Food & Drink

If bread service is any measure of a restaurant, Pera Turkish Kitchen has the rest of the local Middle Eastern restaurants beaten easily. Small loaves the size of CDs but much thicker are warm and glossy when they hit the table. You can smell the toasting sesame seeds glistening on the surface and the aroma only intensifies when you tear off a chunk to be dragged through hummus, cacik and ezme. The salads here are fresh and vibrant, which is perfect for bread that’s just emerged from the oven. Don’t stop with the bread yet. Use it to grab pinches of lamb or grilled fish. You have no business ever picking up a fork here. Not with a utensil like this.

There is a feeling, somewhere around the end of the second Velvet Hammer, where your face gets kind of warm and suddenly all of your friends aren’t so terrible anymore, and you start anticipating the third Velvet Hammer with both delight and fear. It’s more akin to a trip than your average bout of drunkenness. On Velvet Hammer, you know that very soon you won’t be able to remember any more of the evening, but in the most delightful way possible. It’s 7 p.m. Do you know where your brain is?

Community Beer Co. head brewer Jamie Fulton has won multiple awards for his work at Community and his previous post at Fort Worth’s sorely missed The Covey, and a few sips of Inspiration is all it takes to see why. Named for the street on which Community Beer Co. is located, Inspiration is a fantastic Belgian strong dark ale. While it is only available in the Dallas area, it deserves mention alongside heavyweights like Chimay Grande Réserve (Blue), Unibroue’s Trois Pistoles and North Coast Brewing Co.’s Brother Thelonious. It’s certainly no lightweight. This is a beer that drinks like raisins and molasses, spicy and toffee sweet with a full body, and yet the 9.6 percent ABV is barely perceptible. Community also makes perhaps the best IPA in town, Mosaic, and the Vienna Lager is an outstanding example of its style. The brewery will also soon release an imperial Russian stout that knocked our socks off at a recent brewery tour. They’re doing great things over on Inspiration Drive.

Imagine your favorite frozen coffee drink emboldened with a shot of Irish whiskey. Now picture in your mind a Coca-Cola Slurpee, but with a slug of Jack Daniel’s to put a grown-up twist on a favorite childhood drink. The Twilite Lounge, one of our very favorite bars, offers both, and they are even tastier than they sound — particularly the Frozen Irish Coffee, with its sprinkle of ground coffee on top making it the poor man’s speedball. Either way you go, it’s tempting to drink them so fast you get an ice cream headache. Fortunately, whiskey is a pretty effective remedy for that pain. Be sure to get the extra shot of whiskey in the Jack & Coke.

With craft beer exploding in popularity and the opening of scads of breweries in the area, a good selection of local beers is all but mandatory for bars, pubs and restaurants these days. What sets LUCK apart is that it offers nearly 40 locally brewed ales and lagers — and that’s it, as far as beer. No Chimay, no Samuel Adams or Fat Tire, no Dogfish Head or Ommegang, not even anything from as far away as Austin and certainly no Bud Light or Shock Top. The beer menu is divided into styles, making it easy to find an old or new favorite. Better yet, every beer is $5, so there’s no sticker shock when you tab out. It’s a great way to get to know your local beer scene, because that’s your only drinking option. Unless you like wine, that is — offerings from the Duchman Family Winery are shipped all the way up from Driftwood.

On any given Saturday or Sunday, provided the air isn’t thick with humidity and the sun isn’t searing hot, the patio at Capitol Pub is filled with drinkers. And in many hands, you’ll find a tall pint glass filled with the blood-red liquid — one of the greatest hangover cures of all time. The bloody mary served here isn’t the best because it tries to be gourmet. Yes, the mix is made on site, but the drink stays true to the salty renditions we all grew up on when the bloody mary was simply served from a plastic bottle at the liquor store. Salty as sin, just spicy enough and as you would hope, topped with a strong pour from the vodka bottle. Hair of the dog? Here, you’ll get the whole pelt.

The margaritas in Dallas tend to blur together (especially when you drink them back to back). They’re mostly green, they’re made with cheap tequila and they all smell like a hangover. At Stampede 66, none of these are true. The margarita that’s made on a cart beside your table after you order it is more like a science experiment than any lime-tinged margarita you’re used to. Prickly pear fruit, lime and candied jalapeño join liquid nitrogen for a misty show that will take you back to chemistry lab in high school. Except you’re of legal age now, so put the isopropyl alcohol down and get to drinking.

You gotta love the hustle and bustle and old-school-diner vibe at Lucky’s Cafe. Sure, if you head over to the Oak Lawn Avenue diner on a Saturday or Sunday morning, you’re guaranteed to wait for a seat, but time whizzes by after you grab a newspaper and start sipping a coffee or mimosa. The only thing better than the comfort food and bottomless coffee are the employees who serve them. From the warm greeting to the attentive service, these guys and gals really do make up one of the friendliest wait staffs in town.

If you’re of the mindset that a liter a day keeps the doctor away, join the club at the Bavarian Grill. No, literally — Stein Club membership lets you track which of the dozens of German (and German in spirit, like the local Franconia) beers the grill offers, with the opportunity to earn your own stein if you sample enough. The food is great, too — potato pancakes and a variety of schnitzels are particularly good, proving there’s more to German food than sausages. But there’s sausage aplenty too, with a few choices going for just 95 cents during Stein Hour from 4 to 7 p.m. in the bier garten, along with goulash, potato salad and bulettes. It’s more than worth the drive up U.S. 75.

Crossroads Diner doesn’t look much like a diner. There’s no glowing neon on the outside, and there are no blood-red vinyl booths to squeak your way into on the inside. Yet there are diner smells — sizzling eggs and butter, crackling bacon and searing sausage smells — all of it riding on a faint whiff of sweet pancake syrup. Lunch is just as good, with a killer corned beef and Swiss sandwich. The only problem with Crossroads is you have absolutely no access to all this greasy fare in the wee hours because the diner is only open for breakfast and lunch. But maybe that’s why breakfast and lunch are so damn good here. Sometimes you have to focus on the important things.

The Meddlesome Moth offers an incredibly wide selection put together by people who are passionate about great beer. There’s always have something unique. If there’s a very limited release that has the beer nerds drooling, you can bet the Moth will have it. If a brewmaster from some far-flung state or country is in town, chances are he or she will have a meet-and-greet or beer dinner there. Partner Keith Schlabs has been a part of the craft beer movement in the Dallas area since the days when they were called microbrews, and cicerone Matt Quenette has forgotten more about beer than most of us will ever know. One look at the cool stainless steel tap wall — not a macro to be found — and you’ll want to live there.

Here’s a little secret that will change your life for the better. You don’t have to be a vegan to enjoy meatless cooking. In fact, if you just fold a few vegan dishes into your week on top of all of those strip steaks, hoagies and chili cheese enchiladas, you’ll be doing yourself a whole world of good. Spiral Diner is one of those places where you can indulge your passive inner vegan and feel like you’re not missing a thing. Try nachos with a cheese made from almonds that will absolutely fool you, or a barbecue sandwich for a massive heap of grilled seitan swimming in a sweet barbecue sauce with plenty of onions and pickles. Sure, it’s no brisket sandwich, but your heart will sincerely thank you. And watch out. Eating this well can prove addictive.

You can order the pad Thai if you like, but cliché noodle dishes aren’t the best use of your time in this Richardson Thai restaurant. Bambu focuses on Isaan-style cooking from northeastern Thailand. Be careful. If the crying tiger beef can make a big cat weep, it can do a serious number on your own capsaicin receptors. You could order fried rice or a bowl of tom kha gai that will warm your center, but you’re better off with yam pla duk fu, a honeycomb-like pile of catfish floss set atop a salad of leafy greens, slivered carrots, red onions and peanuts. Fish cakes, fried tofu, deep-fried soft-shell crab and more round out a line of authentic Thai pub grub that will keep you smiling for hours — especially if you supplement your meal with plenty of Singha.

When is a Greek restaurant not a Greek restaurant? When it’s a full-blown club with a DJ filling the place with throbbing dance music. Stratos is a party as much as it is a place to eat. Come for lunch, though, and the cavernous dining room will be filled with office workers looking to fill up on the cheap. Massive plates of grilled chicken kebabs, lamb and other grilled meats land on tables beside huge Greek salads topped with tomatoes and feta. And then there’s the gyro, which if you’re crazy enough to order it, comes in a double meat variety. Go on and try it. You’ll never make it back to work.

Steak and eggs has reigned supreme as the high-protein breakfast dish of choice for generations, even though most restaurants deliver terrible renditions. Why would anyone want a thin and crummy New York strip when they could come to the Meddlesome Moth and enjoy an impeccably cooked hanger steak that packs big, rich beef flavor? It’s the little things a restaurant does to elevate your brunch that makes getting out of bed on a Sunday morning worthwhile, and here the coffee is served from personal press pots and a bloody mary comes with your choice of beer chaser. When the weather is agreeable, grab a seat on one of Dallas’ prettiest patios and get ready to drink the last day of your weekend into oblivion while eating very well.

There aren’t too many baristas in town who have to put on a shirt and tie before they start pulling espresso shots. Consider the uniform a testament to the seriousness with which every coffee drink is created at Houndstooth. Before the magic even starts, customers are given a choice of beans based on tasting notes like fruity, chocolate or even pastry. Next, the beans are ground, weighed to the 10th of a gram and carefully pulled through the shiny La Marzocco machine sitting on the counter. Ditch your laptop. There are no power outlets to be found here and coffee this good requires quiet contemplation. Grab a seat at one of the communal tables or out on the patio and sip until you find the answers to what troubles you.

Emporium Pies opened in the Bishop Arts District two years ago and quickly became known for the best pie baking in Dallas. The shop has only gained momentum since, and now a line snakes out the door and down the street in the evenings as diners from neighborhood restaurants defect for their evening desserts. The pies are all made from scratch with fresh ingredients, and each defies your expectations for what pie should be. The Smooth Operator is a classic here — a French silk chocolate with a pretzel crust, but newcomers seldom disappoint. Feeling sluggish? Try the Java the Hutt for crunchy toffee and a creamy espresso filling poured into a simple buttery crust.

The market’s tagline sums it up really well: “Only Growers. Only Makers. Only Local.” When you shop at White Rock Local Market you know exactly what you’re going to get, while other markets often allow commercially supplied produce to mingle with local goods. It might not seem like a big deal but the commitment colors every interaction you’ll have at the market. Whether you’re buying peaches from the man who picked them the day before, or frozen pops from a local artisan selling them out of the back of a VW bus, you’ll get to interact with passionate people who care and are knowledgeable about the products they’re selling. The hot dog stand that peddles some of the best hot dogs in Dallas doesn’t hurt things either. And yes, those links are local too.

Mughlai’s curries are impossibly rich, the creamiest, most decadent motherfuckers this side of the Atlantic. However, there is something about their curries and the richness of them that makes it physically impossible to eat them in the quantities you want to do so. Do not do this. If you eat more than one curry, you will enter some kind of fugue state in which you will actually need someone to drive you home, and then you will sleep for four hours or more, no matter what time of day or night it is. This has been independently confirmed by other people. It’s the most delicious mini-death imaginable.

Gonzalez’s flour tortillas are not a lot of things. They aren’t subtle, they aren’t light in any way and they most definitely are not part of any diet you could possibly hope to lose weight on. What they are is amazing. As thick as a pancake, they render accoutrements like butter a mere afterthought. In fact, just so you can keep your focus on the rest of the Oak Cliff and Pleasant Grove institutions’ outstanding Tex-Mex, you might be best served saving the tortillas for dessert.

The cronut arrived in Texas to a yawn. By the time it got here we were all cronutted (it’s a word) out, tired of hearing of lines outside bakeries in other cities, and already moving on to other ill-advised baking fusions. This French-Korean bakery’s take on the pastry deserves a line of hungry eaters, though, because they just went ahead and stuffed the thing with cream, and then topped it with more cream. It is now completely inedible, but in the best possible way, meaning there is no way you can eat the thing and not distribute parts of it in a half-mile radius around you.

Deep Ellum’s Glazed Donut Works combines the best of both doughnut worlds. They push the limits with sometimes-weird but always-delicious creations like the Donut Grilled Cheese with Bacon and doughnut ice cream sandwiches stuffed with shop-made ice cream — both of which are only available at the shop’s weekend late-night window, but they also do traditional staples better than any shop in town. The fritters — be they pineapple rum, peach schnapps or bananas Foster, depending on the day — are reason enough to drag yourself out of bed on Saturday morning. Post show or post-post show, one can’t do much better than Glazed.

The word bakery usually evokes pallets of hamburger buns and the occasional baguettes — the sort of white bread baked goods we eat thoughtlessly every day. This is not so at Cuban International Bakery, where sweet smells of caramel and fruit permeate the storefront filled with Cuban coffee sippers. It should be impossible to make pastry this flaky, but there it is, glistening before you until your fork descends and everything explodes into a million butter shards. Those in the mood for savory are in luck, too. There’s a Cuban sandwich on the menu that’s house-made top to bottom, and it’s very, very good.

During the season — about eight weeks from June first through the end of July — Jimmy’s is not the only place in Dallas where you can buy J.T. Lemley’s dirt-grown tomatoes from Canton, but it’s definitely the one place you can count on, and there’s a reason for that. The proprietors of this wonderful little Italian specialty food store know exactly when the Lemley truck rolls into the Farmers Market downtown — we’re sorry, we cannot divulge that information — and you can bet somebody from Jimmy’s will be there at the head of the line. Yeah, there’s a line of people waiting — grocers, cooks, foodies, tomato-heads — when the Lemley truck rolls in. If you’re at the wrong end of the line, you might not get any tomatoes. Given the high standard set by Lemley’s in season, Jimmy’s does a pretty good job finding the next best thing the rest of the year. But those eight golden weeks in summer, man — for a tomato-head, that’s the wave, and Jimmy’s is the place to catch it.

For some reason the onion rings genie is always on the move, dwelling for a while at one particular burger joint or full-menu restaurant that is home to wonderfully fresh fried onion rings — still crisp and juicy at the center with a paper-thin coating of flakes. Then suddenly the onion ring genie flies off from there, leaving behind a dreary wake of sad, vulcanized, vaguely onion-like fry-somethings useful only as patch material for small roof repairs. For however long it lasts, the onion ring genie is currently residing at Stackhouse, a cozy burger joint with a good beer selection across Gaston from Big Baylor. It’s a hangout for the medical people, so, if you have a sensitive stomach don’t examine their clothing too closely before you eat. Or, if it’s too late, ask the people behind the bar to sprinkle some blue cheese crumbles on those rings. Sometimes that helps.

It’s a hard balance to hit in most of the inner city: How do you find a patio restaurant that will have lots of dogs and not too many children? Nothing against children. It’s just that dogs are better drinking companions, maybe because most dogs have heard the word “no” once or twice before in their lives. Mi Cocina Lakewood gets it just right, with lots of space, serious shade, many big fans blowing and margaritas that show up magically and so cold your fingers freeze to them. Reservations are a good idea on busy nights, but the wait usually isn’t too terrible.

The cake ball is far from the loftiest of dessert foods. Typically they are little more than globules of sugary flour. But Isabelly’s cake balls are refined, closer in consistency and quality to decadent chocolate truffles than to cake. A box of them works quite nicely as a gift to one’s significant other. Isabelly’s gets extra points for opening in downtown Richardson and not being a hookah bar.

People are putting a lot of focus on mixology these days, with artisanal bitters and obscure spirits dominating the local drinking scene. But for the utilitarian drinker who prefers imbibing in a dim dive, it’s hard not to look at these needlessly complicated drink slingers as pretentious cocktoligists. Fuck your handmade maraschino cherries; we just want to get drunk. And for the devoted drinkers, only a proper bartender will do — one like Roger Nelson at Lakewood Landing. Nelson won’t outfit your cocktail with a sprig of thyme and then make a coy reference to the clock on the wall, but he’ll pour you a black and tan with a sniper’s precision — a demarcation of Guinness and Bass that’s as clearly defined as the DMZ. Better yet, order a Bud, which only requires the twist of a cap. Nelson has been slinging beers at this East Dallas dive for five years now and he’s never served a mixed drink that has more ingredients than a wedding cake. What’s that you’ll have? Jack and Coke? You’ll fit right in here.

The name has to be sarcastic. Supposedly it’s named for pastrami-topped foodstuffs in Southern California, but it’s hard to imagine this monument of meat having many takers in the land of fish tacos and juice cleanses. Ten Bells Tavern’s burgers are already plenty big (and delicious) without the addition of smoked cheddar, Swiss, a mound of pastrami and an entire hot link. But the add-ons make this $14 burger (with fries) over-the-top in terms of messiness, unhealthiness and tastiness. And you can feel good about eating it, because it’s going to help you put your cardiologist’s kids through college. The cholesterol and sodium are in a race to see which one has you clutching your left shoulder first.

Unrefined Bakery goes beyond gluten-free. Customers can get nut-free, dairy-free, soy-free, grain-free. They are incredibly accommodating to just about any allergy, and the food is surprisingly delicious. In addition to the typical small baked goods that one finds in gluten-free bakeries — cupcakes, cookies, muffins — customers can order their daily carb fill with several different sweet and sandwich loaf varieties, granolas, crusts, buns and rolls. The two owners and founders are a mother-daughter team who themselves have food allergies. As a result, the facility is dedicated to avoiding cross-contamination. If you’re getting married, Unrefined Bakery also offers wedding cake selections, or any other special occasion cake for that matter. Prices are not too outlandish for a specialty bakery.

Restaurants are notorious for breaking diets and causing allergic reactions. Grocery store delis are a little easier to navigate, but for questionable dishes, good luck tracking down an employee able to tell you all the ingredients. Green Grocer is different. This tiny neighborhood market sells only pasture-raised local meat and organic produce from nearby farmers. At Green Grocer’s awesome deli, selections change daily, but popular regulars behind the counter include vegetarian kale and black rice salad, gluten-free “pizza” on top of a hearty portabello mushroom instead of a crust, pasture-raised egg salad and paleo-friendly dishes like cauliflower mash, coconut chicken or apple pie crumble, just to name a few. Vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free and paleo items are all clearly labeled, and staff is happy to help customers unsure about anything. The workers behind the deli also man a juice and coffee bar, and a fridge on the other side of the store sells hearty pre-made paleo dinners like meatballs and “spaghetti” made from squash.

This low-key taquería/tortería/panadería is tucked away behind 7-Eleven on Lower Greenville and decorated with paintings of the actual Chichen Itza, the ancient city in Mexico built by the Mayans. But this Chichen Itza is more conveniently located to East Dallas, plus it serves tortas on fluffy pan baked in-house. The sandwiches are good, but the real treats are found in the side counter by the entrance, which displays a large selection of Mexican pastries made from scratch, including customer favorites like conchas and campechanas. The best part: Every pastry is just 60 cents, no matter how massive or filling it might be. Eat one in the morning with an espresso on the patio outside or come by for a sugar fix on a weekend night, when Itza sometimes hosts all-ages heavy metal and punk shows.

At most coffee shops, the pre-made sandwiches are a bready snack scarfed down in a carbohydrate rush. But Mudsmith sandwiches require you to sit down. These sandwiches are stacked high with protein — piles of cold cuts like turkey or roast beef between two thin slices of bread. There are also a filling vegan option, with hummus and lots of veggies, and a dairy vegetarian sandwich loaded with mozzarella cheese and pesto. These are simple sandwiches, not much in the way of sauce or exotic toppings, but all that hearty protein could constitute a dinner, and dinner is the time to eat Mudsmith sandwiches. After 6 p.m., Mudsmith sells whatever of its sandwiches are left for just $5. A hard-core practical eater can live on just half for dinner and save the other half for lunch the next day.

When HG Sply Co. opened its expansive patio, complete with full bar and kitchen, we thought, “This is as cool as it gets.” It’s a respite from the high-octane Uptown rooftop decks and has a different view of downtown Dallas than the Hotel Belmont patio. But then Nora came in with a less obstructed view, a quieter ambiance and delicious Afghan food. Sharing a plate of hummus and pita while sitting next to your date on a couch under the curtained cabana feels like vacationing in the Mediterranean. Take a break from the hustle and bustle of Lower Greenville and enjoy the hot, summer breeze while sipping a dry red wine.

Our unofficial nickname for this place is “Tacos, Beers and Chandeliers,” because it has those three things in abundance. It’s a fairly new gas station with a grill and coin laundry, and for reasons unknown is lit by dozens of LED chandeliers, including a huge one that hangs directly over an ice bin filled with tallboys of malt liquor. But the beer cooler has far more than malt liquor, offering a surprisingly good selection of craft beer bottles and cans from Dogfish Head, Harpoon, Real Ale, Founders and more. Even better are the tacos offered from the flat grill. Tacos al pastor are savory and semisweet, sliced off the trompo and crisped on the grill, and the other options are just as good, as are the quesadillas. It’s an unexpected oasis of great food and beer in southern Oak Cliff.

Lots of sandwich shops have character, but Uncle Uber’s is a real personality. Stop by for lunch and you’ll have to wait in a line filled with hungry workers from nearby offices, who come for creative takes on classic sandwiches they grew up on. There’s a solid cheesesteak made from shaved rib-eye and a roast beef served with salty jus. Don’t miss the Cuban that binds pork and ham with plenty of melted Swiss cheese. If you order the chicken sandwich crispy, you’ll be ruined for Chick-fil-A, and there’s an impossibly juicy burger to get lost in as well. Don’t pass up an order of fries that are cooked to a deep golden brown, and relish that your late evening snacking needs are met here too. They’re open until midnight on the weekends.

For the past few years, it has been common convention that Pecan Lodge serves the best barbecue in Dallas. What nobody knew is that it was about to get so much better. A hastened departure from the Dallas Farmers Market threatened to ruin a great thing, but Pecan Lodge feels right at home at its new address in Deep Ellum. They even brought their notoriously long line, but now there are more smokers turning out stellar brisket and things move a little faster, and there are more tables, inside and outside. Pecan Lodge, Deep Ellum edition, has longer hours for extended brisket dining, and it has bands on the patio, so you can blow out your eardrums while you bury your face in a hot mess. And sweet, sweet Jesus, most important of all they have beer — the very best complement to brisket.

Customers know they’re somewhere interesting as soon as they walk through the door. The diners are nearly all Chinese, payment is accepted only in cash, and there aren’t any egg rolls on the menu. There are marinated pork intestine and beef tendon and dried squid. First Chinese offers up Cantonese-style cooking, but don’t think everything here is blood and guts. Roast duck with crispy skin is a go-to order, as are a number of stir-fried noodle dishes from crispy noodles to lo-mein. And the best part of the restaurant is BYOB, which combined with some rock-bottom menu prices adds up to a really cheap night.

It’s 8 a.m., you’re late for a meeting, you’re hungry and last night you had a steak and creamed spinach for dinner. You need breakfast, you need it fast and you need it not to suck. That’s why you’re in line at the drive-thru at Start, perusing a menu of whole wheat breads and tortillas, baked goods and fresh fruits. You can get a smoothie if you need some extra nutrients, and the coffee is black and strong. There’s oatmeal if you’re inclined, and if that steak dinner doesn’t have you too far down, plenty of sunny scrambled eggs and bacon. Don’t feel bad about it — bacon makes everything better. And at Start it’s just one of many ingredients that are responsibly sourced and carefully handled.

Ten Bells makes marvelous pub grub, so it stands to reason that their take on wings, the ultimate bar food, would be great. They’re also quite a departure from the pedestrian Frank’s-slathered slabs of gristle served with a ramekin of Kraft blue cheese dressing and a scattering of limp celery. These instead are big and tender, crispy and coated with a tangy spin on barbecue sauce that’s just spicy enough, with a bowl of dank, musky “blue cheese fondue” in place of the usual dressing. You’ll still need plenty of napkins, though, no matter how upscale these wings may be.

Normally you expect to eat fried chicken at an outdoor table made of pine or maybe on a picnic blanket, not at an elegant marble bar at some hoity-toity Henderson Avenue restaurant. But the bar stools at Sissy’s turn out to be the perfect chicken perch. Order a cocktail, or maybe a glass of bubbles, and request an entire bucket, even if you’re alone because fried chicken served cold the next day is one of the greatest things you can eat for lunch. It’s better that you bring a friend or two, though, if only for help with the sides. Don’t skip the deviled eggs and if you can spare the room, the chocolate cake before you’re done. Some say it’s better than …

Steakhouses are a dime a dozen here in Dallas, but none of them will let you get out of door for loose change. Knife is no different, but it can be significantly more affordable if you know how to navigate the menu. Look for the section of affordable bistro cuts that can be had for $25 each. You might not recognize names like tri-tip, culotte and chuck flap but you’ll recognize the flavor as big and beefy. Each is cooked sous-vide and then finished over an oak fire. Pair yours with any of the sides such as creamed spinach and super crunchy onion rings and you’ll have a steakhouse meal for well under 50 bucks.

It’s rare you’ll encounter a chicken-fried steak that’s as interesting as the one served at Tom’s Burgers & Grill. It starts out with the breading, which replaces everyday seasoned flour with crushed potato chips that pack a serious crunch. There are flecks of herbs strewn about and the whole thing is fried until it’s a deep, rich brown. Ask for your gravy to be served on the side to preserve the crispy texture and then get to dipping until heart palpitations tell you it’s time to quit. Chicken-fried steak has a whole new lease on life at Tom’s, and so will you while you’re eating it.

Sushi can be intimidating for novices, even for those who are open-minded and have no qualms about chowing down on uncooked fish. The menu cards often have dozens and dozens of items, most of which have names that have no meaning to the uninitiated non-Japanese speaker. And then there’s the fear of ordering an expensive roll expecting it to be worthy of a meal only to get a few bites out of it. The Deep Sushi Dinner takes the guesswork out of it, offering an affordable meal with an interesting selection of seafood. It’s all tasty and fresh, and lets you enjoy your pre-dinner drinks talking to your date or friends rather than Googling the names of the rolls. And now that you know the names of a few items, you’ll be more confident next time.

Peggy Sue BBQ has a wall covered in denim and some passable brisket. Another thing it has, though, is the finest, most tender, most delectable and juicy baby back ribs in a 200-mile radius. If your idea of barbecue is that ribs are king, then you should a) leave Texas and b) go past Peggy Sue’s on your way, because the potentially fictional lady knows her ribs.

When you walk into a Mexican restaurant with fajitas and nachos on the menu, you might be inclined to indulge in your standbys. You can do that at Palapas, too, and you’ll leave with a great impression of the restaurant. But where this Greenville Avenue newcomer really excels is with ingredients that hail from the sea, in ceviches and grilled fish dishes that absolutely sing. Get the shrimp ceviche served on a crunchy tostada for a textural contrast, or a mixed seafood ceviche served in a young coconut. And if you have a hangover you might consider the camarón in agua chili, which features shrimp quickly cooked in lime juice and served in a freshly blended sauce of cilantro, more lime juice and shrimp stock. You certainly don’t need a hangover to enjoy the dish, but if you had too much tequila the night before it can be a godsend.

You can get hot dogs at many bars, but most of the time you will be served a commodity wiener that tastes like a tube-shaped shoe. Not so at St. Pete’s, where the link comes from neighboring Rudolph’s Meat Market. The pedigreed dog is tucked into a plain, white bread bun, and then slathered with a nearly obscene amout of chili. There are onions in the fray, and a fistful of shredded cheese, and then because nobody cares about your well-being there’s a massive serving of french fries too. Don’t even think about ordering a light beer with this mammoth calorie bomb. You’re in it to win it.

Chances are, if you eat at most of the Tex-Mex restaurants around town, your salsa is for sissies. Most places keep their table salsa on the mild side, for fear that tepid gringos will cry. Not so at Avila’s. Here the salsa looks like it’s dominated with tomatoes but it tastes like the pain train as a number of chiles bring on the heat. Maybe this is their way of keeping customers from asking for that third bowl, but for whatever reason their salsa is unapologetically piquant. And don’t even think about asking for the mild version because spicy is all they got. Anyone have milk?

Let’s get it out there right away that Mesero Miguel doesn’t bill itself as a Tex-Mex restaurant. But that doesn’t change the fact that there’s a section on the menu for Tex-Mex dishes, and all of them are considerably more delicious than those from your old favorite lard-laden bean pit. As further evidence, chips and three salsas land on your table not long after you sit down, and behind the bar a frozen margarita machine whirls and turns out the official Tex-Mex beverage. Sure, you can order a fancy ceviche and a well-seared steak, but you’ll feel a twinge of jealousy when that chicken enchilada plate walks by. And don’t forget the cinco leches cake. It looks formidable but it’s light as air.

Dallas doesn’t exactly excel in the red-sauce Italian category. There are a number of Italian restaurants that will serve you up pasta dishes inspired by the hills of Tuscany, but if you’re looking for exemplary spaghetti and meatballs, you were out of luck until Carbone’s came along. Stop by for lunch and nab yourself a high-end hoagie, just like the ones you can get in Philly, but with better charcuterie. There are cannolis piped to order, so the shells stay crispy, and like any good Italian spot, American or otherwise, lots and lots of vino. You can even take some home with you if you like, along with some sauce, pastas and bread — Carbone’s doubles as your neighborhood bodega.

Attempting to tackle the cuisines of Mexico and farther south all the way to Argentina, seems like a risky undertaking because there are so many ingredients and cooking techniques present in the Central and South Americas. But in tackling so much, veteran chef Stephan Pyles accomplishes the impossible, offering consistently executed dishes across a vast menu that offers almost endless exploration. Where else in the Dallas area can you find a causa limoña, a potato and shrimp terrine that hides a softly cooked quail egg? Where else can you try a fish that looks like Bob Marley — dreadlocks and all?

You can get sushi all over Dallas, but when you start spending a lot of time in one sushi restaurant, you start to realize a whole new sushi experience. Teppo is a great place to plug in for the long haul, and it’s not just because their fish and other ingredients are consistently fresh. Teppo is the ultimate neighborhood sushi spot, where the person to your left and right often walked to get there that night, and you’re likely to bump into them again and again. Start with the specials, or just ask the people sitting to your side what’s good that night. Whatever you do, don’t get in a tuna-roll rut. The yakitori grill turns out amazing grilled meats, and the seaweed salad will stay in your memory for a long time.

For the past few years, Cane Rosso has reigned as the best pizzeria in all of Dallas. Leave it to owner Jay Jerrier to shoot himself in the flour sack, opening a New York-style pizzeria that would dethrone his very own pizza dynasty. Zoli’s is everything a pizzeria should be, and that’s forgiving the fact that they don’t serve pitchers of beer. You can get cans, though, and you can get crisp-crusted pies that you have to fold in half to get to your face without mucking up your shirt. There’s a Sicilian pie if you want something with a little more heft, and a grandma pie if you’re looking for square-shaped pizza with a thinner crust. Order by the slice if you must, but Zoli’s is the most fun when you bring some friends and work your way through an entire pie.

Do you want to know how to win any outdoor cookout? Before you say “it’s not a competition,” we’re here to tell you that life is a competition, and with your attitude, you’ll never win at it. Think back to your last cookout. Did you bring the best piece of meat? Were you the toast of the party? Of course you weren’t. There’s that attitude again. So here’s how to win. Go to H Mart. Purchase a pound or two of extraordinarily reasonably priced bulgogi pork belly from their convenient cookout section. Take to party. Win the accolades of everyone else there. This is the first day of the rest of your life.

El Come Taco doesn’t always have chapulines and escamoles on the menu, but when they do, enthusiasts come out of the woodwork. That’s probably because there aren’t many restaurateurs willing to put grasshoppers and ant eggs on their menus. Do not be afraid. The grasshoppers have a mild nutty flavor and a crunchy texture that’s exciting to eat. Everyone smiles when they bite into a grasshopper taco, especially when they get a leg caught in their teeth, and there aren’t too many foods that can evoke laughter. The escamoles are comparatively serious, with a rich, almost livery flavor that’s complemented by a dollop of guacamole.

As new chefs and restaurants shape the Dallas dining scene, it’s important to celebrate the chefs who keep old traditions alive. Tim Byres’ Smoke is often called a barbecue restaurant, and it is, but it’s also much more. The kitchen is fueled by wood — a primal heat source that drives bubbling stockpots as much as it sears meats and fish on the grill. This is cooking as it once was, long before immersion circulators and fancy foams took over our finest kitchens. The old-school approach is being used to fashion some of the city’s most delicate and simple dishes, and that makes Byres’ restaurant all the more special.

Taking kids out to dinner can be a challenge, so you’ll need every advantage you can get if you have any chance at having a relaxing evening. Chips and salsa land on the table just seconds after your butts hit the seats, keeping crumb snatchers occupied while you peruse the menu, and margaritas keep your anxiety at bay as more kids stream in through the door. It doesn’t hurt that Pepe’s is easy on the wallet considering the trend in tuition costs these days, and when you finally hit your limit for shrieks and over-turned salsa bowls, your check arrives just as quickly.

Bread service is presented like an afterthought at most restaurants, if it hasn’t been abandoned all together. But all of those napkin-lined wicker baskets filled with stale rolls make the bread served at Pera Wine and Tapas all the more impressive. A length of super-crusty baguette is scored into slices and then paired with a small bowl of olive oil. There’s a dollop of thick, creamy labneh, a few dill fronds and some chile pepper in the mix too, making this gratis snack more of a first course than something to kill time while you wait for your drinks to arrive. Bread topped in such a way borders on decadence. And to think, some people are stuck with those months-old pats of butter wrapped in tinfoil.

Mariano’s has been known for decades as the creator of the frozen margarita, but their more impressive accomplishment is what they’ve done with fajitas. If fajitas were measured by their sizzle, Mariano’s would win based on heat alone, but there’s a lot more to celebrate here beyond a hot metal plate. The beef is perfect — a little chewy, a little salty, with a big, smoky flavor that goes perfectly with the sweetness of the caramelized onions that share the plate. What’s better is all of these flavors get wrapped up in tortillas that were patted out and griddled moments before at the station at the front of the restaurant.

You’re going to want to bring a friend for this one, as Vietnamese pancakes are a touch larger than the sweet breakfast items you doused with Aunt Jemima when you were a kid. They’re also savory, and come stuffed with your choice of mushrooms and tofu for the vegetarians, or shrimp and scallions for lovers of seafood. It also comes with a plate of herbs and lettuce leaves that’s so big it’s almost overwhelming. Grab a lettuce leaf, wrap it around a slice of the pancake and then fill the pocket with as many herbs as you can manage. Dip the resulting roll into the bowl of slightly sweetened fish sauce and then take the biggest bite you can muster. It’s even better with a cold, crisp beer.

With all the steakhouses and barbecue joints in Texas, opening a meat mecca on Greenville Avenue would seem like a non-event. But Blind Butcher has managed to completely shift animal protein expectations since it opened earlier this year. There are sausages of all varieties, ground and cased right in the kitchen. Get the bangers with the creamiest of mashed potatoes for a worthwhile introduction and branch out your sausage exploration from there. There are charcuterie plates and cheese boards featuring house-made wares and there are french fries like you’ve never seen, topped with a boatload of gravy, a fried duck egg and foie gras for a decadent poutine. If you’ve got a vegetarian friend, there are a few things available on the menu, but why?

There are times you want a massive slice of cake when you’re craving something sweet, and there are times when you’d really prefer something smaller and more understated. Canelés are perfect for this. Like a small gift, they are wrapped in a tough, waxy crust that is a deep mahogany brown. Inside you’ll find a dense cake that has a moist, almost custardy texture and the strong flavor of vanilla beans. Just a few bites and it’s gone — the cake equivalent to a small cup of espresso — becoming a memory seconds after you’ve broken one open.

Spam isn’t exactly the most cherished ingredient. It’s hard to work up enthusiasm for any meat product that comes suspended in a can full of jelly. But given the right treatment, the right complements and perhaps a little bit of luck, Spam can be turned into some stellar bar food. Just look at the Surfers on Acid served at Local Oak in Oak Cliff. The buns are soft Hawaiian rolls and they’re toasted in butter before they receive a modest slice of lightly seared Spam. Add a red cabbage slaw for some creaminess and body, and pineapple minced with chiles for a little sweet and a little heat, and you’ve got three small sandwiches that can disappear before you can get a few fingers into your beer.

The Tate Farms grass-fed burger excels in just about every category available for burger assessment. The bun is a soft round of pain au lait, the bacon is cured in-house and the pickles are made right there, too. The Gruyere is nutty and melted in a thick slice and while most burgers sport raw onions, here they’re caramelized and sweet. That’s before you even get to the patty, which is gently formed, cooked over a wood-burning grill and served alongside a tangle of hand-cut french fries. There are only so many things you can do with a burger, and Boulevardier checks off all of them.

If you haven’t paid the Wine Therapist a visit in a while, you need to check it out again. The East Dallas wine shop made a move across Skillman Street and has a completely new look and feel. There’s a bar for sipping from a curated list of wines, but the best seats are up the steps to a loft where leather couches wait to cradle you in a little bit of privacy. Work your way through the list and when you find a bottle that really suits you, take one home for later. You won’t find an experience like this one in the wine section of your typical grocery store. You won’t find an experience like this in most wine shops, either.

It’s a fact: Food tastes better when you eat it while standing. Street stalls around the world have served up some of the best bites imaginable, catering to a diner’s desire for deliciousness, portability and affordability. Dallas doesn’t have a lot of street food, but at Monkey King Noodle Co. they certainly have some of the best. With hand-pulled noodles, carefully pleated soup dumplings and rustic, hearty soups, this Deep Ellum restaurant is producing some of the city’s best Chinese food, takeout or otherwise. Place your order at the window and pour yourself a cup of hot tea. When you get your noodles, head up to the roof deck and soak up the Dallas skyline while you slurp.

If your understanding of a frozen pop was solidified with ice pops you squeezed from plastic tubes after they were plucked from your home freezer, it’s time to give the art form another look. Even if you grew up on the small-batch paleterías around town, you need to reconsider. The frozen forms that leave the front door of Steel City Pops may be fleeting, but the memory of a pop this good will stick with you a long time. Forget flavors like grape, orange and cherry. Try a creamy avocado pop instead. The satin-smooth bright green pop smacks of life. There’s a creamy lemon flavor, peanut butter, and sour cream and cherry, and if you’d prefer something a little fruitier, you’re covered here as well. Blood orange, anyone? It’s not to be missed.

To put things delicately, the Toddfather is not a sandwich you should take lightly. Todd David’s brisket at Cattleack Barbecue is worth a visit all on its own, but fold some pulled pork into the mix along with his brilliant house-made sausages and you’ve got a holy trinity, a great trifecta of smoked meat generously tucked inside a fresh, warm bun. If it sounds like a lot of fat and heavy flavors, that’s because it is, but a small container of sweet and crunchy coleslaw will help cut through the richness.

If you were just to read the list of ingredients off the menu, many of the salads served at Gemma would sound like abstract art. A bok choy salad features thinly shaved cabbage, paper-thin radishes, mint, fennel, cashews for crunch and peas for sweetness. A salad of heirloom squash features more of those windowpane radish slices, pine nuts, Pepato cheese and lemon. If either of these sounds like they’d eat more like a Mondrian or a Picasso, relax. They’re just like the salad you’d expect served alongside a hearty steak, only much prettier. And because of top-shelf ingredients that taste like they were just plucked from the garden, those salads that you’re used to will fall into a very distant second place.

For those who have grown tired with the ice cream status quo, Carnival Barker’s offers flavors that are anything but boring. Banana pudding and Nutella vodka join Fat Elvis — a peanut butter and banana ice cream with candied bacon and honey — in a slew of flavors that will keep you thinking while you spoon-feed your face. For those who aren’t feeling as adventurous, cookie dough and cookies and cream are among flavors that will resonate with old ice cream memories. Just don’t forget these guys are Texas’ only independent ice cream shop. Those other shops have to buy their base from state-controlled creameries.

La Banqueta has been a mainstay on the Dallas taquería circuit for years. The tiny walk-up with only a counter for seating is the go-to spot for suadero tacos. But with the move across the street to a new location, the Dallas location of this four-taquería chain has become a neighborhood hotspot for everything taco. Don’t stop at the suadero; the pastor is a popular order too, and while you may not see as many customers ordering the tripas, you owe it to yourself to try the tacos made from calf intestines. Order them extra crunchy and give your taco a sturdy dousing from the squeeze bottle filled with green salsa. One bite and beef tacos will be forever boring.

Easy Slider was one of the first trucks to have a real presence on the Dallas food truck scene, and years later they are easily still the best. Whenever you see their teal, stars-and-stripes-themed vehicle parked around town and you’re feeling hungry, you’d do well to change your dining plans. At times, some of the flavor combinations sound like they’d be too much, especially when you’re dealing with toppings like strawberry jam and goat cheese, but each of the wacky creations works as well as the next, and their diminutive size means you can try two at a time, or maybe three.