Lauren Drewes Daniels
Audio By Carbonatix
Half a million reviews later, OpenTable confirms what’s hot and what’s not in Dallas.
OpenTable recently published its updated list of the most-booked restaurants in Dallas. Every month, it analyzes over half a million new dinner reviews and sorts the results by location to help us discover new and old favorite restaurants. But keep in mind, this is only for restaurants on the platform, leaving off literally hundreds of good spots in Dallas.
Either way, we review this list regularly, and the same roster of restaurants is on a constant rotation in Dallas. Sixty Vines makes the list every spring and fall, but the rest of them guard their places on this list as if their livelihood depended on it (probably because it does).
Al Biernat’s and Nick & Sam’s continue to be the most loved steakhouses in Dallas. With its view of the city, it’s no wonder people book Crown Block.
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EVELYN, a new restaurant in the Design District, has sustained a spot on this list for months now. We’re used to new restaurants riding a grand opening high, then fizzling out, but it seems EVELYN is taking up residence on this list.
The Restoration Hardware rooftop has haunted us all year as it has maintained its ranking. You could throw a dart on a map of Dallas and land on a spot better than this atrocity that sells truffle fries for $20.
A reservation at RH Rooftop is for people who don’t know where to dine. Need ideas? Our guide to the 50 Best Restaurants in Dallas is the ideal starting point.
But according to the booking site OpenTable, where is where Dallas is dining:
Il Bracco
8416 Preston Center Plaza
Il Bracco is a consistent contender for OpenTable reservations. It serves modern takes on classic Italian dishes, such as the whole-leaf Caesar salad, cacio e pepe with in-house-made pasta and tiramisu. It opened in the Park Cities in May 2019 and has brought diners in by the droves ever since. Did you know it serves its popular Bracco, a frozen cocktail made with Grey Goose, Aperol, New Amsterdam and fresh grapefruit, by the half-gallon? It also sells full sheets of tiramisu.
Hudson House
4448 Lovers Lane
Hudson House has apparently been so good that it booted Sixty Vines off this round-up to make room for a second location on this list. So now both the Lovers Lane and Lakewood Hudson House locations are the most booked in Dallas. It’s more likely due to its burgers, but there are plenty of other great burgers in Dallas. No reservation required.
Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille
2100 Olive St.
Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille has all the right ingredients to be one of the most booked restaurants in Dallas: an award-winning menu, Texas roots and an intimate view of downtown Dallas. Perry’s started as a butcher shop in Houston in 1979, and by 1986, tables and chairs were added to the shop. Next thing the family knows, they’re opening the first Perry’s Steakhouse in 1993. It’s known for its Pork Chop Friday, attentive service and upscale two-story atmosphere. Its website showcases many of the running specials, including off-menu items like the award-winning white bean pork chili.
Crown Block
300 Reunion Blvd.
Whether we like it or not, we all look up to Crown Block. No, literally. This restaurant’s dining room has one of the best views of the Dallas skyline, so we’d hope the city wouldn’t take it for granted. Whether people make reservations out of necessity or as an insurance policy for the evening view is up to them, but it’s easy to see why this would be at the top of anyone’s short list. The menu is a bit of a catch-all, featuring steak, seafood and sushi. It also offers an all-you-can-eat brunch on weekends, which may just be the best value at the top of their elevator.
Chase Hall
EVELYN
1201 Turtle Creek Blvd.
EVELYN opened in the Design District this past spring, and clearly, it’s still riding on that grand opening high. This Old Hollywood-inspired steakhouse is one of the latest places to be seen, eat and drink in the same building. They have a main dining area where they serve caviar, wagyu appetizers and steak cuts, and plenty of seafood towers. If you venture out of there, try not to get lost. Three other rooms are dedicated to private, intimate or lively apres-dinner affairs.
Kitchen + Kocktails
1933 Elm St.
We love Kitchen + Kocktails. It’s one of our top 50 restaurants. This downtown spot specializes in serving generous Southern comfort dishes in a stylish and upscale setting. When owner Kevin Kelley returned from Paris, inspiration led him to open his restaurant in a prime location where people could come together and enjoy a menu of his hand-selected favorites. What people in Dallas love most here are the chicken n’ waffles, shrimp and grits and the peach cobbler, but that list easily expands at his four other locations in Chicago, Atlanta, Charlotte and D.C.
Nick & Sam’s
3008 Maple Ave.
It seems that after Luka was traded to the Lakers, fans decided to use all the money they saved on home games to sulk over “The Luka” on Nick & Sam’s menu. It’s a 77-day dry-aged 77-ounce New York strip served with a mushroom Barolo placed right under their tribute to the previous Mavs legend, Dirk. (Damn, still hurts.) But you don’t need to be a basketball fan to dine here. It’s been an Uptown staple for fine steaks since 1999. A half-page menu is dedicated to various steak cuts, including American Prime and Australian Kobe. While they relish in tradition, they don’t shy away from newcomers, like adding red crab elote to the array of sides. That’s worth saving a seat for.
Hudson House
4040 Abrams Road
Many Dallasites will rave about the burger and martini combo at Hudson House, and it seems everyone in Lakewood is a true fan of this duo. New York City’s West Village inspired this neighborhood restaurant. It serves American classics with a heavy draw from East Coast menu staples. The raw bar is the menu’s core, with its daily raw oyster special. Everyone loves the cheeseburger here, and they pack a quarter-pound of Atlantic lobster into the lobster roll. Don’t ever skip out on the mac and cheese. Also, allegedly, they serve the world’s coldest martini, but that’s for you to decide.
Al Biernat’s
4217 Oak Lawn Ave.
If you don’t have a reservation at Al Biernat’s, you’re throwing elbows through waves of regulars to try and get a seat. Al’s motto was and will always be “more than a great steakhouse,” and it’s easy to see why it has made it to this list. Everyone wants to come here for the food, but they also celebrate graduations, birthdays, engagements and other life-changing events. There are a few worn-in leather seats in Dallas that can wine and dine you with the comfort of being at home, and Al’s eponymous restaurant does just that.
RH Rooftop Restaurant
3133 Knox St.
Now, this is definitely a choice one could make. An interesting one. This restaurant is on the top floor of Restoration Hardware’s 70,000-square-foot design gallery in the Knox-Henderson neighborhood. They say it blurs the lines between residential and retail, indoors and outdoors and home and hospitality. You can dine year-round in the skylit garden with olive trees, chandeliers and opulent fountains. It’s a wonder that, despite the plethora of options, people dine here and make the avocado toast one of the most popular dishes on the menu. The same menu sells a side of truffle fries for $20.
