Modern American in Dallas

Beckley 1115 opened in January 2022 under the guidance of chef and restaurateur Sharon Van Meter, and in 2023 husband-and-wife duo Luke and Geni Rogers bought the restaurant. While Luke works the kitchen, Geni runs the front of the house and has curated a polished wine list of affordable options by the glass or bottle. The menu is dotted with American bistro favorites: shrimp, steaks and house-made pastas dominate the entrees. Appetizers sparkle, like a generous charcuterie board or delicate octopus carpaccio. In just a short time, the Rogers have turned Beckley 1115 into the neighborhood secret worthy of everyone’s attention.

Top Pick: Order the Butcher's Cut of the Day, which varies but is always executed with skill. A melting beef tallow candle in the center of the cut bastes the beef as you eat.

2 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

Cedar Grove

4123 Cedar Spring Rd. Uptown/Oak Lawn

Modern American

7 articles

Cry Wolf

4422 Gaston Ave. East Dallas & Lakewood

214-272-3066

Modern American

At the end of a modest strip mall on Gaston Avenue sits Cry Wolf, where the fare is anything but unassuming. Chef Ross Demers’ technical skill and finesse are on full display here, with a menu that changes depending on what Demers and team can get in that week. Think of the menu sequentially from smaller dishes to larger, with the freedom to order as little or as much as you like. Cry Wolf is intimate and creative, casual while elegant, and a shining example of one of the best culinary experiences that Dallas has to offer. For example, on our most recent visit, we tried a braised leg of lamb served on a bed of tagliatelle pasta that was a sonnet.

Top pick: With a menu that changes so often, no two visits will ever be the same. For the prime experience, try to make a reservation at the chef’s table, the last four seats at the bar in front of the wood-fired grill, where you have a front-row seat as the kitchen makes the magic happen.

5 articles

District Food & Wine

921 N. Riverfront Blvd Oak Cliff/South Dallas

214-226-8576

American, Comfort Foods, Modern American, Wine Bar

Design District Happy Hour! Do you live / work / play in the Design District? We want to meet our neighbors! District Food & Wine is hosting a Design District Happy Hour February 2nd from 5-7pm. You don't have to be apart of the Design District to join us. Serving the Design District & Beyond.

The Exchange

211 S. Akard St. Downtown/Deep Ellum

972-268-7605

American, Bar Food, Modern American

The Exchange serves as a large food hall and anchor for the AT&T Discovery District. There are more than a dozen locally owned and operated restaurants inside that offer a myriad of dining options: lobster rolls, burgers, baked goods, ice cream, mediterranean, waffles and more. A large bar in the center of the complex has lots of local drafts. Large amounts of seating is available both inside and outside The Exchange.

8 articles

Flora Street Cafe

2330 Flora St #150 Uptown/Oak Lawn

Modern American, Fine Dining, Recommended, Best Of, Slideshow, Readers' Choice

After more than a decade at his self-titled restaurant, serving his famous standards — tamale tart, cowboy rib-eye, heaven and hell cake — Stephan Pyles banished them to another concept and started anew at Flora Street Café. His goal is to cook more formally daring food, challenging Dallas taste buds and avoiding the greatest hits. The result is a daredevil modernist restaurant of a kind Dallas lacked. Techniques are intricate and frequently high-tech. Plates are beautifully presented. Most dishes have five or six components, all demanding analysis. Nothing at Flora Street is suited to chowing down or satisfying a craving. Dining at Flora Street is an odd experience, and not just because the kitchen is so daring. The starters feature playful, even fun dishes. Then the main courses arrive, dull and ordinary, with the kitchen’s endless array of techniques no longer apparent.

12 articles

Grace

777 Main St. Fort Worth

817-877-3388

Modern American, Recommended

Former Fuse chef Blaine Staniford has reemerged in Cowtown-and he's ditched delicate Asian fusion in favor of bold, meaty, old-school dishes such as Meyer Ranch steak cooked perfectly rare with a fried egg on top. Bacon-wrapped cipollini are irresistible and the fried oysters may rank as the best in all of DFW.

4 articles

The Honor Bar

26A Highland Park Village Park Cities

American, Modern American

Mon – Thurs 11:30am – 10pm Fri – Sat 11:30am – 12am Sun 11:30am – 9:30pm

1 article

IdleRye

2826 Elm St. Downtown/Deep Ellum

Modern American, European, Best Of

6 articles

Merchant House

4040 Maple Ave. Uptown/Oak Lawn

972-807-2174

American, Modern American, Menu

Smithville

Main St., Smithville Central Texas

512-237-3890

Bakery, Bar Food, Distilleries, Modern American, Vegan

Gazebo at the end of main street

Smoke

2408 Preston Rd., #704a Plano

972-599-2222

Barbecue, Comfort Foods, Steak, Modern American, Recommended, Slideshow

Smoke Plano is a lot like the first Smoke that opened in West Dallas years ago. They have similar color schemes and logos, and when you walk through the door the smell of smoke and seared meat gives you a nice, warm hug. The two restaurants share a lot of the same menu items, too, but where the Plano location differs is in its large, family style plates. There’s an Eisenhower rib eye cooked directly in the coals of chef Tim Byre’s fireplace, for instance, and a whole roasted branzino that requires timidly picking through bones. Most of these dishes are prepared in the large hearth you see just on the other side of the pass. Wood is burned down to red-hot coals that are then used to roast, grill and sear meats and vegetables. It’s unlike any kitchen in Dallas, which makes the drive to Plano worth it on its own.

14 articles

Smoky Rose

8602 Garland Rd. East Dallas & Lakewood

469-776-5655

Barbecue, Modern American, Recommended, Best Of

Every night, Smoky Rose prepares a selection of specials with titles — The Pork Dish, The Fish Dish, The Chicken Dish — which signal both simplicity and pretension. The Fish Dish is a simply seasoned, pan-seared rainbow trout fillet with deliciously crispy skin, set atop an almost too generous heaping of veggie sides.

Among the veggies are roasted celery root and sunchokes, a scattering of charred sweet corn and, stealing the show, outrageously good collard greens served with the pot liquor.

What about the barbecue basics? They’re pretty solid. The house style places full-on smoke flavors in the backseat behind the rub and inherent flavor of the meat. The sausage links are petite and arrive in a pair on the two-meat plate with good firmness. The jalapeño cheddar link has a satisfying amount of spice.

The restaurant’s carrot cake is something out of the ordinary. It’s not a traditional slice but rather a round, ultra-moist cake served hot and garnished with caramel rather than frosting. With the cake, as with the fish, Smoky Rose’s chef twists pay off big time.

9 articles

Standard Service

760 W Ralph Hall Parkway, Rockwall Garland & Vicinity

Modern American

1 article

Stirr

2803 Main St, #3 Downtown/Deep Ellum

Brunch, Modern American

10 articles

Town Hearth

1617 Market Center Blvd. Uptown/Oak Lawn

214-761-1617

Modern American, Steak, Critics' Pick, Best Of, Slideshow, Readers' Choice, Essentials

Let's get one thing clear right away: "Town Hearth" is not at all a cozy den for the people to gather about for warmth; either metaphorically or physically. Rather, it's the chandelier of restaurants in the middle of the bedazzled city, over the top in almost every way (even the bathrooms are amazing). From the Ducati over the bar to the $175 42-ounce bistecca (a short loin porter) to a tater-tot side dish topped with Dungeness crab and hollandaise sauce, this steakhouse exemplifies Dallas exuberance. As with all of chef Nick Badovinus' restaurants, it's a devilish take on opulence. Because why not?

Top Pick: If the wood-roasted lobster isn't in the budget, grab a seat at the bar for a phenomenal burger and a cocktail. Then soak in the glow from the eleventy thousand glistening bulbs from the flock of chandeliers over the dining room. And be sure to make a trip to the restrooms.

9 articles

Modern American in Dallas

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