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. Find more interesting places on our all-new Best Of app for iTunes or Android.
When the owners of Ten Bells Tavern decided to hire a chef to run their kitchen, they gave their Oak Cliff neighborhood a lasting gift. For too long, bar food had been drunken fodder, assembled by cooks whose only skills were lowering a basket into a deep frier or squeezing the joy out of a burger as it slowly died on the grill. Carlos Mancera brings a culinary professional's sensibility to this English-style pub. And he turns out the best bar food in Dallas.
Think past fish and chips. Even though there's a great version here, the menu delves much deeper. There are wings doused in a sweet and smoky sauce and served with blue cheese dressing you actually want to eat, and the Ten Bells Butty, which is nothing more than a french fry sandwich with mustard and cheese. The Cuban will make you swoon, and the other sandwiches are worth a trip to the gym, too.
There are pickled eggs behind the bar, just in case you want to pull a Paul Newman in Cool Hand Luke, and there's plenty of beer to convince you eating 50 eggs is a good idea. But the best thing going at Ten Bells Tavern might be the brunch on the weekends, which is without a doubt one of the best in Dallas. Get the stuffed French toast and you'll be the one busting at the seams, or the English breakfast that comes with soft blood sausage that's more moist and flavorful than any other you've encountered.
You'll be muttering things about the queen when you finally get up to leave (if you ever do.) It won't just be the beer talking.
No. 50: Joyce and Gigi's No. 49: East Hampton Sandwich Co. No. 48: 20 Feet Seafood Joint No. 47: Taj Chaat House No. 46: Mot Hai Ba No. 45: La Nueva Fresh and Hot No. 44: Pera Turkish Kitchen No. 43: Tom's Burgers and Grill No. 42: Mughlai No. 41: Russian Banya No. 40: Off-Site Kitchen No. 39: Bachman Lake Taqueria No. 38: Carbone's No. 37: Babe's No. 36: Barbacoa Estilo Hidalgo No. 35: Zaguan No. 34: Royal Sichuan No. 33: Spoon No. 32: Bambu No. 31: Pecan Lodge No. 30: FT33 No. 29: Keller's Drive-In No. 28: La Pasadita
