Dallas' Most Interesting Restaurants No. 15: Knife

Leading up to our annual Best of Dallas® issue, we're counting down the 50 most interesting restaurants in Dallas. These spots bring something unique or compelling to the city's dining scene, feeding both your appetite and soul.

For the longest time in Dallas (and everywhere, really), steakhouses followed a very basic formula. Unless a salad bar and dingy carpet were involved, dinner at a steakhouse meant outrageously thick, expensive cuts of beef and sides that included creamed spinach, potatoes and mac and cheese. Steakhouses were filled with dudes in suits and ladies in heels, and no less that three dirty martinis were consumed per person.

Then John Tesar came along and hung the old model out to dry, just like his 240-day dry-aged beef. Those highly pedigreed steaks will still run you big bucks, but it's the other cuts of beef that make Knife a special place. Look for the "New School" section on the menu if you're out for a deal. Culotte, tri tip, flat iron — these are the cuts that pack huge beef flavor on the cheap.

There are dirty martinis if that's what you're looking for, but the cocktail program is just as involved as the best cocktail bars in town, and every bit as dangerous. Spend an hour at the bar before taking your table and you'll likely no longer be concerned about your budget.

You shouldn't dress like a total slouch when you dine here, but Knife somehow manages a casual atmosphere despite a sleek dining room and a dedicated sommelier. It's a comfortable steakhouse that's fancy enough to take a date, and a solo diner will find plenty of people to talk to at the bar. Basically, if you're craving beef, Knife is the place to go. It doesn't matter what the other variables are.

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