104 September 21 - 27, 2023 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER contents | shopping & services | Arts & entertAinment | Food & drink | sports & recreAtion offers chao nian gao on the menu under the “Shanghai sticky rice cake” moniker; these stir-fried rice cakes are hard to find in the Dallas area. This version is flavorful, perfectly sauced and presented beautifully. Oh, and the Greenville location is open until 2 a.m. Win-win. 2010 Greenville Ave. 469-942-8882, fortunehousecuisine.com Best Bagel Starship Bagel Dallas may not be New York City, but at least we finally have a really good downtown bagel stand. Starship Bagel’s first location opened in Lewisville, and now there’s a second version on Elm Street, right next to the Eye sculpture, in what was once a newsstand. There are usually lines (they open at 7 a.m.) and they often run out of certain bagel varieties (the egg bagel is especially popular), so plan accordingly. You will be rewarded with a bagel that achieves what the best New York bagels offer: a slightly crisp outside and a wonderfully chewy center. The fermented jalapeño schmear is not to be missed, either. 1520 Elm St. 469-630-0057, starshipbagel.com Best Ramen Ramen Izakaya Akira If you don’t mind a restaurant that greets you with a list of rules you must follow to dine there (no speakerphones, keep your party to no more than four people, etc.), then you get to enjoy some outstanding ramen. The broths are cooked for more than eight hours and the noodles are made in house. The pork shio, a umami tonkotsu base created with vegetable and scallop extract, is highly recommended and brings a rich, deep flavor profile to the bowl. One can also choose pork shoyu or chicken as bases. Just don’t break any of the house rules. 2540 King Arthur Blvd., No. 126, Lewisville 972-410-0294, ramenizakayaakira.com Best BakeRy Lubellas Patisserie In 2020, COVID-19 wrought destruction on the restaurant industry. But just as a forest fire can reinvigorate a landscape over time, even the carnage of the pandemic managed to sprout new seeds. One of those seeds: Lubellas Patisserie in East Dallas. After the highly acclaimed Bullion shuttered its doors during the pandemic, Maria Becerra, a pastry chef at Bullion, opened Lubellas. Here you can find an array of handcrafted pastries, bread, Instagram-worthy cakes, quiches and sandwiches. All are made with locally sourced ingredients and baked fresh daily. The sinfully buttery and flaky blueberry Danish, centered with still-melting cream cheese, buckled our knees. And the meat- lover’s quiche was so good it forever ruined quiche for us from anywhere else. 10323 Ferguson Road 214-484-4825, lubellaspatisserie.com Best Detroit-style Pizza Motor City Pizza Detroit-style pizza is carving out its place on the national pizza scene. Leading the charge on that forefront in the Dallas area is Lewisville’s Motor City Pizza. Owner Greg Tierney, who hails from the Motor City, started with a pop-up to test the waters. The venture was a success. In late 2021, he debuted the brick-and-mortar version of Motor City Pizza. Detroit-style pizza is a rectangular deep dish with a lighter and airier dough than Chicago-style. And the cheese must be Wisconsin brick cheese spread all the way to the edges, Hank Vaughn BEST BAGEL Starship Bagel
