STARS STRUCK
Texas Monthly’s handy new restaurant guide crowns 95 Dallas spots
Cafe Momentum makes Texas magazine's recommended-restaurants list, and fried pies probably played a part.
After half a century, Texas Monthly is ditching its revered Dining Guide. But before hangry locals start storming the magazine’s offices, know it has replaced the massive list with the Texas Grand — an honor roll of the “thousand-ish” best restaurants in the state, including 95 in Dallas proper.
And each Dallas suburb you add to the search increases the number of local honorees. Addison and Garland each boast two restaurants on the roll, and together Plano and Arlington add 14. Once you include Farmers Branch, Grapevine, and Irving in the search, the Dallas metro area has some 128 restaurants on the list.
The Dining Guide has been a fixture of the magazine since its 1973 launch. It was synonymous with Texas Monthly’s former restaurant critic Pat Sharpe, who began her storied career proofreading the entries as an editorial assistant, then added hundreds of restaurants until her retirement in 2025.
The new guide scraps the guide’s star system. Sharpe originally used the ratings under a three-star system, which she described as good/better/best in a 2001 column. In 2017, that scale grew to five. The new Texas Grand describes its entries as “restaurants in the state that are wholeheartedly recommended by [Texas Monthly’s] dining team.”
“Excellent food, service, and overall atmosphere are musts — and that excellence can exist at all price points, whether at a taco truck, a diner, or an upscale steakhouse,” explained the magazine in a FAQ section. “We don’t pay much attention to big chains …Our reviewers focus largely on restaurants with local roots that offer something genuinely special.”
Where once readers had to pour over pages of the magazine to discover new restaurant picks, Texas Grand now allows them to sort by city, type of cuisine, and price point. There are some quirky filters, too, like checkboxes for pet-friendly spots, “fancy” eateries, or those that offer Favor delivery. A map feature lets road-trippers easily plan road-trip dinners.
Dallas picks include an eclectic mix: There's the humble 1-year-old Oak Cliff diner Donde Los Tacos and its 15-year-old neighbor down the street Lockhart Smokehouse. Also on the list, the nonprofit Cafe Momentum downtown and the backyard-born One90 Smoked Meats in Lake Highlands. Slightly up the scale, budgetarily speaking, are spots such as Highland Park soufflé specialists Rise No 1, Design District darling The Charles, and posh Pappas Bros. Steakhouse with its rooftop helipad.
Each eatery is described in one sentence. Frisco's Bharat Bhavan is “an impressively large, sensory, and satisfying destination for vegetarian Indian fare" and Smokey Joe's is a “a gas-station-turned-barbecue-joint with some of the city’s best brisket.” For the publication's full thoughts, readers can pony up for a subscription.
Texas foodies can peruse the full list here.
