When your friends and relatives visit Dallas, you know what you have to do: Take them to the Sixth Floor Museum. Hit the Farmer’s Market. Walk around the Stockyards. But most importantly, show off all the incredible restaurants the Metroplex has to offer.
Your out-of-town guests should try the tastiest Texas barbecue, the most beloved steakhouses, and the coziest Tex-Mex joints. They’ll want to see why that one French restaurant got a Michelin star. They’ll want to take in a bird’s-eye view of Downtown from the 49th floor. They’ll want to dine inside “the Ball,” that iconic feature of the Dallas skyline.
This list of 18 includes the restaurants that really make the Metroplex the Metroplex. You won’t be able to get to all of them in a weekend, of course, so your visitors will just have to start planning their return trip.
Roots Southern Table
Not long after superstar chef Tiffany Derry opened this southern restaurant in Farmers Branch, the accolades started pouring in. Those accolades included nods from the James Beard Foundation and a spot on the New York Times’ “50 Most Vibrant and Delicious Restaurants” list. Roots remains one of the Metroplex’s crown jewels. If you think you’ve had good cornbread, you haven’t until you’ve gone to Roots and tasted the cast iron cornbread with smoked Steen’s syrup and sweet potato butter. 13050 Bee St. Ste. 160, Farmers Branch, rootssoutherntable.com/
Pappas Bros. Steakhouse
Dallas is a city of top-shelf steakhouses and Pappas Bros. is one of the best of the bunch. The warm service, cozy fireplace, dim lighting, and crisp martinis conjure that old-school Dallas steakhouse vibe before the steaks even hit the table. Part of this restaurant’s claim to fame is its award-winning wine program that features close to 4,000 wines. 10477 Lombardy Ln., Dallas, pappasbros.com/home/
Goldee’s BBQ
A group of 20-something friends opened this barbecue joint at the worst possible time to open a restaurant: February 2020. Despite COVID-related challenges, in 2021, Goldee’s received the most prestigious accolade in the world of Texas barbecue: the number-one spot on Texas Monthly’s “50 Best BBQ Joints in Texas,” a list that comes out only every four years. To this day, the quality of the product is as high as ever and people start lining up hours before the place opens in the morning. Goldee’s retained a spot in the top three on Texas Monthly’s 2025 list and secured a place in the Michelin Guide. 4645 Dick Price Rd., Fort Worth, goldeesbbq.com/
Mamani
This French restaurant was highly anticipated long before it opened in 2025. That’s mostly because of chef Christophe De Lellis, formerly of Joël Robuchon in Las Vegas. De Lellis hit the ground running, making such a strong impression, the Michelin Guide awarded Mamani a star only two months after it opened its doors. The menu includes elevated versions of French comfort foods and incorporates complex sauces. Any out-of-town visitor who’s into food is going to want to try Mamani, so be sure to make your reservation well in advance. 2681 Howell St. BU4, Dallas, mamanirestaurant.com/
The Mansion
Impress your visitors with a reservation at this glamorous beacon of fine dining. Set in a former residential mansion, it’s one of Dallas’s iconic special-occasion restaurants. This is where Dallasites go to pop the question or celebrate important milestones in style. Start with champagne and caviar service, then split a 32-ounce prime porterhouse, or splurge on the seven-course tasting menu with wine pairings. 2821 Turtle Creek Blvd., Dallas, rosewoodhotels.com/en/mansion-on-turtle-creek-dallas/dining/mansion-restaurant
Heritage Table
This farm-to-table restaurant by former Dallas food writer chef Rich Vanna, a 2024 semifinalist for the James Beard Foundation’s “Best Chef Texas” award, is set in a century-old house on Frisco’s Main Street. Cozy and refined, Heritage Table offers locally sourced ingredients and a menu that changes with the seasons. 7110 Main St., Frisco, theheritagetable.com/dev/
Las Palmas Tex-Mex
Ask 10 Dallasites what the best Tex-Mex in the city is and you’ll get 10 different answers, but only one Tex-Mex restaurant packs out every night of the week: the hip and charming Las Palmas. Both a darling of critics and a social-media hot spot, Las Palmas serves up all the comfort classics, including tacos, enchiladas, and combo plates, but the ingredients are high-quality, the plating is pleasing to the eye, and the deep agave program makes for some off-the-charts cocktails. Try the lobster tail fajitas in homemade tortillas. 2708 Routh St., Dallas, laspalmasdallas.com/
Fearing’s
Out-of-towners who want to understand Dallas’s fine dining scene can’t miss local celebrity chef Dean Fearing’s eponymous southwestern restaurant. This elegant, Michelin-recommended spot in the Ritz-Carlton Hotel manages to be swanky and laidback at once. With its open kitchen, signature tortilla soup, and popular Rattlesnake bar, Fearing’s is quintessentially Dallas. 2121 McKinney Ave., Dallas, fearingsrestaurant.com/
Kirin Court
If your guests want to experience a classic Saturday afternoon in the Metroplex, get them to stand in line with you at North Texas’s most beloved dim sum restaurant. Unwind from a late night in this spacious venue with the hardwood floors, white tablecloths, and red chairs, where servers push carts from table to table, offering all the dim sum hits, from buns to dumplings to egg rolls. The Richardson location is the old guard, but the new location in Plano is just as much fun. Multiple locations, kirincourt.menufy.com/
Javier’s
This Mexican restaurant that’s been around since 1977 is such a go-to spot, it’s practically the mascot of the Dallas dining scene. With its buzzy bar, multiple dining rooms, and cigar lounge, Javier’s offers several ways to pass an evening, always starting with warm tortilla chips and salsa—both housemade. Try dishes inspired by various Mexican regions, including Mole Poblano, Filete Durango, and Shrimp Brochette Cozumel. 4912 Cole Ave., Dallas, javiers.net/
Sanjh
Thanks to thriving populations of Indian immigrants and Indian-Americans, the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is teeming with great Indian restaurants. Sanjh, however, is not your standard neighborhood takeout spot. A sprawling fine-dining restaurant, Sanjh offers beautifully plated dishes and innovative cocktails that pay homage to various culinary regions of the Subcontinent. Lamb chops are slow-roasted in the tandoori oven with a homemade spice blend and delivered inside a smoky dome. 5250 N. O’Connor Blvd. Ste. 146, Irving, sanjhrestaurant.com/
Café Momentum
A nonprofit that employs, trains, and mentors justice-involved youth (people under 18 who have come into contact with the juvenile justice system), Café Momentum is one of Dallas’s most important restaurants. Plus, the food is tasty. Enjoy homemade rigatoni with butternut squash, pancetta, kale, and fried caper gremolata, or smoked fried chicken with black pepper gravy and a buttermilk biscuit. 1510 Pacific Ave., Dallas, cafemomentum.org/
Monarch
Reserve a table by the wrap-around windows and ride the elevator to the 49th floor of the National. At this contemporary Italian fine-dining restaurant, your out-of-town guests can snap stunning bird’s-eye photos of Downtown Dallas and splurge on the seasonal six-course tasting menu with wine pairings. Those who prefer to order a la carte can enjoy steaks and homemade pastas. 1401 Elm St. 49th Floor, Dallas, monarchrestaurants.com/
Al Biernat’s
Ask anyone for the best steakhouses in Dallas and Al Biernat’s is sure to make every list. Since its inception in 1998, Al Biernat’s has hosted not just the who’s who in Dallas society, but scads of celebrities. Both the Oak Lawn and North Dallas locations are places to see and be seen, so your out-of-town guests will surely enjoy the people-watching. Al Biernat’s is pretty and understated, with one of the top wine programs in the city, and the food is always outstanding. Multiple locations, albiernats.com/
Nonna
Dallas has many upscale Italian restaurants, but Nonna has long been the gold standard. The moment you walk through the door, the aroma from the wood-fired oven will greet you, and you’ll feel as though you’ve stepped into a cozy, elegant living room. If your visitors are loved ones you don’t see often, Nonna is the perfect place to enjoy a quiet evening, catching up over a bottle of red and some lobster ravioli. 4115 Lomo Alto Dr., Dallas, nonna-dallas.com/
El Carlos Elegante
This stylish, Michelin-recommended Mexican restaurant from the Duro Hospitality team offers a hip ambience, a deep agave spirits program, and distinctive menu options. The “Surf + Turf” on the appetizer menu is wagyu tartar and caviar, the vegetable side dishes include an okra and shishito recipe prepared with pistachio salsa macha and hoja santa, and the tamarind halibut comes with huitlacoche rice. 1400 N. Riverfront Blvd., Dallas, elcarloselegante.com/
Billy Can Can
If your visitors are curious about Texas, take them to this swanky saloon that serves modern regional cuisine. The menu offers seafood from the Gulf, local game meat, and a long list of Texas wines. The venison tartare that’s been on the menu since the restaurant opened remains a crowd favorite. Other crowd-pleasers include the bone-in pork chop and the grouper and grits with rock shrimp etouffee. 2386 Victory Park Ln., Dallas, billycancan.com/
Crown Block
Anyone who watched Dallas back in the day, or who simply loves a city with a dramatic sense of place, should book a table at this Michelin-recommended chophouse in “The Ball” inside Reunion Tower. Visitors will be rewarded with a 360-degree view of the Dallas skyline. If you can swing a Sunday brunch reservation, Crown Block serves one of the most elaborate brunches in Dallas, where options you might expect (a carving station and salad bar, for example) meet over-the-top offerings, including a sushi station, a raw bar, and a candy station. 300 Reunion Blvd. E, Dallas, crownblockdallas.com/…