The 5 Hottest New North Texas Restaurants — And What To Order At Each Spot

Known for several popular Dallas concepts like Mister Charles, Duro Hospitality just opened its first restaurant in Fort Worth. The Chumley House is a European-inspired steakhouse with British flair in the Cultural District. Incorporating a variety of cuisines found in London, the new spot offers everything from British staples like beef Wellington and tallow pop-overs to Indian-inspired dishes, including butter chicken pie and saag paneer.

On a recent visit, we enjoyed an array of dishes on the menu, but here we will break down the highlights.

To start, the smoked king salmon with cucumber, labneh, and dill pollen vinaigrette is a stunner. It’s beautifully presented and balances tangy and smoky flavors. The prime beef tartare is also a must-try. Served with a Calabrian chili dressing and salsa Bianca, the dish offers just the perfect hint of sweetness.

For our pasta course, we tried the tenderloin stroganoff and cacio e pepe malfadine. Both are delicious, but if we had to choose, the former is a can’t-miss at The Chumley House. Make sure to get a bite with the tender beef, ricotta dumpling, and wild mushroom all at once. It’s delightful.

As for mains, you can’t go wrong with the beef Wellington. It’s a tableside experience as the flaky pastry is cut and slathered in an au poivre right in front of you. Order The Regal Potato side for the optimal pairing. This elegant potato dish comes topped with sweet pork belly and parmesan. And if you’re looking for a kick of spice, the saag paneer is another great Indian-inspired option. The butter chicken pie is most definitely on our radar for next time as well.

There are only three dessert options at The Chumley House, but we can’t recommend the sticky toffee pudding enough. It comes with a rum caramel sauce that is lit on fire tableside and poured over the sponge cake, which is accompanied by a scoop of vanilla gelato.

A new Parisian bistro from Vandelay Hospitality (Hudson House, Jack & Harry’s), Bar Sardine is officially opening on Friday, December 20 at Snider Plaza. We got a preview of the new spot and menu led by École Ducasse-trained Executive Chef Elliot Azoulay, who relocated from Paris just for this new concept. The intimate space only seats 38 (including bar seating), so reservations are recommended.

We suggest starting with the charcuterie and cheese board. It’s a chef’s selection of meats and cheese — ours had prosciutto, jamón, gouda, brie, Roquefort, and more. Bread and butter (sourced from Paris) are served at the beginning of each meal. We ordered a second helping with the board. The steak tartare is also a must-order, and the salmon tartare looked just as great at the table next to us.

For mains, like at most Vandelay concepts, a cheeseburger is an option. We heard Chef Azoulay mention that it was his favorite menu item. It comes with white cheddar, barbecue mayo, onion, pickles, and potato crisps, and it was the stunner of the evening. And make sure to order with a side of truffle fries. It’s a winning pair.

We also enjoyed the creamy lobster ravioli, and are looking at the chicken paillard and fish of the day for next time. For dessert, there are three options — chocolate mousse, the Vanilla Floating Island, and strawberry pistachio sabayon. We chose the last. The classic French dessert comes with fresh strawberries topped with a lovely pistachio cream.

As we looked around the room throughout the night, many, of course, ordered the dirty martini (a Vandelay classic), but we also noticed the Fluffy Margarita Royale — made with ancho verde, pineapple soda, and served with a lava salt rim) on a few tables. We went with the Negroni Bianco, but the fluffy pineapple creation kept catching our eye. For another time in Paris.

In the former Boulevardier space in Bishop Arts, Mot Hai Ba Chef Peja Krstic has debuted his second Dallas restaurant. It’s a modern American bistro with global influences. The menu features classic Southern dishes with undertones of other cuisines.

At Pillar, you have to start with the Nashville hot oysters. They’re fried Murder Point oysters with just the right amount of hot sauce and relish. The beef tartare is also a must-order with crispy potato hash browns topped with Allen Brothers’ Tenderloin, kimchi mayo, and chives. But it was, surprisingly, the grilled leeks that had to be our favorite dish of the evening. These steamed leeks are grilled over binchotan and served with butter-poached crab, hazelnuts, orange, and brown butter vinaigrette.

For mains, we couldn’t not order the fried chicken. It’s a massive half chicken (perfect for sharing) laid over braised collard greens covered in ndjuda cream and served with the most incredible cornbread brioche and honey butter. The lamb Tortelli is another stunner made with lamb shoulder-filled pasta and served over labne, capers, olives, and mint. We can’t wait to return soon and dive into the rest of the menu that features a duck, leek, and bacon pie, agnolotti, shrimp & grits, and more.

Pillar is also serving a familiar dessert if you’ve dined at Mot Hai Ba. You can’t go wrong with the decadent chocolate cake topped with hazelnuts.

Catch Hospitality Group (led by Texas billionaire Tilman J. Fertitta, Mark Birnbaum, and Eugene Remm) just debuted its newest CATCH restaurant at Dallas’ Maple Terrace. Located in Las Vegas, New York City, Los Angeles, and more, the seafood concept is known for its sushi, wagyu program, and classic dishes.

Although it seems a little strange for a primarily seafood menu, start with the pretzel bread. Four small soft pretzels come with whipped honey-mustard butter. The “From Japan to Dallas” portion of the menu offers fish flown in from the Toyosu Market in Tokyo. Order the rainbow sashimi pizza or truffle sashimi.

We also enjoyed two specialty rolls during our dinner. The Hellfire with spicy tuna, pear, and balsamic is a popular choice, but the Wagyu surf & turf roll is a stunner. It comes with Maine lobster, crispy potato, truffle aioli, and chimichurri. Also, don’t miss the crunch rice cake and crispy chicken bao bun — the latter has an addictive yuzu sweet chili sauce. You also can’t go wrong with a steak at CATCH. The prime New York strip satisfied, especially with a side of crispy Brussels sprouts with a sweet yuzu-calamansi vinaigrette.

You may have seen it on Instagram already, and we can confirm that the “Hit Me” chocolate cake is worth it. A guest is given a spoon to break the chocolate shell top which upon shattering spread liquid “Klondike” over layers of brownie, roasted white chocolate ice cream, and Devil’s food cake. They also offer this in a gluten-free option.

A new home cooking restaurant in Casa Linda Plaza, Be Home Soon comes from co-owners Madison King and Russ Kirk, and Chef de Cuisine Joey Fink. It’s intimate, cozy, and eclectic in its design, featuring a bar and a handful of tables. A daily dinner menu includes a few snacks and salads, but the main dishes, sides, and dessert rotate weekly. There’s also a lunch menu that changes each week in kinds of chicken sandwiches, veggie sandwiches, and soup/stew.

The constant rotations make this “What to Order” selection a bit difficult, but it’s worth including because everything we tried during the week they served birria pot roast, tamarind pork ribs, sweet potato casserole, glazed carrots, and bok choy was delicious. There are a few staples that do not rotate, including the focaccia & garlic hummus (definitely order this), crudite & Green Goddess, kettle chips & onion dip, and house-made bar mix.

You can tell everything is made with care at Be Home Soon as the servers explain each dish and the ingredients that make it up. Ours made sure we knew the carrots would be “al dente” and not the “mushy” kind before we ordered them. After our dinner, feedback was requested as well, making us feel like we really were a part of the experience.

King, Kirk, and Fink are cooking and serving what they feel like in an atmosphere that is made up of knick-knacks and things that you would probably find in their own homes. We especially enjoyed the E.T. figurine found above the bar.

The fact that you won’t know what will be on the menu until the week of is something rarely found in Dallas. So far, since its opening, there’s been pork Schnitzel, Salisbury steak, brown butter shrimp, green curry chicken, and so much more. We can see how this might become a second “home” for Dallasites. We noticed a few other guests talking about what they had enjoyed at the restaurant the week before.