Tastemaker Awards News

Cheers to the best breweries in Dallas who keep the craft beer flowing

This is a sampler of beers.

Courtesy photo

We're back with another chapter in our 2023 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards, honoring the people who make our local restaurant scene soar.

We've elected nominees in all categories of food & beverage, who are featured in a special editorial series and whom we'll celebrate at a party on May 4 at Fashion Industry Gallery (F.I.G.) with tastings and awards. Tickets are on sale now.

We've already profiled the nominees for Rising Star Chef, Neighborhood Restaurant, Bar of the Year, and Best New Restaurant (don't forget to vote!), and we'll soon be covering Restaurant of the Year, Chef of the Year, Bartender, Wine Program, and Best Burger.

This time, we're applauding the kings of craft beer. Here are our nominees for best brewery of 2023 in Dallas:

Celestial Beerworks
Delicious New England-style hazy IPAs with cool otherworldly names like Electromagnetism are the specialty at this Medical District taproom from founders Matt and Molly Reynolds. For non-IPA fans, they offer sours and a few lighter options, as well as wine by the bottle. Food is available via a taco truck parked on-site.

Intrinsic Smokehouse & Brewery
Craft brewery and brewpub serving house-made beer, soda, and BBQ resides on the city's historic square, at 509 W. State St. Garland natives Cary and Molly Hodson wanted to bring something special to their hometown. There's an equal focus on BBQ and beer, and it's also a spot to fill growlers.

Lakewood Brewing
Craft beer pioneer makes fine brews to the exacting standards of founder and native of Belgium Wim Bens. Their beer is widely available, on tap and in bottles and cans while the brewery is a destination for its tours, free to the public on Saturday and Sunday, where their 16 taps always feature something new such as the recent Bear Claw Brown Ale.

Manhattan Project Beer Co.
Acclaimed brewery in West Dallas is particularly accommodating, with numerous innovative beers on tap, a beer garden, live music stage, serious food program, and user-friendly hours: 7:30 am Monday-Friday, and at 9 am on weekends, when they serve coffee from Edison Coffee of Flower Mound.

Pegasus City Brewery
Design District brewery celebrates its Dallas roots, with its name honoring the city's iconic Pegasus red horse. Their beer lineup is extensive, and their Art Deco labels are cool. They have a second taproom with additional brewing space they opened in downtown Dallas' Dallas Power and Light building in 2020.

Rollertown Beerworks
Brewery in Celina has big hipster credentials: It's from the hugely popular radio team Ben & Skin, AKA Ben Rogers and Jeff "Skin" Wade. Their beers include their Dirk homage, The Big German kolsch. They also offer cocktails, wine, live entertainment, and food truck fare, and are building a massive new facility in the works in Frisco, as well.

Texas Ale Project
Veteran- and family-owned and operated craft brewery project in the Design District is a fun hangout with a beer garden, trivia nights, sports watching, parties, and food trucks. They're getting ready to celebrate their eighth anniversary with special brews as well as their signature Fire Ant Funeral American-style red amber ale.

Tupps Brewery
Since their 2014 launch, this McKinney brewery has earned a sterling reputation for its innovative and well made IPAs, seasonal, and sour beers. In a multimillion-dollar project with the city of McKinney, they'll be relocating in spring 2023 to the historic McKinney Grain site for a space that's double their current size, creating a destination on the east side of town.

White Rock Alehouse
Lake Highlands residents Dave Kirk and Greg Nixon opened this brewery-combination-restaurant with all of the things that Lakewood likes: food, drink, and dog-friendly outdoor space. They have a new spinoff in West Dallas called White Rock Brewing Co., which expands their offerings into pizza and cocktails.

tastemakers craft beer awards

Hummus News

Revered family-owned Mediterranean restaurant debuts in North Dallas

Samantha Marie Photography

Zon Zon food spread

An upscale Mediterranean restaurant is coming to North Dallas from a trusted name: Called Zon Zon, it'll open at 5455 Belt Line Rd. #130, in the Work/Shop center, and it's hospitality group Yela Concepts led by Yaser Khalaf (Darna, Baboush), together with his son Mak Khalef in their first collaboration.

According to a release, it'll open on December 22.

Named for Mak's sister Zaina (“Zon Zon”), the restaurant will be open for lunch and dinner with a refined take on Mediterranean dining, rooted in tradition but with modern influences.

"We tried to merge what embodies Mediterranean cuisine with dishes that people in Dallas love," Mak says. "A lot of the dishes we have on menu are Mediterranean but have American and Texan influences."

Mezze favorites include hummus topped with green shatta and extra-virgin olive oil; baba ghanoush with charred eggplant, tahini, dukka, and pomegranate; crispy cauliflower with saffron labneh; tuna neya with tahini, mixed pickles, and Aleppo pepper; and kibbeh with ground lamb, onions, pine nuts, and dill labneh.

Salads include seared tuna salad with freekeh and golden beets; Tahini Caesar with tahini–Caesar dressing and za’atar croutons; and roasted beets with burrata, oranges, and pistachios.

Entrées include roasted chicken with garlic-batata and pomegranate jus; chicken shish kebab over saffron rice with almonds and raisins; hanger steak shawarma frites — a clever twist on steak frites with hand-cut fries; ZZ’s Wagyu cheeseburger with smoked provolone and house pickles; Prime ribeye with za’atar chimichurri and heirloom carrots; and apricot lamb couscous.

The beverage program complements the menu with a Mediterranean-focused wine list and creative cocktails such as the coffee-kissed Midnight Istanbul and ZZ’s Margarita, with burnt pineapple and ras el hanout.

Designed in collaboration with Dallas-based Coeval Studios, the restaurant features a 2,130-square-foot interior with an expansive 735-square-foot patio that seats 76, for a total occupancy near 100.

The restaurant boasts an open kitchen, while decorative finishes include modern woodwork, rich textures, and Middle Eastern-inspired details — stylish yet inviting, with a setting that feels like home.

“The inspiration behind Zon Zon came from wanting to create the kind of place we’ve always wished existed — a neighborhood Mediterranean spot that feels both familiar and exciting - we wanted to create a comfortable space where guests can meet up with friends or neighbors on a regular basis,” says Yaser in a statement.

Mak went to college to sudy biomedical engineering, but says he couldn't resist the lure of the restaurant world in which he grew up.

"Zon Zon is a reflection of everything we love about food," Mak says. "What makes this especially meaningful is building it with my dad — bringing our family’s story and passion to the table."

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