Best Mediterranean Restaurant 2011 | Ali Baba Mediterranean Grill | Best of Dallas® 2020 | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Dallas | Dallas Observer
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Best Mediterranean Restaurant

Ali Baba Mediterranean Grill

Taryn Walker
For the amount you spend on two Starbucks Frappuccinos — about 10 bucks — you can gorge yourself on a buffet lunch of truly delicious Mediterranean food: a crispy falafel here, a charred lamb kabob there, a perfectly juicy cube of chicken breast, pita liberally coated in zaatar spices — anything you can think to drag through mountainous globs of hummus, babaganoush and tzatziki sauce. Half of your plate will inevitably hold a divine mush of condiments for the protein of your choosing. Eat grape leaves with a fork to submerge them completely in a pool of yogurt sauce. Make a mess of a sandwich with pita, hummus and fresh tabbouleh. Whatever, it's delicious. Bring someone who won't judge you, and dive in.

Best Chinese Restaurant

First Chinese BBQ

Long live the king of all Dallas-area Chinese restaurants. First Chinese BBQ — particularly the original Richardson location — remains the measuring stick against which all other Chinese restaurants in our burg are compared. As Chinese cuisine is vaster than a Westerner might realize, picking one restaurant as best can be an unfair barometer. Tough luck, other restaurants, 'cause this place is just that good. While its satellite locations occasionally waver, the Richardson mothership has consistently served up the juiciest slabs of roast pork, fattest slices of duck and tastiest Cantonese comfort food locally for 23 years. Prices have understandably gone up in all those years, yet the quality of food remains uncompromised. Because of its long-standing reputation as Dallas' go-to for sure-bet Chinese, First Chinese BBQ Richardson gets the crown.

Best Little White Tablecloth Greek Restaurant

Kostas Café

Quiet, dignified, intimate and with a seasoned wait staff and a couple Greek travel posters on the walls, this place feels less like Upper Greenville in Dallas, more like Greektown in Detroit or Chicago. The menu is classic Greek American restaurant fare: spanakopita plate, pork souvlaki, moussaka and gyro plate with all the right sides. The taramosalata is always fresh, the hummus smooth and the dolmas so fat and meaty they're almost a meal in themselves. And there are always these guys, you know, older guys in suits and white shirts without ties at a table in the back, and you wonder: What are those guys really talking about? It's a trip to a whole other place, with great service and good food along the way.

Best Happy Hour Eats

Si Tapas

Other happy hours come close, but limited options cut them short. Si Tapas, on the other hand, has an impressively varied and extensive happy hour food menu, with each tapa on the list priced at only $2. What it also has going for it is that it doesn't treat that menu as a bastard stepchild. There are many restaurants that have food specials during happy hour, but how many offer a true glimpse of the best items from the regular menu? (Think sushi restaurants offering California rolls and steakhouses serving sliders.) Si Tapas, meanwhile, offers its best-selling tapas, usually priced anywhere between $5-$7. There might be more popular happy hours out there, but few are as great as Si Tapas'.

Best Thai Restaurant

Royal Thai

A friend of mine once said of Royal Thai, "Oh, THAT place is good." From someone who was born and raised in Thailand and who once claimed she would never eat Thai food if she didn't make it, her statement was as high as praise gets. She has a point, though. Ask someone who has ever been to Thailand, and more often than not they will tell you it's difficult to come back to the States and eat Americanized Thai food. This isn't the case for all Asian cuisines, and it puts Thai food in its own unique category. There are several restaurants in our city that try to re-create the distinctive qualities of old Siam, but Royal Thai succeeds at it. With its solid rendition of the classics, the neighborhood family ambiance and the exceptionally affable service, it is no wonder the restaurant commands consistently large crowds. Outside of that recent burger import that shall remain unnamed, you won't find a longer, more patient or eagerly awaiting queue that side of Central Expressway on a Saturday evening.

Best Late-Night Drunk Food

Serious Pizza

Choosing a winner for this prestigious category was an exercise in the process of elimination. Fast-food chains were dropped right off the bat. Douchebag meeting grounds were disqualified next. Lastly, places where you could be shot (distressingly numerous) were the last to fall out of consideration. In the end, one of life's very simplest of truths was what determined Serious Pizza as our winner: A slice of pizza and drunken gluttonous yearning go hand in hand. This place is called what it's called for a reason. Few things can kill a drunken craving and sop up all the exorbitant amounts of alcohol as well as a notoriously monstrous Serious Pizza slice. Open until 3 a.m. on the weekends, the lively after-hours atmosphere, HD televisions and interesting people-watching are exactly the stimulation needed for some sobering up. Understandably, with crowds comes a wait, so be patient and don't end up like one of the drunken knuckleheads who are thrown out on the busier nights.

Best Hole-in-the-Wall Asian Food

Thai Express

It's small. It can get really hot. It is in possibly the most unappealing shopping center ever. But boy, is it really, really good. Thai Express is a speck in the blemish of a shopping strip on Inwood by Southwestern Medical Center. It's long been an old popular standby for workers at the nearby hospitals, particularly during the $6.99 lunch buffet. Labeling it as a greasy spoon would have been highly accurate in the past, but the restaurant went through renovations six months ago under its new management. The buffet remains intact, and the digs are nicer, but most notable is that the food has gotten even better. The head chef is sister of owner Somchai Kongnuan, and the woman has some serious skills. In a city where Thai food can become formulaic and homogenous, every dish at Thai Express is distinct and stings with palate-pleasing flavor. While attention to the food is certainly important, the other little details that the new regime added tickle as well. The Muzak/bossa nova covers of songs ranging from Nirvana to the Bee Gees playing over the restaurant's speakers are the same tunes popular everywhere in Thailand. Thai Express is the classic hole-in-the-wall find — memorable food and cheeky atmosphere.

Best Burger

Dairy-ette

Crowning the best hamburger is nigh impossible in this beef-crazy town, but a master of burger basics muscled its way to the top of our list. Dairy-ette, the East Dallas drive-in burger joint, has earned serious street cred since opening in 1956. Car hops serve juicy, old-fashioned hamburgers, fresh-cut french fries and homemade root beer to people in cars parked under the red-and-white striped awning. Top a burger with cheese, chili, or live large with chili and cheese. Heck, go for the double meat layered with bacon and jalapeños. Hot grub and sandwiches are also dished out inside at the counter, near the original soda fountain. Root beer is sold by the gallon for $4.50.

Best Indian Restaurant

Taj Express

This hidden treasure is tucked between a 7-Eleven and Titlemax on an unremarkable stretch of Lemmon Avenue, but our mothers taught us to not judge a book, or restaurant, by its cover. Taj Express, owned by the Ram family, offers authentic Northern Indian cuisine crafted from the chef's own recipes. The friendly staff will take orders from the menu, but the best deal is the $7.99 lunch buffet ($9.99 for dinner). On any given day, fresh batches of chicken tikka masala and saag paneer beckon from the buffet. Baskets of hot, fluffy naan are brought to the table. Finish off the buffet with a bowl of badami kheer that's sweeter and smoother than vanilla ice cream. The restaurant also takes to-go orders and offers catering.

Best Shopping List

Make 5 Dinners in One Hour

Debt ceilings and the predicted apocalypse don't seem to have any effects on our appetites or schedules. We have to credit Michelle Dudley of Wylie for making it easier to feed five mouths (and yes, that can mean one or two mouths, for two to five meals in a row) on a budget. With a three-month subscription for $15, meal planning maven Dudley sends a monthly newsletter including weekly dinner menus and complete shopping lists for five nights of entrées and suggested sides that can all be prepped and stored in one hour during the weekend. Each weeknight, grab one, follow heating instructions and a homemade dinner is ready for four to six people. Shockingly, the entrées aren't just tuna casserole-types, but simple, tasty recipes for Greek steak, fun sliders and even fish. Ingredients add up to around $65 at typical groceries, but with all the tips Dudley offers on her blog — posts on prepping lunches, coupon hints and varying recipes — you could spend even less money and time. If the end is near, you won't be wasting time cooking dinner.

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