Bangkok City looks and acts much like a dozen other Thai restaurants in the area, but its results are so reliable, and its food so hearty, that it can satisfy the cravings of the entire Greenville and SMU neighborhoods. The takeout game is especially strong, with enormous, well-spiced curries so generously filled with meat and veggies that they can easily feed two. Dine in, though, and that fried whole red snapper in chili sauce starts to look mighty tempting.
Readers' Pick:
Royal Thai
Finding House of Gyros is part of the fun. On the way out of downtown Mesquite, to the east, the restaurant announces itself with a wooden roadside sign and a sudden flurry of cars parked on the grass. Inside, the Kaprantzas family is serving perfectly seasoned souvlaki, soul-warming moussaka, generous gyro wraps, legit steak fries and some of the most perfectly breaded calamari in Dallas. It won't be easy, but try to stay hungry enough for loukoumades, the Greek version of sopapillas.
Readers' Pick:
Ziziki's
In a town where brunch has become ubiquitous, it can be difficult for one to stand out. Not so for Wayward Sons, Graham Dodd's restaurant that emphasizes seasonal ingredients and local sourcing. This Lower Greenville spot has everything you could want for brunch: a sunny patio perfect for people-watching, a killer cocktail list and a well curated menu. Start things off with The Wayward Son, a light and bright gin cocktail with chartreuse. Next, order the crème brûléed grapefruit, with its shiny, sugary top just waiting to be cracked. And finally, order a plate of the eggs Benedict, in which crumpets, lamb sausage and amber-orange duck eggs combine to create one of the finest iterations of this classic dish you'll ever have.
Readers' Pick:
Bread Winners Cafe and Bakery
Eating at Dal Dong Ne feels like belonging to an underground club. The restaurant's signage is in Korean, with its westernized name in small letters next to the door. Nobody seems to have told the staff that Google thinks the restaurant is "permanently closed." Thankfully, Google is wrong and Dal Dong Ne is still around, serving up oyster pancakes, fried mackerel that would make a Cajun salivate and a whole host of family-style soups. There are dishes better-known to Westerners, too, like bulgogi, but this is a place to branch out and fall in love with something new.
Sara's Market & Bakery is the most comprehensive Middle Eastern grocery in the area, with a full selection of foods from the Mediterranean and Muslim worlds. Stock up on a half-dozen kinds of feta cheese; sample unusual deli meats; browse the tea and sardine aisles; grab all the ingredients to make hummus at home. Sara's also carries several lines of pastries and sweets from local bakeries, in case all those things sounded too healthy. One caveat for rookie shoppers: Middle Eastern candy bars tend to be far less sweet than the American rivals.
Just about everything you need for a great picnic can be had at Scardello. There's the case of cheese, of course, with free sampling encouraged. Grab a handful of imported sausage links and other cured meats, then look at the shelves of French jams and fig spreads. The fridge up front has a few bombers of craft beer, and Scardello's wine selection is at least as good as its range of cheeses. With everything else picked out, all you'll need to grab is a baguette and you're ready for lunch at the park.
Kalachandji's touts itself as Dallas' oldest vegetarian restaurant, which may be true, but we're calling it Dallas' best vegetarian restaurant. Tucked into residential East Dallas, this restaurant is located inside of a Hare Krishna temple. The patio is one the best kept secrets in Dallas, and eating there makes the experience somehow magical. Pay the suggested donation for the buffet, which features a rotating selection of predominately vegan dishes and always includes soup, a salad bar, freshly baked bread, a selection of veg and their signature tamarind tea. Following Ayurvedic tradition, no onion or garlic is used, but Kalachandji's doesn't let that stop them from producing incredibly delicious, satisfying food that skips the meat without missing a beat.
Readers' Pick:
Cosmic Cafe
What does a kitchen of meat experts do when their smoker is filled with sausage links, brisket, pastrami and other goodies? Put some chickens at the very bottom, of course. The Blind Butcher's chicken is smoked at the bottom of the pit, where it continually bastes in the juices of all the meats above. That explains how the ultra-juicy chicken takes on notes of other meats, pepper, sage and herbs. To top it all off, Blind Butcher adds a garlic-butter sauce. Go big or go home, and chicken doesn't get bigger-flavored than this.
We've been fans of the Slow Bone's barbecue for some time, but when we tried their fried chicken this year, it gave us a whole new reason to visit. Credit pit master Jeffery Hobbs, whose previous gig at Sissy's Southern Kitchen gave him plenty of experience when it comes to fried poultry. At Slow Bone, Hobbs has taken the smoke that Slow Bone is famous for and infused it into chicken with a perfect amount of crunch to its battered skin. The result is none too greasy and has enough smoke to enhance but not overpower the flavor of the bird. The fried chicken is great on its own, but also pairs well with Slow Bone's more traditional smoked meats for a carnivore's dream meal. A barbecue joint that turns out some of the best fried chicken in the city, you ask? Absolutely.
Dallas is something of deli desert. Luckily, there is one spot in far North Dallas that delivers an authentic New York deli experience. Don't be surprised if you find yourself waiting at the end of a long line at Deli News. Saturdays and Sundays typically mean this place is packed with diners eager to get their hands on bagels with cream cheese and lox and giant plates of house-made corned beef hash. Hungry for something on the sweeter side? Try the French toast, made from thick slices of challah bread, or a stack of their whisper-light pancakes. While the restaurant can feel a bit frenetic, that energy is part of the allure. It's like being in New York: all the delicious food, minus the airfare.
Readers' Pick:
Cafe Brazil
