Probably the most popular part of CultureMap’s Tastemaker Awards, our annual celebration of the best food and drink in Dallas, is the Best New Restaurant category.
This category differs from the rest of our editorial series, where we highlight nominees in categories such as best bars, best neighborhood restaurants, best emerging starred chefs, and best ghost cuisines. These are determined by a jury made up of former winners of the CultureMap Tastemaker Award and local F&B experts.
But the best new restaurant is the only category you choose in a bracket-style competition where 16 new restaurants compete against each other.
You can vote for your favorite once a day. The voting goes over four rounds, with two finalists being sorted out.
Who will win? Find out at the Tastemaker Awards Party on August 19th at the Fashion Industry Gallery, where we’ll have canapes from nominated restaurants as host CJ Starr reveals the winners. Buy tickets here.
The list of 16 nominees is described below. These are the brave restaurants that opened in one of the toughest times to ever open a restaurant.
To vote click here. Don’t hesitate: the first bracket ends on Monday 2nd August. Start Clicking!
An I
The French-Indian concept in the former Hattie room comes from the mother-daughter duo Afifa and Sabrina Nayeb (Laili, 8 cloves). The food is upscale Indian using French techniques such as aloo tikki with purple potatoes, goat cheese and pepita seeds; Beetroot samosa with walnuts, ginger, serrano, potato, yellow beetroot and peas; and masala baked eggplant with pine nuts and turmeric bechamel. An accompanying cocktail lounge called the Elephant Bar offers a wide range of champagnes.
Anju
The Spot in Uptown Dallas offers an Asian and American dining and drinking experience. The menu includes dishes from China, Korea, Vietnam and Japan – noodle bowls, cheesy fries and a kimchi of the day – while the cocktail program offers a choice between Korean or American mixology. An important feature is the terrace, an award-winning eye-catcher with a tree sprouting in the middle. They also host a variety of fun entertainments, including karoake and standup comedy.
Belse Vegan
The cutting edge vegan food at this plant-based restaurant in downtown Dallas comes with a celebrity aura: it’s a spin-off from Little Pine founded in Los Angeles by electronic musician Moby (who is no longer involved is, but still fun to call him.) -drops). There’s something refreshing about the down-to-earth approach they take, with dishes like a ketchup flight served with french fries that make you feel like a restaurant that happens to be vegan.
Elm & Gut
Modern American tavern in the Kimpton Pittman Hotel, in the landmark Knights of Pythias Temple in Deep Ellum. The menu changes frequently, but may include a board like the one made with raclette cheese, genoa salami, pickled cauliflower, and fingerling potatoes. A highlight every Sunday is the weekend brunch from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with shrimp & grits, smoked brisket hash and a French-style omelette with parmesan, chives, Yukon Gold hash browns and rocket.
Encina
The seasonal restaurant in the old Bolsa room in Oak Cliff is served by chef Matt Balke and front-of-the-house partner Corey McCombs. They offer a straightforward but adventurous menu with influences from Texas, California and the South, with a focus on seasonality and fresh ingredients. A typical main course is the lamb and pork sausage with green chili hominy grit and apple mustard or The Cliff Flatbread with goat cheese, provolone, confit tomatoes and rocket.
Hawthorn
The upscale restaurant in AT & T’s Discovery District in downtown Dallas is owned by the Apheleia Restaurant Group (Oak Dallas, Merchant House) and combines fine dining with an elegant club atmosphere. Open for lunch and dinner, it’s definitely there for you if you want an ambitious meal, with caviar, Wagyu beef and prime steaks from Allen Bros., as well as a long and delicious wine list. There’s also a separate full menu of sushi, sashimi, and raw bar specialties like oysters and poke.
Hai Di Lao hot pot
The Chinese hot pot chain was founded in China in 1994 and is expanding into the United States, where it debuted in Los Angeles in 2013. You choose your soup base, different types of meat and vegetables and a huge sauce bar. The food is well regarded, but it’s all the other things that make this place such a getaway: a robot delivers your order to the table with music, and there’s an item on the menu called “dancing noodles” in which a “noodle dancer” hand drawn noodles on the table.
Jaxon
The restaurant beer garden offers 34 beers on tap and modern / classic dishes influenced by Texas, Louisiana and New Mexico. Design elements include a mixed media collage of movie stars and Texan celebrities; Antlers on the beer taps; Cactus terrariums; and works of art made from vintage bricks. In addition to a dining room with 165 seats, the Jaxon has a 10,000 square meter terrace overlooking the courtyard of the AT&T Discovery District and a 10 meter high media wall with 6K resolution.
Cryo
Cajun Asian restaurant in the Bishop Arts District started as a pop-up before owners Dan Bui and Connie Cheng found this permanent place. Specialties include jambalaya spring rolls with chicken jambalaya stuffed in an spring roll and Cajun-style bao with pickled carrots, spring onions, sriracha aioli and a choice of chicken, andouille sausage or shrimp. Her slogan gets to the point: “Where the Far East meets the Deep South.”
Lucky’s Hot Chicken
The Dallas-based chain, which specializes in Nashville-style spicy hot chicken, is owned by the Vandelay Hospitality Group (East Hampton Sandwich Co., Hudson House Restaurant & Raw Bar, Drake’s Hollywood). It made its debut with the conversion of a landmark on Gaston Ave. 4505, the cool mid-century building where Norman Brinker, founder of Brinker International, opened his first concept, Brink’s Restaurant, but has plans for at least five locations in Dallas.
Manpuku
A chain of Japanese grill restaurants (yakiniku) from Tokyo opened their first Texas restaurant on Greenville Avenue in Dallas. The yakiniku experience focuses on raw protein and vegetables cooked at the table over small grills and eaten fresh and hot. In addition to la carte items such as beef tongue, guests can order omakase style for two or four people and receive a selection of meat, side dishes, salads and soft ice cream at a fixed price of $ 40 to $ 100 per person.
Marugame Udon
The chic udon noodle concept from Tokyo first came to the United States with a flagship store in Waikiki, Hawaii, before expanding to California and then Texas. It serves Sanuki-style noodles – a thick noodle that is uniquely chewy and yet tender, whether in soup or with sauce. In addition to noodle bowls, there is tempura, Japanese street food, grilled robata-style skewers, and sandwiches like Spam and cheese on lightly toasted Japanese milk bread.
meridian
Executive Chef Junior Borges’ modern Brazilian cuisine is the fine-dining space that is part of a slew of restaurants launched at The Village, the huge, downtown Dallas condominium that is a mixed-use lifestyle project of dining and entertainment realized in early 2021. The restaurant offers Brazilian-inspired dishes with snacks, cocktails, salads, brioche or a family-friendly feast from a live fire stove.
monarch
Located at The National, a residence-plus hotel in downtown Dallas, the Downtown Restaurant is another newcomer to Dallas who swears by the local Italian scene with dishes like a $ 55 lasagna and a $ 12 -Modify side with charred asparagus. Its skytop perch offers breathtaking views, making it the newest choice for special occasions. It comes from the sociable Chicago chef Danny Grant, who has his sights set on Dallas with other openings.
Rise & Thyme
The charming, seasonal American café in the AT&T Discovery District in downtown Dallas was created by celebrity chef Amanda Freitag, a regular on the Food Network who fought Bobby Flay at Iron Chef America, competed for America’s Next Iron Chef and was a juror functions when chopped. It’s a convenient and welcoming place, open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, serving salads, sandwiches, pastas, and patty melts.
Wok Star Chinese
David Romano’s modern yet authentic take on Chinese dishes is now open at The Hill, US-75 and Walnut Hill Lane with some hyper-authentic dishes – including the hugely popular Xio Long Bao, also known as soup dumplings, as well as hand-drawn noodles and two kinds of rolls, vegetables and fried pork. They also make the “Chinese” Americans Americans grew up with, like General Tso’s Chicken, Kung Pao Chicken, and Beef & Broccoli.
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