Eat Here Now: 12 Fresh Openings Shaking Up the Dallas Food Scene

With the rate of local restaurants closing in Dallas and big-city imports opening, the future of our dining choices was looking a little bleak. But this spring brought some fresh, mostly local openings that give us hope.

Could this new award-winning bagel shop rival Dallas’ favorite bagels? Is it true that the new sandwich shop in the Cedars is destined for greatness? And how many remodels does it take for this Dallas restaurant to thrive?

All of this can be pondered at these 12 new Dallas restaurant openings. 

Seegar’s Deli

1910 S Harwood St.
The Empire State Building was built in a record 410 days. Seegar’s Deli has taken upwards of three years. What does that tell you? Greatness takes time, duh. But sandwiches and Dallas are in a complicated, on-and-off relationship. Dallas diners will happily fork over $20 for a cocktail, but for bread and deli meat? Sorry, the Bologna sandwich will need some convincing. Seegar’s Deli is from the same owner as Little Blue Bistro and Fount Board & Table, which should be proof enough for everyone that the few extra dollars are worth keeping the art of the sandwich alive in Dallas.

Trattoria Bugatti

3850 W Northwest Highway
Nowadays, some restaurant owners waste no time in expansion or franchising, but for the owners of Bugatti Ristorante, it took them 40 years to expand their footprint. The new sister concept of this staple Italian restaurant is a modern day trattoria, which in Italy is sorta rustic, family-owned eatery. Trattoria Bugatti serves an apertivo menu, along with lunch, dinner, and dessert all by a James Beard Award-nominated chef. 

Théodore’s Steak and Seafood

2918 W. Pioneer, Arlington
This modern steakhouse is a complete redo of the space that was previously Campo Verde, the Christmas light wonderland. The interior was scrubbed to its bones; an exorcism may have been involved. It’s now a high-end steakhouse, with a chef focused on bringing fine dining to this corner of Arlington. Check back soon for a full review. In the meantime, if you need a fancy meal in Arlington, everything we’ve tried has been great.

Alara Modern Mediterranean

1628 Oak Lawn Ave.
The latest of many openings in the Design District is Alara Modern Mediterranean. Modern plates. A seasonal menu. No seed oils. Chef Onur Akan is creating it all, drawing inspiration from his childhood along Turkey’s Black Sea coast. Akan believes that less, done well, is everything. Across the menu you’ll taste the warmth of North Africa and the Aegean and Levant regions along the Mediterranean Sea.

Ospi

1621 Oak Lawn Ave., Design District
We all know that after Meddlesome Moth closed, whatever took over this space along Oak Lawn Avenue had some large shoes to fill. Ospi is a modern, Southern Italian restaurant from Momento Mori Concepts. Top Chef Alumn Jackson Kalb grew this concept starting in Venice, California. It has a few other locations in the Los Angeles area, and Dallas is its first location outside of the Golden State. It offers daily menus with lunch, dinner and apertivo hour. Brunch is served on the weekends from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Jetsetters Coffee Lounge

6911 Lemmon Ave., Love Field
Jetsetters Coffee Lounge is an interesting new addition to the Frontiers of Flight Museum. It’s serving coffee from Cultivar Coffee Roasters, breakfast tacos from Taco Deli and Sugar & Sage pastries. You don’t need a museum ticket to get caffeinated, but while you’re there, it’s worth popping into the Smithsonian-affiliated venue that features full-size planes on display and the Apollo 7 command module. 

Luna Roja

1525 Elm St., Downtown
The rest of Downtown Dallas may be going through some growing pains, but the food is the best it’s been in a while. Luna Roja is a new modern Mexican restaurant across from The Woolworth, the Giant Eyeball and Starship Bagels. It’s helmed by chef Omar Larson, who was previously the sous chef at Kessaku and Monarch. It’s open for lunch, dinner and brunch on the weekends. Also, everything on the happy hour menu is under $10. Persuaded? Us too.

Archive & Alchemy

1922 Greenville Ave., Lower Greenville
Rye closed and was absorbed by its neighboring bar, Apothecary. Then, Apothecary was reimagined into a dual concept called Archive and Alchemy. That’s a lot of moving parts, but you get the picture. Archive has drinks from the original Apothecary menu, which push the envelope. And that’s no exaggeration: They’re serving a pickle cheesecake cocktail. But if the Apothecary team is behind it, trust us, it works. 

Maroma

1333 Oak Lawn Ave., Design District
Chef Omar Flores is expanding his empire after success with Casa Brasa, Even Coast and Muchacho. Maroma is inspired by towns on Mexico’s western coast: Jalisco, Colima, Nayarit and Sinaloa. Seafood is at the center here. There’s a raw bar, big seafood towers and live-fire cooking. Salt water and fire. What more could we want?

Kilmac’s

814 W Davis St.
Feargal McKinney probably believes that if something ain’t broke, you shouldn’t fix it. He owns three fixture bars in the Knox-Henderson area: The Old Monk, The Skellig and Spider Murphy’s. In 2024, he expanded the Old Monk to North Oak Cliff, with the promise of a darker, cocktail-focused concept opening next door, soon. Two years later, Kilmac’s opened. It’s a hit, to no one’s surprise. They have a smoked Guinness old fashioned, toasted coconut daiquiri with two different rums and about 10 other cocktails that hold their own. For food, you have garlic knots, antipasto and a robust little menu of pizzas.

Cafe Lucca

4445 Travis St., Knox-Henderson
The latest in Knox-Henderson is Cafe Lucca, a brand new concept from former Dallas Cowboys quarterback and head coach Jason Garrett and local restaurateur Julian Barsotti. When it opened, all the reservations were scooped up expeditiously, but now you can stop by for lunch with ease or dinner with a few days’ notice. People are dining here mostly for the Sicilian and Mediterranean fare. Julian Barsotti is a celebrated Dallas chef whose other concepts, Barsotti’s and Nonna, are both featured in the Michelin Guide. You’re in good hands.

PopUp Bagels

5450 W Lovers Lane
When a perfectly branded bagel shop takes Dallas by storm, it’s normal to question its merit. But given that PopUp Bagels has won the same award as our own Starship Bagels, and that right now they’re serving spinach artichoke cream cheese and truffle butter, some of us are eating our words, literally. Just don’t forget about the bagel shops in Dallas that walked so PopUp could run.