Locations in Dallas: Critics' Pick

18101 Preston Rd. Richardson & Vicinity

972-381-0003

Indian, Pakistani, Critics' Pick, Best Of, Sponsor, Menu, Slideshow

This versatile North Dallas eatery seemingly does it all, from killer chaat — street snacks — to Desi-style pizzas topped with curry spices and paneer. The chaat is some of the area’s best, and probably the finest within Dallas city limits, but it’s the crisp-bottomed, warmly spiced pizza that has won our hearts and occasionally sends our minds wondering why this inspired fusion of cultures isn’t served at more local restaurants.

4 articles

18th & Vine

4100 Maple Ave. Uptown/Oak Lawn

214-443-8335

Barbecue, Critics' Pick

18th & Vine’s name comes from the neighborhood that put Kansas City jazz on the map, and the main dining room's cream-colored walls pay homage to those roots with photos of KC greats like Charlie Parker and Count Basie. The decor is classic and upscale eclectic, with none of the kitschy country touches that seem to define other barbecue joints. Tall windows brighten the interior, and the natural light will make Instagram photos of food look incredible. In fact, 18th & Vine is more than a “joint” — it’s an honest to goodness restaurant, with elevated menu choices to match. Come dinner hour, a sandwich-intensive lunch menu is replaced with chef Scott Gottlich’s eclectic entrées. The bone-in pork chop and pork belly come with a perfectly cooked chop served on a bed of mashed sweet potatoes, adorned with small spheres of granny smith apples and a savory glaze. The pork belly is equally amazing; bites started with rich smoke and ended with a sweet caramel finish, as if the pork turned into dessert in your mouth. For those who don't eat meat, the cauliflower steak is grilled and served with a cauliflower puree. A small selection of sweets includes a divine fried apple pie.

14 articles

20 Feet Seafood Joint

1160 Peavy Rd. White Rock Lake Area

972-707-7442

Seafood, Critics' Pick, Menu

20 Feet is what you get when two really good chefs try to simultaneously capture the casual elegance of a small Manhattan seafood restaurant and the glorious excess of a New England clam shack. The small dining room joins Good 2 Go Taco and Goodfriend Beer Garden and Burger House on Peavy Road in East Dallas, a trifecta of solid restaurants that draws a strong neighborhood following. Everything that emerges from 20 Feet's bubbling oil is delicious, from the fish and chips to the shrimp and oysters served in their glorious po-boy sandwiches. Drive down Garland Road towards Peavy Road and look for the badass pirate flag. Stellar seafood awaits.

22 articles

Ajumma Kimbob Deli

2240 Royal Lane Northwest Dallas

972-241-1122

Korean, Critics' Pick

At Ajumma, try Jjolmyeon, or cold spicy noodles, the perfect summer dish. A mess of noodles is served chilled and dunked in spicy red pepper sauce, surrounded by small mounds of julienned vegetables. Stir the veggies into your plate and enjoy. Ajumma’s atmosphere is distinctly old-fashioned; the restaurant’s founder recently opened a new spot, Hot Stone, which offers a very similar menu in a more modern setting.

1 article

Al Markaz

1205 W. Trinity Mills Rd. #112 Carrollton/Farmers Branch

972-245-9525

Pakistani, Indian, Critics' Pick, Essentials

For more than two decades years, Al Markaz has been an institution in the Dallas-area Indian and Pakistani communities. Some of the original employees are still here, and the lunch combo is still an outrageously good deal. That long history, and those low prices, are still a big part of the restaurant’s appeal, but there are plenty of good dishes coming out of the kitchen, including lentil stews and probably the best butter chicken within a dozen miles. It’s especially fun to visit in the evening during Ramadan and watch dozens of families arrive simultaneously to order mountainous, fast-breaking meals.

Top pick: The lunch combo includes a piece of naan and appetizer portions of three different main courses. You choose the mains; we recommend the nihari and dal palak (spinach and lentils).

Fun fact: The attached grocery store is excellent, with a wide range of South Asian foods, teas, sodas and English biscuits.

2 articles

AllGood Cafe

2934 Main St. Downtown/Deep Ellum

214-742-5362

American, Music Venues, Critics' Pick, Best Of, Menu, Slideshow, Essentials

If you designed the diner of your dreams, and you happened to be from south-central Texas rather than, say, New York or the Midwest, the result would look a lot like AllGood Cafe. The food here adds gentle Texan touches to American classics, like the fat slices of roasted poblano pepper in the terrific grilled cheese sandwich, or the fact that all sandwiches come with a side of tortilla chips rather than fries. The chicken-fried steak, with enormous, crisp batter that sprawls across a whole takeout container, is advertised as the “world’s best.” We don’t know if that’s true, but to find better, you’d probably have to drive to some tiny town in the Hill Country.

Top pick: Either the fabulous chicken club sandwich, with crisp, peppery bacon and avocado, or literally any dish that comes with the restaurant’s smooth mashed potatoes and ultra-peppery gravy. Come to think of it, all our favorite dishes at AllGood have huge quantities of black pepper.

Fun fact: The restaurant’s atmosphere, eclecticism and charm are best described by the slogan emblazoned across its website: “It’s like going to Austin, without having to go through Waco.”

44 articles

Arirang Korean Kitchen

2625 Old Denton Road, #556 Carrollton/Farmers Branch

972-242-2404

Korean, Critics' Pick, Best Of

At Arirang, it’s all about noodles and dumplings. This Korean restaurant in Carrollton is tops for homemade dough, whether you order made-from-scratch noodles or plump, freshly crimped dumplings loaded with chopped kimchi. Be careful around the noodles with spicy eggplant sauce, because the word “spicy” is taken very seriously. Similarly, the noodles in savory sesame broth are such a strong sesame flavor bomb that they’re for tried-and-true members of the sesame fan club.

Top pick: If you can’t decide, grab a bowl of soup No. 4, a noodle soup with dumplings in it, too; if the dumplings tear and meat slips into the broth, the soup only gets better.

1 article

Armoury D.E.

2714 Elm St. Downtown/Deep Ellum

972-803-5151

Hungarian, Critics' Pick, Best Of, Slideshow, Readers' Choice, Essentials, DrinkHere

When Armoury D.E. opened its doors in 2015, its mission was to offer some of the best cocktails, food and live music Deep Ellum had seen in years. The Armoury has stuck to what it knows best, offering a casual dining experience with a diverse selection of Hungarian comfort foods and other good stuff that doesn’t quite fit anywhere else. Be sure to ask about the burger of the week while you’re there. Also, venture out back to catch one of the free live shows, curated with a music taste as refined as the bar’s choice in booze.

1 event 36 articles

Asador

2222 N. Stemmons Freeway Downtown/Deep Ellum

214-267-4815

Eclectic, Southwestern, American, Critics' Pick

Being a casual bistro inside of a four-star hotel has its benefits like validated parking with an optional valet and high class ambience. The updated lobby's marble finishing offers a cool, sleek look and candlelight offers warm ambience that is striking and sophisticated. Aside from the absence of the famous chandelier, Asador stays true to the nearly three decades old hotel. In keeping with the casual theme, Asador's open dining room makes the restaurant an extension of the hotel lobby. The high ceilings and contemporary furnishings lend the dining room elegance, but the exposure to the lobby reminds diners they're eating in a hotel. Entree prices run in the $20 to $38 range, yet waiters are in jeans. Customers in the dining room can watch ESPN beaming from plasma TVs in the bar area. Tourist-heavy groups of diners adorned in jean shorts and baseball caps make up most of the clientele. The self-described American cuisine menu veers toward Latin and Southwestern influences while staying true to its organic intentions. Ingredients for every dish are beautiful and fresh.

9 articles

Babe's Chicken Dinner House

230 N. Center St. Arlington

817-801-0300

Fried Chicken, Southern, Critics' Pick, Best Of, Readers' Choice

The small menu here reflects the predominantly fried All-Stars of Texan and Southern cuisine. There's fried chicken and chicken-fried steak, natch. There's fried catfish and pot roast. There's fried chicken tenders and smoked chicken. That's the entire selection of main dishes at Babe's Chicken Dinner House. No joke. And that's a relief to see in a market chock-full of Southern/soul food shops slinging what seems like infinite permutations on the fried. The selection of side dishes (gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet corn, green beans, green salad and biscuits) and desserts (pineapple upside-down cake, chocolate meringue pie, coconut meringue pie, lemon meringue pie and banana pudding) is similarly tiny. But what's not tiny? The portions. They're served in true down-home style, with helpings as large as the elastic-waistband pants needed to eat at Paul Vinyard's 11,000 square-foot homage to poultry.

4 articles

Babe's Chicken Dinner House

1006 W. Main St. Carrollton/Farmers Branch

972-245-7773

Fried Chicken, Southern, Critics' Pick, Best Of, Readers' Choice

The small menu here reflects the predominantly fried All-Stars of Texan and Southern cuisine. There's fried chicken and chicken-fried steak, natch. There's fried catfish and pot roast. There's fried chicken tenders and smoked chicken. That's the entire selection of main dishes at Babe's Chicken Dinner House. No joke. And that's a relief to see in a market chock-full of Southern/soul food shops slinging what seems like infinite permutations on the fried. The selection of side dishes (gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet corn, green beans, green salad and biscuits) and desserts (pineapple upside-down cake, chocolate meringue pie, coconut meringue pie, lemon meringue pie and banana pudding) is similarly tiny. But what's not tiny? The portions. They're served in true down-home style, with helpings as large as the elastic-waistband pants needed to eat at Paul Vinyard's 11,000 square-foot homage to poultry.

8 articles

Babe's Chicken Dinner House

104 N. Oak St., Roanoke Fort Worth

817-491-2900

American, Comfort Foods, Fried Chicken, Southern, Traditional, Critics' Pick, Best Of, Menu, Readers' Choice

The small menu here reflects the predominantly fried All-Stars of Texan and Southern cuisine. There's fried chicken and chicken-fried steak. That's the entire selection of main dishes at Babe's Chicken Dinner House. No joke. And that's a relief to see in a market chock-full of Southern/soul food shops slinging what seems like infinite permutations on the fried. The selection of side dishes (gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet corn, green salad and biscuits) is similarly tiny. But what's not tiny? The portions. They're served in true down-home style, with helpings as large as the elastic-waistband pants needed to eat at Paul Vinyard's original Babe's location.

10 articles

Babe's Chicken Dinner House

1456 Belt Line Rd., #171 Garland & Vicinity

972-496-1041

American, Comfort Foods, Fried Chicken, Southern, Traditional, Critics' Pick, Best Of, Menu, Readers' Choice

We figure there's something wrong with people who can't enjoy an occasional fried chicken dinner. Nonetheless, we feared we'd be wandering onto the documentary set piece for America: The Obese at Babe's, a venerable family dining establishment in a Garland strip mall, a place where you'd expect to find an all you can eat fried chicken restaurant. We were wrong, sort of. Not everyone looked like they'd been feeding on fried chicken skin their entire lives, but all-you-can-eat places do tend to serve as magnets for the gluttonous. If we're going to overdo it, it might as well be with fried chicken and side dishes as tasty as these. Babe's serves up family-style dinners which include piles of super-crispy, thick-breaded monster chicken pieces, an iceberg lettuce salad (very fresh, with a sweet vinaigrette), tasty green beans, creamed corn (for those who can stand the sight of it), biscuits and excellent mashed potatoes. Everything, it seems, is doused in butter. Babe's has a few other things on the menu as well, including hickory-smoked chicken, pot roast, chicken-fried steak and fried catfish. Eat till you explode.

15 articles

Baby Back Shak

1800 S. Akard St. Oak Cliff/South Dallas

214-428-7427

Barbecue, Critics' Pick, Best Of, Essentials

A half slab at this barbecue joint means seven baby back ribs kissed with smoke, spiced with pepper and just-right tender: The meat doesn’t fall off the bone, but pulls off with the gentlest of tugs. It just narrowly beats out the boudin plate as our favorite order, but the boudin (here spelled boudain) is top-notch, too, especially dunked in a cup of sauce. The small dining room pays loving tribute to great blues musicians and displays two decades’ worth of media praise.

Top pick: We love two meaty sides: excellent, peppery, lick-the-takeout-container baked beans and the boudin links. (Yes, boudin can be ordered as a side dish with a rack of ribs to make the ultimate meat plate.)

4 articles

BBQ King

3112 N. Jupiter Rd. Garland & Vicinity

972-807-6910

Pakistani, Critics' Pick, Essentials

This spot is one of the best Pakistani restaurants in the Dallas area, which started in Richardson before moving to Garland in 2018. BBQ King serves some great naan — try it stuffed with spiced potatoes or topped with a showering of sesame seeds and cilantro. These are accompaniments to dishes such as haleem, the porridge-like soul food of lentils, wheat, ground meat, ghee, ginger and fried onion.

Top pick: Try the stew-like kunna gosht, made with goat leg, or beef karahi, which sets tomato sweetness against a balanced lineup of spices.

Fun fact: If you’re into paan, the leaf-and-nut chewing stimulant common in Pakistan, BBQ King has what most diners agree is the best paan counter in the area. (We haven’t indulged.)

1 article

Big Claw

2001 Coit Rd. Plano

972-596-3113

Chinese, Critics' Pick

Targeted at Asian-American millennials, Big Claw’s menu encompasses Chinese street foods, noodles and stir fries. The fare spans numerous regional cuisines, but it’s all delicious. Using a pencil, mark your order directly onto the paper menu, and be sure to choose at least one rice noodle dish — the noodles are perfectly tender and served in a rich, meaty broth — and a stir-fried veggie or two. More adventurous eaters can jump into a bowl of sour fish soup with numbing Sichuan peppercorns.

Top pick: The spicy-sour sweet potato noodles are translucent, slightly wide and served in a sauce that lives thrillingly up to its description.

The downside: There’s just too much to try here. Bring friends.

Fun fact: The restaurant was originally meant to serve crawfish — hence its name — but quickly pivoted after discovering that out-of-season crawfish is not so great.

2 articles

Big Tony’s West Philly Cheesesteaks

13378 Preston Rd. North Dallas

214-812-9092

Sandwiches, Critics' Pick

Why West Philly? Well, that’s where Anthony “Big Tony” Blaylock is from. He graduated from Temple University, which explains the college memorabilia at some of his mini-chain’s locations, and got experience in the restaurant business by working at local rival chain Fred’s before opening his own cheesesteak shop. Big Tony’s imports bread loaves from Philadelphia, because nothing made locally can match the unique, soft-but-firm texture of the breads into which this restaurant piles sliced steak and veggies. The menu is huge, and each day has its own specials, but look out for No. 8, with sautéed onions and mushrooms, and No. 15, which adds mushrooms, onions, banana peppers and slices of jalapeño. The meat is saucy, but never greasy, and we also appreciate the pandemic safety measures taken at each restaurant, including curbside pickup at some locations.

Top pick: The fried sides, including “toothpicks” and “hockey pucks” (fried straight-sliced onions and peppers, and fried jalapeño coins, respectively), are spot-on.

Fun fact: The enormous menu also includes burgers and a hot pastrami hoagie.

1 article

Bilad Bakery & Restaurant

850 S. Greenville Ave. Richardson & Vicinity

972-744-9599

Middle Eastern, Bakery, Critics' Pick, Best Of, Slideshow, Essentials

The Iraqi restaurant Bilad is a neighborhood institution. The superb bakery got its start turning out excellent samoon bread from Iraq and trays of delightful desserts like pistachio puffs and baklava. Bilad has an excellent kitchen serving Iraqi specialties, including some of the region’s better shawarma and falafel, zhug (an acidic hot pepper sauce), fresh tabbouleh and garlicky hummus. Kebab meat may look charred on the outside, but the interior is still perfectly tender. Grab a bag of that samoon bread as you leave, or visit the small grocery next door.

Top pick: The shawarma sandwiches, served on loaves of fresh Iraqi bread with fluffy soft interiors, are no-doubt, unanimous-vote choices for the Texas Sandwich Hall of Fame, especially if you ask that your sandwich be made spicy.

Fun fact: Bilad makes a point of providing food for their neighbors experiencing homelessness.

8 articles

Billy Can Can

2386 Victory Park Lane Uptown/Oak Lawn

214-296-2610

Modern American, Southern, Critics' Pick, Best Of, Essentials

For a certain kind of tourist or visiting family member, this fancified, all-frills saloon in Victory Park is a guaranteed hit. It presents a dressed-up, Wild West atmosphere that verges on kitsch (and, in the name, crosses that verge), while serving up food and drink vastly better than the gimmick might suggest. An adventurous, affordable selection of wines and cocktails backs up pretty killer renditions of skillet cornbread, Texas red chili, hot fried quail and summer okra succotash. Some of the mains, such as the big-boned pork chop, are over-the-top in a good way. Alongside Knife and Town Hearth, this is one of the best places to take out-of-town guests who ask for a stereotypically Dallas experience but still care about the food being good.

Top pick: The crispy oyster sliders with comeback sauce make a pretty flawless appetizer, and the burger is a meaty dream bathed in Longhorn cheddar.

9 articles

Boi Na Braza

4025 William D. Tate Grapevine

817-251-9881

South American, Steak, Critics' Pick, Best Of, Menu

This is arguably the best Brazilian "espeto corrido churrascaria," or continuous service grill house, in the area. The space is palatial, if a bit banquet-hall-esque, the salad bar is ample and relatively fresh and the skewered meats, served by gauchos with wicked carving knives slipped into their belts, are for the most part juicy and tasty. Plus, the meats are served with such relentless constancy that complimentary angioplasty services are offered in the bathrooms.

2 articles

Bolsa

614 W. Davis St. Oak Cliff/South Dallas

214-367-9367

Eclectic, International, Organic, Spanish, Bars and Clubs, Critics' Pick, Best Of, Slideshow

Just the concept of local ingredients trucked in from the farm every day, the reliance on organic meats and vegetables, and the ever-changing menu would be enough to attract enough of a following to sustain this small Oak Cliff station. But the kitchen is pretty damn good too-even without a deep fryer or walk-in freezer as back-up. The flavors are intensely fresh and the dishes creative without being overwrought. And if that's not enough, the owners designed Bolsa with great sensitivity to the building's historic look and feel. OK, so it's an old auto shop-it still feels like part of a 1940s neighborhood. Open, airy, with a cool "beer garden"-style patio. Still one of the best Bishop Arts has to offer.

58 articles

Boulangerie

1921 Greenville Ave. East Dallas & Lakewood

214-821-3477

Bakery, French, Critics' Pick, Best Of

If you’re looking for a well-made baguette, the Village Baking Co.'s Boulangerie is a good place to find one. If you’re lucky, you’ll witness the baker pull several from the oven as you walk through the door. Not everything is quite that fresh, but everything you see was baked that morning, from the croissants to the éclairs to the massive boules on the shelves behind the counter. Come in the afternoon and get a sandwich made on the same bread. Ham, cheese and butter sounds rather plain, but it’s one of the best ways to enjoy a baguette.

11 articles

Brick & Bones

2713 Elm St. Downtown/Deep Ellum

469-914-6776

Fried Chicken, Critics' Pick, Slideshow, DrinkHere

This bar in Deep Ellum has effortless charm and an easy attitude. Brick & Bones has six house cocktails all priced to move at $10 to $12, plus a bevy of beer ($2 pony High Lifes), wine and liquors. The small kitchen in the back pushes out 24-hour-brined Mexican-inspired chicken fried to order that will light your soul on fire and maybe other things. It's sexy-hot, but keep that down low because influencers may pick up on it and ruin the joint. Drinks roll out quickly, and service is on point. This is a pocket of Deep Ellum's old soul.

5 articles

Bullion

400 S. Record St. Downtown/Deep Ellum

972-698-4250

French, Critics' Pick, Menu, Slideshow

With a collection of specially commissioned sculptures and a dining room that’s literally a gold bar on the side of a skyscraper, Bullion is one of the most ambitious restaurants Dallas has seen in years. It’s also one of the best, with a deep cast of talented chefs producing elegant, but not pretentious, updates on classic French foods. Dig through the superb bread basket, share maybe the city’s best beef tartare and revel in the exquisitely cooked seafood. (Grab a side order of crispy bistro-style pommes frites, too.) A superb, all-French wine program, outstanding desserts by pastry star Ricchi Sanchez and world-class people-watching complement the excellent dinners.

Top pick: Many of the best meals are rotating daily specials, which change seasonally and always represent chef Bruno Davaillon’s technique at its peak.

The downside: Last year, we heard lots of reports that Bullion’s service falls down somewhat when the customer isn’t recognized as a newspaper food critic. Some of that lesson has been learned, reportedly, but a literal gold bar full of sculptures is probably always going to play favorites to some extent.

Fun fact: The entrance, at the corner of Young and Record streets, is a grand spiral staircase direct from the sidewalk; ask the valet if you need an elevator.

6 articles

C. Senor

330 W. Davis St. Oak Cliff/South Dallas

214-941-4766

Burgers, Caribbean, Cuban, Sandwiches, Critics' Pick, Best Of

The Cubano sandwich at the little Oak Cliff hut is fantastic. The roast pork is shredded to strings and fatty and juicy. The ham is sliced thick, the cheese is melty and those pickles tag-team the taste buds with a healthy dose of mustard for a much needed punch of acid. Despite it's Caribbean flavor, this stand also offers a grand take on the hamburger: beef and chorizo patty, spiced ketchup, diced onion, potato strings (crispy and thin!), pepperjack cheese -- all on a soft Cuban roll. Whatever you order, don't forget the yucca fries dusted with chili salt.

8 articles

Cabritos Los Cavazos

10240 N. Walton Walker Blvd. Northwest Dallas

972-707-7020

Mexican, Critics' Pick, Essentials

Cabritos is the star at the only full-on Monterrey-style, goat-grilling show in the Dallas area. Stare through the glass kitchen wall at the massive pit, above which goat legs, shoulders and ribcages stand like planted flags, then feast on one of the cuts alongside charro beans and the restaurant’s excellent salsas. Few make-your-own-taco experiences in Dallas get as good as this. One portion of cabrito, with all the fixings that come with it, is enough to make one person full or to satisfy two people who’ve also shared an appetizer.

Top pick: Splurge on the whole goat for $235. If that’s a little too much food for your household, consider the spectacularly rich machitos — rolls of goat meat, fat and organs stuffed into the animal’s digestive tract and grilled until crispy.

Fun fact: If you’re wondering why the dining room is a little strange, and why the kitchen has a glass wall partition, it’s because this space used to be a liquor store.

2 articles

Cadot

18111 Preston Rd. Richardson & Vicinity

972-267-5700

French, New American, Critics' Pick, Best Of

Jean-Marie Cadot cooks up some impressive French-New American dishes at this North Dallas destination. His version of escargot, riding in a Pernod-spiked sauce, ranks amongst the best in Dallas. The homemade terrines are memorable, and most other dishes will at least set you to talking - although at review time they were still working out a couple service and kitchen kinks. Still, Cadot is one of the better moderately priced restaurants in the area.

5 articles

Cafe Momentum

1510 Pacific Ave. Downtown/Deep Ellum

214-303-1234

New American, Critics' Pick, Best Of, Essentials

Cafe Momentum is a nonprofit venture that employs juvenile previously involved with the justice system and pays them fair, living wages to help teach them life skills, leadership and, of course, how to work in a restaurant. Because of the employees’ fair wages, any tips left behind are considered donations to the mission. As such, it’s easy to praise the restaurant without ever mentioning food, just by dwelling on the life-changing effects it has on young people who deserve this chance to work and grow. But here’s the thing: Cafe Momentum is a genuinely good restaurant, one that consistently manages to stand out from the glut of Southern kitchens around town.

Top pick: Menu items rotate along with the interns and the professionals who teach them, but look for market-fresh fish with seasonal sides, savory crawfish beignets or an excellent plate of shrimp and grits.

9 articles

Cafemandu Flavors of Nepal

3711 N. Belt Line Rd. Irving/Las Colinas

469-647-5067

Nepalese, Critics' Pick, Essentials

Of Irving’s top Nepalese restaurants, Cafemandu boasts the biggest and deepest list of momos, the country’s beloved pleated dumplings. Cafemandu even has dessert momos, but it’s probably best to start with the classic steamed variety to admire the thin, nearly translucent dough around the plump filling then work your way through spicy chili momos covered in hot sauce and sautéed with peppers, jhol momos, served in a bowl of mildly spiced broth, and even dumplings bathed in cheese.

Top pick: One you best bets is sekuwa, the Nepalese grilled skewers of seasoned meat similar to kebabs; try the ultra-flavorful goat.

2 articles

Carbone's

4208 Oak Lawn Ave. Uptown/Oak Lawn

214-522-4208

Italian, Market, Critics' Pick, Best Of

Dallas’ best red-sauce Italian joint serves classics like spaghetti with meatballs, fried calamari and veal Parmesan and does them right. Save room if possible, because the tiramisu (made with espresso) and cinnamon-cream-filled cannoli are as close to perfection as you’ll find. Carbone’s is a more casual alternative to owner Julian Barsotti’s two fine-dining establishments, Nonna and Fachini, and it even includes a retail section that sells wines, frozen ravioli and one-pound tubs of Sunday gravy to go.

Top pick: The big, beautiful slab of lasagna bolognese, with its perfect, slightly burnt cheesy edges, can cause years-long cravings. But the pasta with Sunday gravy, a half-day-simmered sauce with a mixture of beef, pork, veal and sausage, might be even better.

Fun fact: Like a wine from the list? Buy a bottle to go for 45% off the menu price. (No, Carbone’s is not BYOB, so you cannot create a loophole by buying wine “to go” and then opening it in the dining room.)

18 articles

Casa Komali

4152 Cole Ave., #106 Uptown/Oak Lawn

214-252-0200

Mexican, Critics' Pick, Menu

The Top 100 Dallas Restaurants, No. 43: Chef Hugo Galvan, formerly of Flora Street Cafe and Revolver Taco Lounge, is one of the new faces at the remodeled and renamed Casa Komali, alongside his partner in the kitchen, Adrian Alba, a veteran of Victor Tangos and Hibiscus. This longtime restaurant has recently gotten a spectacular facelift, with a beautiful new dining room that bathes in warm, welcoming light and reflects it back through woodwork and exquisite Mexican tile. In the kitchen, Alba, Galvan and their team make tortillas from scratch with flavorings like mole spices and guajillo pepper, to serve as foundations for inventive tacos. Tradition meets modernity in other dishes, too, like the chile en nogada, a Mexico City staple that’s hard to find anywhere else in north Texas.

Top pick: Pork belly tacos on mole tortillas, with dots of avocado cream, make for exquisite bites.

The downside: As inventive as some of the dishes are, one can’t help wishing that others would push the envelope, and push Dallasites’ comfort zones, a little more. With a little time, this reinvention of the restaurant could get there.

Fun fact: Casa Komali serves up one of this critic’s favorite Sunday brunches in the city.

Casa Vieja Restaurant

1927 E. Belt Line Rd. #152 Carrollton/Farmers Branch

972-416-8172

Colombian, South American, Critics' Pick

This Colombian institution in Carrollton is best at the soups available as specials on certain weekends, like ajiaco, a chicken-potato soup made with indigenous corn, or a Caribbean-influenced, curried seafood bonanza. The bandeja paisa, a regional sampler plate, is excellent for newcomers to Colombian cuisine, and the empanadas are good, too. Casa Vieja has a stage with live music some nights.

4 articles

Cattleack Barbeque

13628 Gamma Rd. Carrollton/Farmers Branch

972-805-0999

Barbecue, Critics' Pick, Best Of, Essentials

In an industrial park in Farmers Branch, Cattleack Barbeque lives up to every bit of hype it’s received. Fabulous fatty brisket and extraordinary pulled whole hog are the stars of the show, as is a vinegar-based coleslaw. Grab another bite of slaw and you’ll be prepared to tackle that next slice of Texas hot link.

Top pick: Some weeks, the Cattleack crew smoke beef ribs rubbed with a pastrami spice mix. The ribs are jaw-dropping; order an extra, take it home and throw it in a pot of beans the next day. In fact, order extra of everything in general, and you’ll be cooking the best beans of your life.

1 event 29 articles

Locations in Dallas: Critics' Pick

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