Best Mom and Pop Restaurant 2012 | Mesa | Best of Dallas® 2020 | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Dallas | Dallas Observer
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Best Mom and Pop Restaurant

Mesa

Mesa

The "mom and pop" label has been thrown about so much it now describes just about any small business that's not owned by Walmart. There are still a few restaurants around town, though, that are not just family-run but owned and operated by an actual mom and pop. Mesa has been rocking Oak Cliff's authentic Mexican cooking scene for more than a year now and Raul and Olga Reyes seem only to be gaining momentum. Their small restaurant has given way to an expanded footprint with a large outdoor patio that's perfect for a quiet dinner al fresco, and a lounge next door that will keep you drinking till last call. Don't think all this growth has changed the identity of this place a bit, though. Go see for yourself. On any given night you'll find Raul working the front of the house while Olga keeps the kitchen in line, pouring their hearts into what is definitely a family affair.

Best Steak

Nick and Sam's

While beef sourcing, ageing and handling can have huge influences on the meat that lands on your plate high-end steak houses, all end up serving about the same thing: steak cooked your requested shade and a big fat check. Nick and Sam's has a few differentiators, and their biggest is the steak sauce. Chef Samir Dhurandhar wanted to do something different for the condiment so he leaned on his Indian roots to gather tamarind, caramelized onions, cumin, ginger and charred tomatoes. It's basically a sexed-up hyper refined tamarind chutney. The mixture is cooked over a low and slow flame for three days of reduction it rests in a Jack Daniel's whiskey barrel for 10 days. The results are dark as pitch and require a little lemon and honey to wake things up but all the labor is worth it. Dhurandhar's steak sauce is so complex and intense you only need to dip the smallest corner of a piece of steak into the massive gravy boat of sauce to fill your mouth with flavor.

Best Margarita

Meso Maya

Lauren Drewes Daniels

Dallas is basically flooded with margarita mix. Actually, the entire country is. It makes you wonder why politicians waste time on health care and jobs when they should be campaigning on platforms of margarita reform in an effort to root out the sharp, tart and cloying versions made with bottled mix. If they needed a figurehead, Meso Maya's cocktail would suit nicely. Served over rocks, or up if you like, the drink garners its sweetness naturally from a small wedge of pineapple, and muddled avocado lends the drink body, viscosity and a creaminess that may look a little odd but goes down smooth. Try one with fried tortilla chips and salsa that actually bring some personality to the table. Fresh tomatoes, roasted chiles and a subtle warm glow will stoke your desire for a second drink before you've even finished your first.

Best Chef

Jason Maddy at Oak

Wits Steakhouse/Kathy Tran

When Oak opened earlier this year it captured the attention of an entire city. Six months later not a lot has changed. Chef Jason Maddy's cooking has been consistently praised, and the restaurant still feels like it's gaining momentum, likely because in addition to great cooking, the menu is relatively affordable. Not that you'd know it by looking at these plates. A daily crudo features a fresh fish that rotates with availability, paired with pickled vegetables and a soy caramel sauce. A pork and octopus dish features tender jowls and tentacles. And a berbere spiced lamb loin accompanies an amazing sweetbread panzanella. That food this good comes in one of Dallas' most comfortable dining rooms doesn't hurt things either.

Best Beer Bar

Meddlesome Moth

"Captain" Keith Schlabs, the godfather of craft beer in Dallas, knows a thing about brews, as one can see from the hundreds of beers available at his Flying Saucer locations. It's here at the Meddlesome Moth, though, where he cashes in the connections he's made with breweries over the years. If it's a very rare, limited release, chances are the Moth will be the one bar in Dallas to get it. The well-curated everyday selection, weekly special tappings and blowout festivals make it a regular destination for the area's most dedicated beer lovers.

Best Cocktails

The Windmill Lounge

The Windmill Lounge, located on the cusp of Maple Avenue and Denton Drive, is a tiny and unassuming dive bar that serves some of the best cocktails in town. There's no valet or swanky dress code here. In fact, the bar (perhaps most noticeable by the blue neon windmill perched on its roof) is practically hidden, and if you're not paying close enough attention you'll drive past its gravel entrance. Owners (and ex-spouses) Charlie Papaceno and Louise Owens alternate shifts at the bar, mixing up staples like the dirty martini, Prohibition-era drinks and off-menu concoctions named after the regulars who drink them. Papaceno, who grew up in southeast New York, is eager to show you how he does it, if you're willing to learn, and among his customers are bar maestros Michael Martensen (The Cedars Social) and Jason Kosmas (Marquee).

Best Meal Under $15

Tacos La Banqueta

Go into La Banqueta and do your best to ignore the short man running water through 15 feet of cow intestine in the sink behind the counter. Ignore the grubby floors, the narrow space and the sticky counter you'll have to eat at if you don't want to take your order to go. Walk right up to the register, and order the suaqueso and as many pastor tacos as you think you can handle. Add an ice cold Topo Chico and a modest tip. You won't eat all the tacos, though. You might not even be able to eat two of them once you get all of that delicious suaqueso in your belly. The mixture of melting, stringy cheese and crunchy bits of braised then griddled brisket is enough to lay a man out all on its own.

Best Chicken-Fried Steak

The Mecca

When The Mecca announced its most recent move to East Dallas from the west side of town on Harry Hines Boulevard, the announcement carried a bit of extra news. The diner that's as old as dirt would kick off dinner service for the first time since opening in 1938. Breakfast all day had been a favorite at the greasy spoon that served up eggs through lunch time, but the expansion into dinner service meant that well after sunset you could get two sunny-side up alongside a savory piece of steak beaten to a pulp, breaded and fried to a crisp. Have you ever dragged a hunk of chicken-fried steak that's already smothered in gravy through the glistening yolk of a perfectly fried egg? Have you ever done it after a long day of work? The Mecca's CFS will make all of those job hurts fade away, blanketed in a greasy sheen of gently peppered pan gravy.

Best Veggie Burger at a Non-Veggie Joint

The Meridian Room

At most non-veg eateries, a veggie burger is a sad, shrunken prospect, some freezer-burned Morningstar cast-off tossed unadorned onto a plate. A non-burger like that can darken the whole dining room. Not Meridian Room, though: If their veggie burger isn't made in-house, they're doing a damn good job fooling us into thinking otherwise. The patty somehow tastes juicy and like whole grains at the same time, and they'll cheerily pile that sucker with avocado, havarti and jalapeños on request. Pair it with their perfectly crispy sweet potato fries for a plate that'll make your meat-eating dining companions jealous.

Best Vegetarian Food

Kalachandji's

Beth Rankin

Kalachandji's, the beloved East Dallas Hare Krishna temple and eatery, finds its way onto our list year after year. We're boring, we know. But we'll never tire of sitting in their beautiful garden patio, eating dal and vegetable curry and drinking tamarind tea. And after a fire in another part of the building closed the kitchen for a few days, we're relieved to see the restaurant open and unscathed. No matter how busy the lunch hour, the atmosphere here is always as meditative and peaceful as a museum, and while the food's not fancy, it's healthy, fresh and plentiful. Try the homemade bread, and if at all possible save room for some vanilla-inflected rice pudding at the end (skip the halvah, which tastes exactly like halvah). Afterward, pay a visit to the dim, beautifully muraled sanctuary across the hallway, making sure to remove your shoes first. Om.

Best Of Dallas®

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