Where to Eat Right Now

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

Chicken sandwich at Sportsbook.

Sportsbook

The August installment of the monthly CultureMap Dallas Where to Eat column, offering recommendations on restaurants to check out, features all the places that have newly opened. With school back in session, hitting one of these 10 places is a welcome break, whether you're too busy to cook or ready for a night out.

Here's where to eat in Dallas right now:

Bruncheon Las Colinas
Brunch restaurant serving all-day brunch daily recently opened in Las Colinas in the former Ouzi Mediterranean space with some pretty elaborate brunch dishes. Consider the High Roller Steak & Eggs with a 12-oz ribeye, potato galette, bacon, eggs, and choice of pancakes or French toast, for $43. There's also a Philly steak omelet, nine kinds of waffles, benedicts, oatmeal, tacos, and smoothies.

Buca di Beppo
Italian chain has filed for bankruptcy, and while the DFW-area locations are still open, others have closed. You just never know. Don't be the person who laments the fact that you didn't get a chance to enjoy their garlic bread, stuffed mushrooms, and spicy chicken rigatoni, in a raucous atmosphere with gaudy wallpaper, strings of Xmas lights, and Dean Martin crooning in the background.

Chefika
Turkish restaurant serving brunch and dinner from industry veteran and Istanbul Grill owner Serdar "Sam" Sensel just opened in Preston Hollow Village. The food is a blend of Turkish and Mediterranean cuisine, such as hangar steak, lamb shank, pide (a Turkish flatbread), and a veggie-style tartare called muhammara. One unique amenity is the in-house cake shop with sweets such as cheesecake and magnolia custard.

Insomnio
Puerto Rican takeout concept opened in July in the Bishop Arts neighborhood with a menu of cultural dishes, such as a burger sandwiched between two fried plantains called tostones; De La Isla pasta, in a garlicky white sauce with skirt steak and fried plantains; and plantains made three ways: fried, sweetened, or mashed into mofongo. For backup, there are also chicken tenders.

Let’s Piada
Legacy Hall vendor specializes in Italian flatbread sandwiches called piadina — such as the Originale with prosciutto, stracchino cheese, arugula, and olive oil; the Chef’s favorita with Italian spicy salame, mozzarella, arugula, and tomatoes; and the Caprese with mozzarella, Heirloom tomatoes, and basil. There’s also a dessert piadina filled with Nutella and tiramisu.

Lucky Dog Saloon
New York Tavern-style bar from Katy Trail Ice House owner Buddy Cramer just opened in the former Asel Art Supply at 2701 Cedar Springs Rd. The menu offers a selection of bites, such as a Wagyu brisket taco or sandwich, burger, chicken salad sandwich, a hot dog, and a trio of sausages.

Mar Y Sol Cocina Latina
Newly opened Latin-themed restaurant from the Lombardi family features dishes from Argentina and Peru including crudo, ceviches, and meats cooked in the open-fire cooking method. Tempting options include mushroom empanadas, smoked chicken & potato croquettes, fried rice with brisket and shiitake mushrooms, and lomo saltado — beef tips with crispy potatoes.

Serious Eats
Food court-style restaurant founded by Milkshake Concepts has debuted in Grand Prairie’s entertainment venue, EpicCentral, wiith three adjacent kiosks serving pizza, sliders, and over-the-top milkshakes. The dining atmosphere is out-of-the-box, featuring graffiti interior, vivid outdoor signage, and an interior wall that opens to a stage for live music and interactive events.

Sportsbook
Upscale sports bar is now open in the former Krio space in Bishop Arts — a reboot from Krio owners Dan Bui and Connie Cheng, who've given the space a little Vegas flair including a huge sports ticker displaying the latest scores and stats. There are 24 high-definition TVs — 17 inside and 7 outside — and a menu featuring Nathan’s mini corndogs, chicken tenders, a patty melt, and fried appetizers, such as fried pickles and fried caulifower, battered with rice flour so they're GF.

Ten Sushi + Cocktail Bar
Sushi restaurant and cocktail bar just opened at The Union building, ready to serve lunch and dinner to visitors and tenants at downtown office buildings nearby. The menu combines sushi with a Pan-Asian hot kitchen that's turning out dishes like steak, curry, and Korean-style fried chicken. Artsy cocktails such as the Lychee Rose with Absolut Elix, rose petals, citrus, and lychee, are perfect to sip in the restaurant's dark, impeccably appointed space.

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Ice Cream News

Brooklyn Italian ice & ice cream shop makes Texas debut in Richardson

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Uncle Louie G's

A small, artisan frozen dessert shop from Brooklyn has made its Texas debut: Called Uncle Louie G's Italian Ice & Ice Cream, it's now open in Richardson at 7522 Campbell Rd., where it's scooping up Italian ice, ice cream, and related frozen desserts with a real authentic East Coast vibe.

Uncle Louie G's was founded by namesake Louie G. decades ago, then expanded by family members in the 2000s. It's now owned by brother-and-sister team Melissa and Ernie Aiello, and has 10 locations in the New York-New Jersey-Staten Island area. It's famous for its blue-striped awning, and flavors with tribute names like NYPD Blue, FDNY Cherry, Coney Island Cotton Candy, Holi Cannoli, and Soprano Spumoni.

DFW is big on shaved ice, which differs from Italian ice both in texture and ingredients. Italian ice is smooth and creamy, like sorbet, and is made by churning ingredients — water, fruit, sugar — just as you churn ice cream. Shaved ice is a block of ice that's shaved, then flavored with syrup.

Unlike the sugar and flavoring used by many shaved ice vendors, Uncle Louie G's The Italian ice is made with real fruit. And its ice cream is 14 percent butterfat (Haagen Dazs is 14 to 16 percent).

They have nearly 50 flavors of ice and 34 flavors of ice cream, some with a Northeast slant like Spumoni, Maple Walnut, and Black Razzberry. There are novel fruit flaves like banana, cantaloupe, watermelon, and passion fruit; rich decadent flavors like pistachio, creamsicle, and chocolate peanut-butter cup; and quirky, inventive flavors like blue bubble gum, cake batter, chocolate jelly ring, cotton candy, and sweetish fish.

Ice cream flavors range from rocky road to rum raisin to salted caramel to chocolate Nutella to butter pecan. Stores choose a smaller selection to feature daily.

Milkshakes also have a Northeast vibe, with flavors such as blackout and old-fashioned black and white, featuring chocolate syrup with vanilla ice cream. There are also iced coffee drinks, sundaes, ice cream floats, old fashioned egg cream, and a frozen hot chocolate.

The Richardson location is a franchise from Zabi Surti and her husband, who left their careers in healthcare and the aviation industry and moved here three years ago.

"We previously lived in Savannah, Georgia, and would go get Italian ice," Surti says. "When we moved to Dallas, the Texas heat got to us, and we went looking for something sweet, light, and refreshing. But there were no Italian ice places here."

They loved Uncle Louie because of the quality and the fact that the menu offers something for everyone — from avowed ice cream fans to dairy-free. The space has 4 to 5 tables inside and an outside patio.

"We looked at many locations but we wanted to be part of a nice neighborhood with residents who would appreciate this kind of gourmet shop," Surti says. "The university is nearby, the neighborhood is great, and the area does not have anything like it — capturing the essence of classic Italian frozen desserts with a modern twist."

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