The Best Restaurants in Every Dallas Neighborhood

Neighborhood by neighborhood, Dallas’ culinary scene is buzzing, and with upwards of a dozen Michelin-recommended restaurants recently announced, there are even more reasons to eat your way through the city. Enjoy a world of flavors and ambience ranging from cozy to elegant at the destination’s top spots for lunch, dinner, or a leisurely weekend brunch—a favorite with locals.

Enjoy Southern Italian cuisine in Highland Park

Courtesy of Visit Dallas

Step into Barsotti’s, a Southern Italian trattoria in Highland Park, order traditional polpettone—that’s meatloaf, Italian style—and settle in for a cozy meal that tastes like one your imaginary nonna made. Owned by Julian Barsotti of the Michelin Bib–listed restaurant Nonna, Barsottis’ meals, with classics including lasagna Bolognese and spaghetti and meatballs, are as warm and inviting as the atmosphere.

Eat French bistro fare in Knox-Henderson

Michelin-recommended Knox Bistro in the trendy Knox/Henderson neighborhood is well known for its spectacular weekend brunch scene. Regulars love the French bistro equally for its signature entrées such as confit de canard, filet au poivre, and raie au beurre noisette by classically trained chef Bruno Davillon, who earned his chops at a Michelin-starred restaurant, among other places. You’ll feel transported to la Rive Gauche with banquette seating inside and woven chairs on the terrace outside.

Another option in Knox-Henderson is old-school elegance and classic dishes like beef carpaccio and aligot de pommes de terre at Mister Charles. Or see what’s on the seasonal, locally sourced menu at Georgie, also in the neighborhood.

Sample Mediterranean favorites in Oak Lawn

Taste coastal Mediterranean fare—think green fava falafel, eggplant schnitzel, and tirokafeteri (a spicy feta dip served with warm pita)—at Sachet in Oak Lawn. (It’s the brainchild of the same husband-and-wife team behind Dallas’ Michelin Bib restaurant specializing in new American cooking, Gemma.) The vibe is relaxed and welcoming—wooden tables with sun-faded blue chairs make it seem like you’ve just come inside from an afternoon on a yacht.

Taste global flavors in Oak Cliff

Find a creative, international menu—including Korean fried chicken, falafel burger, jumbo lump blue crab–fried spaghetti—at Stock & Barrel in Oak Cliff’s chill Bishop Arts district. A nod to the former Safety Glass building that houses the Michelin restaurant, the stylishly industrial ambience features wood, concrete, and metal elements.

An alternative pick in the same neighborhood is Written by the Seasons, where you can celebrate its market-driven, seasonal menu featuring dishes like hearty seafood stew (mussels, scallops, shrimp with aioli).

Try iconic Southwestern dishes on McKinney Avenue

Courtesy of Visit Dallas

Chef Dean Fearing helped put Dallas on the culinary map decades ago with his mastery of Southwestern cuisine. His famous tortilla soup is legendary. You’ll still find it on the menu along with equally renowned chicken-fried lobster at the Michelin-listed Fearing’s Restaurant (another local brunch favorite) in the Ritz-Carlton, Dallas hotel, where you might spot him checking on tables himself—in cowboy boots and jeans underneath his chef whites.

Dine at a New Zealand-influenced restaurant on Lower Greenville

Take a trip Down Under without leaving the city at Quarter Acre on Lower Greenville, inspired by chef and owner Tony Archibald’s New Zealand roots and on the Michelin list. Sample sea bass en papillote or hot smoked Glory Bay salmon, followed by a flat white tart for dessert, as you cozy up with sheepskin throws that invite you to stay for a while.

Check out these other Michelin restaurants downtown and beyond

Courtesy of Visit Dallas

Many more Michelin-recognized restaurants in Dallas neighborhoods await, too. Try the hot and cold noodles with dipping sauces, plus sushi and yakitori, at the Japanese soba noodle house, Tei-An, in downtown Dallas. In the same neighborhood, you can order a 42-ounce Tomahawk steak at Stillwell’s, which serves its own ultra high-end, locally graded Akaushi beef, raised on a nearby ranch.

Another place to consider is chef Danny Grant’s elegant approach to seafood, pasta, and beef at Monarch, which is also downtown. For a view, enjoy grilled steak, fresh seafood, and wedge salads at Crown Block, located in Reunion Tower overlooking the area.

Elsewhere, go to Mercat Bistro in Victory Park for brunch. Order the smoked salmon benedict or the green chile crepes. In the Design District, sample the signature tiny tacos stuffed with wagyu beef and caviar at the elegant, Mexico City–inspired El Carlos Elegante.