BEST PIZZA > THUNDERBIRD PIES Angie Quebedeaux Best Mediterranean Restaurant Selda Mediterranean The service at Selda Mediterranean, formerly Pera Turkish Kitchen, is first class. The food is always fresh, and there are many vegetarian options here, including fried cauliflower, hummus and vegetarian couscous. If you’re up for sharing, the mixed grill is a great option. The dish serves 2-4 guests and has a combination of grilled meats including urfa, chicken, meatball, beef kebab and chicken adana. It is served with Turkish bulgur rice and a cold bean salad. Reservations are suggested as it is not a large place and is very popular, especially on the weekends. 6006 Belt Line Road 972-404-1700, seldadallas.com Best Pizza Thunderbird Pies You might want to approach Thunderbird Pies with skin as thick as their Detroit- style pizzas. In addition to a sassy social media manager, they don’t care much for complaints. Especially, don’t ever ask to talk to corporate or you’ll likely get dinged with something like, “I am corporate, motherfucker.” Then they’ll make T-shirts to mock you, which they actually did, and blast it on an in-house billboard. It’s not at all ironic that one of their best pizzas is the Honey Bastard, named after the honey badger. Much like the similarly named mammal, they just don’t care, which they can get away with because the pizza is so good. 7328 Gaston Ave., No. 110 469-577-1077, thunderbirdpies.com Best Queso Meso Maya A proper Tex-Mex meal should start with 86 a giant bowl of queso, and Meso Maya’s pair of queso options makes for a tough choice. You could go with a traditional bowl of queso poblano, with a trio of white cheeses blended with roasted poblanos, fresh corn and nopalitos that are rich and buttery. Or go big with the queso fundido, which comes with corn tortillas and your choice of chorizo, pork or calabacita vegetables. It’s a difficult decision, but it’s rewarding however you decide. 1611 McKinney Ave. 214-484-6555, mesoaya.com Best Place for Breakfast Mercat Bistro This French restaurant in the Harwood District is a gem. When the weather is nice, grab a table on the patio overlooking the lawn or a seat at the bar to watch the open kitchen. Mercat Bistro opens for breakfast at 7 a.m. on the weekdays and 10 a.m. for brunch on the weekends. The interior has about a dozen tables. There are pastries on offer, but go for the croque monsieur served on a country sourdough, with Gruyere, jambon and a mornay sauce. Weekend brunch has an expanded menu with crepes, a duck baguette and charcuterie. 2501 N. Harwood St. 214-953-0917, mercatbistro.com Best Ramen Ichigoh Ramen This Deep Ellum ramen spot offers carefully crafted and flavorful ramen dishes such as spicy soboro shoyu and miso, all with a chicken-based broth and perhaps some of the best chashu in town, imbued with a delicate grilled flavor that is not always present in ramen pork belly. The pork buns are heavenly, and there is a vegetarian version, but the star is the deep-fried mochi rice cakes that come as six addictive balls of goodness. 2724 Commerce St. 972-707-0732, ichigohramen.com SEPTEMBER 22-28, 2022 DALLAS OBSERVER CONTENTS | SHOPPING & SERVICES | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | FOOD & DRINK | SPORTS & RECREATION dallasobserver.com
