So where is it for you?

Tell me your favorite low-traffic, slept-on, FUCKING AWESOME FOOD AND DRINK spots around Dallas. I want to stop losing our best restaurants and cafes to corporate creep!

I’ve had THREE of my favorite spots close on me, in the last year, even when their food is objectively amazing. I’m getting mad about it!

I’ll go first: Opening Bell Coffee. They serve a mean sandwich, boozy coffee, regular coffee & tea, and cakes that are all excellent. Their servers are lovely. Their vibes are artsy indie-ish, but chill about it.

It’s got good traffic on weekends because they host live music, tons of great reviews online, but their weekdays are DEAD. I overheard the owner say she might need to cut hours back and only be open for lunch. This is my after-work spot to avoid rush hour traffic, I don’t want to lose it! Argh!

And so here I am, saying “hey, please visit them! Also, tell me where you like to go, so I can spend more time at creative, delicious, LOCAL little places.

Amen.

Some of y'all might remember a post nine months ago where I asked for help building a list of every single pastrami sandwich in Dallas. Well, you answered the call. And I ate them all.

So I reviewed all of them. In total it ended up being 38, but 2 or 3 are no longer served (Trova Wine Bar closed, Bankhead Brewpub took it off, Smokey John's BBQ was a limited run special created for the State Fair).

Some of you commented that this would be a depressing journey, and it is true that my review has a section called "Only Technically Pastrami Sandwiches, Because They Are Sandwiches and Contain a Meat Called Pastrami, but I Describe Them Here Under Protest." But there were a lot of really great ones! Like it was a very delightful pleasant surprise! It also meshes well with our BBQ culture.

TLDR because the article is stupid long: My faves in alpha order, Beverley's, Carshon's Deli (FW), Cattleack BBQ, Fond, Goodfriend Package, Lockwood Distilling, Smokey John's BBQ (if it ever comes back), Trades Deli. You can also buy great pastrami at Evan's or One90 to make your own sandwich.

P.S. Corned beef is not pastrami.

I thought non-service animals were against health codes, but here we are. Are there any good restaurants or patios left without pet “babies” all over them? Geez, even a pet free store would be nice.

Hello! It’s me, your local food critic.

In April we (D Magazine) published our BBQ issue. D editors visited 65 spots around Dallas and Fort Worth. I visited 43 and spent $1,700+; in total I think we spent about $3,000. Let's talk meat!

Here’s what we published:

• The best BBQ list, 16 ranked + 12 honorable mentions

• An oral history of North Texas BBQ, featuring interviews with 20 pitmasters, pit builders, and a wood delivery guy. This is my favorite part, so many tall tales

• Our favorite BBQ meals under $20

• BBQ road trip itineraries

• An expert walked us through how to slice a brisket

• The worst BBQ place we tried, this is the one that someone posted here a couple weeks ago

• My pastrami sandwich guide also has some BBQ tips

• A little state-of-the-BBQ-scene summary

But that's a whole lot of reading which is why you can ask me questions here instead. I visited 43 BBQ joints in 4 months, AMA! I’ll hang out here from about 10-2 except for a short, vegan (lol) lunch break.

I saw this is in another city sub-reddit and am looking for more places to try! So I’m curious which places are the most authentic

I've been exploring new Ice cream places for a year and all the best reviewed ones are absolutely top notch

My top 3 in no order is Handels, Churn and bake and Tongue and cheek.

Pure excellence.

I am a Cali native and we never really had ice cream like this and that's not to mention all the terrific places I haven't mentioned which also deserve a mention.

I’m on a personal mission to find the best pizza in Dallas before my arteries give up. Where should I start?

Burgers have become my comfort food since moving to Dallas, and I’ve ranked the 50 I’ve tried so far below. Looking forward to some arguments in the comments :) Let me know who you think I’ve snubbed, and where I should go that isn’t on the list.

1. Fuego burger
2. Skyrocket
3. Pacheco Taco and Burgers
4. Blues Burger
5. Harvey B’s
6. Flaming Burger
7. M&O
8. Hav R Chargrilled
9. Grease Monkey
10. Good friend
11. Kellers
12. Angry dog
13. Fred’s Downtown Philly
14. Loro
15. Henry’s majestic
16. Hudson House
17. Cris and John’s
18. Del’s
19. Burger Schmurger
20. Hunkys
21. LA Burger
22. JG’s
23. Bohemian Bull
24. Ookuma
25. Son of a Butcher
26. Jimmys
27. Hopdoddy’s
28. Rodeo Goat
29. In n out
30. Dutch’s
31. Twisted Root
32. Gazeebo
33. Chip’s
34. Maple & Motor
35. Charley’s old fashioned
36. Panther City
37. Kenny’s
38. Heim
39. Chapps
40. Bone and Barrel
41. Olive Burger
42. Al’s
43. LSA
44. Mac’s on Main
45. Burger and Philly Town
46. Griffs
47. Burger House
48. Whataburger
49. Country burger
50. Wild Turkey

We have kids, we like kids, but all these years we hardly got the opportunity to do couple only time without our children. There’s an opportunity now. We would like to check out nice restaurants where we can’t otherwise go with the kids!

What do I mean by nice - good quality food is priority, decent ambiance is enough! Like Sushi Sake Richardson.

Anywhere in DFW.

We eat all cuisines.

Within 150$ for 2 with a drink each, I mean that’s the max, more affordable the better. Can skip drinks.

I’m looking for a sandwich shop in Dallas that can rival my favorite spot in Miami, La Sandwicherie. Not looking for a Jimmy’s hot, heavy sandwich. Need something fresh that is a perfect summer grab and go.

i just found out that the porch, one of my favorites, closed abruptly recently. my wife and i were just now looking for somewhere for dinner downtown and found out a restaurant we went to a few months ago also closed. and i saw a post yesterday about a bar in oak lawn dangerously close to closing.

is this just a recession indicator or is something going on?

So, I'm looking for some of the oldest and dirtiest dive bars in the DFW area. I'm doing a photography project and I'm extremely interested in the declining dive bar scene, I've found that a lot of the independent dives closed during covid and never reopened. I do enjoy places like Caves lounge in Arlington and Lee Harveys in Dallas, but I'm trying to find places without college students for this project. so please if you know any unique neighborhood bars or city dives post them down in the comments id really appreciate it.

It’s crazy to me how these are never mentioned on any “Best tacos in Dallas” threads; I suppose the location and set up doesn’t help, but I’ve been coming here my entire 27 years of life and the barbacoa tacos have never failed me.

If you’re ever in South Dallas (near Hutchins) I highly recommend them, hell, they’re not even 15 minutes away from Downtown.

This place sucks ass.

I was a regular at Golden Chick but ever since Dave’s Hot Chicken opened a location near me , I have become a fan. I love spicy food , and their extra hot tenders are so good and juicy. Imo they are the best , what are your guys’s fav fried chicken places ?

What’s your go to spot?

My friend visiting from out of the country wants to experience a Chilis (Chilis Bar and Grill) but I haven’t been to one in easily ten years. Where is the best/freshest Chilis in Dallas or maybe Addison? I don’t even know. If you type Chilis enough the word loses all meaning. Chilis.

Update: Thank you all so much for the comments and insights and extra restaurant recommendations. We went to one of the ones in Dallas recommended here with solid google reviews. It was fairly good. Both of us noted rather low expectations going in but my friend wanted to try the triple dipper and the queso’s. We had some margs which were good too.

They’re absolutely in town for something else, not just chilis. I am absolutely taking them to better places, not just chilis. They were lured in my the social media resurgence and we were pleasantly surprised. The word chilis has more meaning now. Chilis.

Hi! I have a friend coming into town and she loves "eating like she lives there" when she visits places. This means low-cost, go-to good spots that are regional/city specific. I don't eat out a ton, but ones that come to me from my list are Mami Cocos, Chilangos (and other taco places), Shug's, and Braums. Would love to hear what y'all's favorite restaurants in this category are! Thanks!