In Italy, drinking is an all-day affair. People don't do it to get drunk, but to improve their eating experiences. They sip low-ABV apéritifs such as Campari before meals to stimulate their appetites and digestifs such as grappa after meals to aid digestion. Americano, a casual Italian restaurant in the Joule Hotel downtown, highlights the intuitiveness of this kind of ritualistic drinking with its light and bitter cocktail menu, which pairs beautifully with its food menu. Here, you can find Italian classics such as the Americano (Campari, sweet vermouth and club soda) and the Aperol Spritz (Aperol, prosecco and soda), plus a few surprising Texas twists such as the Lone Star Sbagliato (Campari, sweet vermouth and Lone Star lager). At Americano, you might not even bother leaving between meals.

Bacon gelato. Bacon-washed cocktails. Bacon foam on miniature bacon macarons. By making bacon into a marketable idea of a food rather than a simple ingredient, we have perhaps lost sight of just how good a simple BLT can be. But not Nova. This Oak Cliff eatery with a retro-chic vibe makes an old-fashioned, soul-restoring BLT. The components that make this sandwich shine include toast that is sturdy without being tough, a generous slather of ranchy mayo and an entire Okja's worth of applewood-scented, thick-cut bacon that's cooked just right — a little crisp, a little chewy. Spring for a fried egg to push this BLT into full-on sandwich orgasm territory.

Pier 247's brunch menu uses the words "creamy" and "grits" six times, and "bacon" appears seven times. And while much can be said for restraint when it comes to food, Pier 247's offerings suggest that the best way to be abstemious is to moderate the amount of food you are eating that is not cloaked in creamy, fatted sauce. We're talking gravy, folks. And if it's homemade gravy you're after — flour browned in a pan, the practiced strokes of a whisk — Pier 247 has you covered. Try the chicken-fried chicken biscuit, which is barely visible beneath a sea of gravy flecked with chili and bacon. It's a salty, savory gravy and, when paired with a biscuit, is enough to turn a Yankee into someone who says "fixin' to."

What's a little Polish, a little Cajun and a wee bit coastal? It's IdleRye's diverse culinary influences. IdleRye set up shop in Deep Ellum during late spring this year and quickly started delivering some of the best brunch dishes in town. We named it the grand daddy of brunch because it has brought a much-needed sense of eclecticism to the Dallas brunch game, and it has done so masterfully. From pierogis that could rival those of a Polish grandmother to a Spanish-style hash of charred Brussels sprouts, olives and chorizo, the kitchen bobs and weaves its way through different cuisines without missing a beat. It's a young, ambitious restaurant with the soul of a practiced one, and it's worthy of your weekends.

Readers' Pick: Café Brazil

Opening a Sri Lankan restaurant in Farmers Branch would be a bold move for anyone. After all, it would be the first Sri Lankan eatery in North Texas, and one of just a handful in the United States. But SpicyZest is Nimidu Senaratne's first restaurant, a passion project that has met with unanticipated success and critical acclaim. SpicyZest began as a catering company operated out of the family kitchen, then expanded to a take-out only storefront before regular customers, hungry for more, demanded tables. Four tables have turned into six. Senaratne studied hospitality in Sri Lanka and Singapore and clearly sees it as the bedrock of his business. He and his wife, Chamari Walliwalagedara, often walk newcomers through the menu, especially during Saturday's lunch buffet. And SpicyZest's food, from crispy-spicy deviled chicken to the divine stir-fry of meat, scallions and torn flatbread that is kottu, is a superb, sharply presented vision of Sri Lanka. Yes, much of the fare is spicy — nasi goreng, an Indonesian dish, comes with a pile of red pepper flakes on the side — but the flavors, especially the relatively mild but awe-inspiring curries, go much deeper than mere heat. Few Dallas restaurants have menus as interesting or success stories as inspiring as SpicyZest's.

Readers' Pick: Readers' Pick:

Challengers come and go, but Royal China's hand-pulled noodles and exquisite dumplings remain almost uncontested as the best in Dallas. Dan dan noodles, served spicy but cool in temperature, are essential here; the wide, flat Henan-style noodles are especially good. The best seats in the house are at the dumpling counter, where workers tirelessly form and steam baskets of Royal China's specialties, especially xiao long bao, the savory soup dumplings filled with pork and piping-hot broth. Royal China is nearing its 50th anniversary, and to survive that long, it has made more than a few adjustments to suit Preston Hollow's taste buds. But one bowl of noodles might be enough to show that decades of diners haven't been wrong.

Readers' Pick: Monkey King Noodle Co.

When a restaurant makes just one thing, that thing better be damn good. Rice Chicken doesn't really bother with side dishes or desserts; it just fries chicken. (Some of the side dishes, in fact, are more fried chicken, including the feet.) But, boy, is the main course spectacular. Think perfectly crisp, almost crunchy batter covering ever-so-juicy, tender meat — indulgent but not the least bit greasy. Just about the only decision necessary with a menu this short is whether to opt for a glaze, like the sweet and spicy sauce or the honey-garlic sauce. Better yet, the drumstick sampler offers them all. Draft beer is available by the pitcher, too.

Readers' Pick: Babe's Chicken Dinner House

Dallas' Italian food scene could use a boost, especially after the closure this year of 50-year-old home-cooking classic Pietro's. A series of new openings focusing on housemade pasta and Mediterranean vegetables is a welcome development, and one such newcomer, Sassetta, is off to a promising start. The wine list, all Italian and loaded with interesting varietals and neat bargains, is a joy, with a number of tempting by-the-glass options. The generous glass pours accompany can't-go-wrong salads such as one combining arugula, mushrooms, shaved Parmesan and a lemon vinaigrette. But Sassetta's best feature is its pizzas, which have crisp, bubbly thin crusts and toppings that don't go overkill. Sassetta is new, but we're excited to see how it develops.

Readers' Pick: Lucia

Noodles or dumplings? At Arirang, in Carrollton's Korean-American hub, these are two great options. Indeed, given how focused the kitchen is on its specialties, handmade noodles and dumplings are just about the only options. Perhaps choose noodles with a diabolically spicy eggplant sauce that can only be tamed, cruelly, by another bite of noodles. It's hard to go wrong, too, with fat dumplings stuffed with pork or kimchi. Can't decide? Go for the bowl of noodle soup with a rich broth that also includes a collection of small dumplings. Carb overload rarely tastes as good as it does at this superb little restaurant, which remains a secret little known by diners from the rest of Dallas.

Readers' Pick: bbbop Seoul Kitchen

Bilad, an outstanding Iraqi-owned bakery and grocery in Richardson, could have won this award based just on its heavenly fresh baklava, the best we've found anywhere near Dallas. It also could have won this accolade based just on samoon, the pillowy Iraqi-recipe bread with pinches of dough at the ends, made onsite and available to take home or to eat at Bilad in sandwich form. It almost doesn't matter what kind of sandwich you order — the falafel is excellent, as is the shawarma — as long as the bread is this good. Bilad doesn't stint on veggies or pickles, either. And it'sAbY generous in other ways: The restaurant sponsors a program that allows poor and homeless community members to dine for free.

Readers' Pick: Café Izmir