day drinking, with ping pong, pool, an outdoor space, and a friendly-to-all ambience. Visit now while you can since their lease is up in mid-2023, although there are plans to re-open elsewhere.

Lounge Here
The east side of town has not one but two bars with rock star credentials - in this case Julie Doyle, singer and manager of Polyphonic Spree, whose bar on Garland Road has been a godsend for the East Dallas hipster crowd, with a stylish retro-mod atmosphere, incredible cocktails, and light, intriguing menu of food, including a stellar brunch. They attract the best, both the talented staff they've assembled, and the cool customers they draw.

Snowbird Cocktail Lounge & Kitchen
Bar at The Star complex aims to bring an urban vibe to the suburbs, for Frisco residents who don't want to have to head south to get their downtown night game on. Founders David Nguyen, Sobe Ahmed, and Snow Vo, whose portfolio includes Tipsy Alchemist, Barcadia, and Sidebar Uptown, so they know of what they speak. Cocktails have been created by Tipsy Alchemist mixologist Steve ‘Scuba’ and they also feature bottle service.

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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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