15 April 3 - 9, 2025 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents Dining on a Dime at Michelin Restaurants Not all Michelin restaurants will break the bank. Here’s a guide. BY AAREN PRODY S ome people think that if you say “Michelin” in the mirror three times, your wallet disappears. If you have a reservation at Tatsu, that may be true. Still, all the rest of the guide’s Bib Gourmand selec- tions, recommendations and special award winners have easy ways to try the presti- gious menus without breaking the bank. Many of the restaurants mentioned here are releasing Michelin-tasting menus, which could be worth considering depending on your version of a budget. Check out our complete list of Michelin restaurants in Dallas. Here is how to dine at Michelin restau- rants in Dallas on a dime. Birrieria y Taqueria Cortez 2220 E. Rosedale St. (Fort Worth) This small family spot in Fort Worth might offer the best deal in North Texas when it comes to Michelin. You can order the entire menu for about 50 bucks, which includes the namesake tacos de birria, quesatacos, quesadillas and tortas. The wait times are long here (as they should be), but we got some inside intel that if you order via Door- Dash, there’s hardly any wait — not sure if that’s just for delivery or takeout, but it’s worth a shot either way. Panther City BBQ 201 E. Hattie St. (Fort Worth) Barbecue is expensive, but you know that al- ready. However, there are always hacks. This spot peddles Central Texas-style barbecue with a Tex-Mex bent, so go for brisket tacos, four for $15, or Flacos Tacos, three for $12. But the real inflation buster is the $20 Southside Slammer: a sandwich with bris- ket, pulled pork, jalapeño cheese sausage, smoked bologna and many fixings. Why even bother looking at anything else? Gemma 2323 N Henderson Ave. Gemma keeps things simple with a single dinner and dessert menu. All the appetizers are less than $20, which is music to our wal- lets. Korean sticky ribs? Crispy veal sweet- breads? Fall chopped salad? All around $18. For an entree, look to pasta like rigatoni alla vodka for $25 and rich paccheri for $24. Spend a touch more and get the Idaho trout amandine for $29, but either way, get those duck fat tater tots for $11. Dessert? Just $9. C’mon. Try the affogato. Lucia 287 N. Bishop Ave. (Bishop Arts District) You must be patient to get a reservation at Lucia, but it’s worth it. The seasonal menu changes frequently, and the most recent edi- tion is never live on its website, complicating a budget-friendly attack. However, on week- ends, they offer four-course dinners for four to go for $120, which includes gratuity. It’s a weekend-only pickup. Meals come cold but have reheating instructions. Check their website for the exact meal, but it comes with their stellar house-baked bread and butter, a salad, a main dish like rigatoni with chicken and mushroom marsala, and a dessert. Mot Hai Ba 6047 Lewis St. (East Dallas) Mot Hai Ba, which received a Bib Gour- mand distinction for value and accessible dining experiences, serves creative French- Viet fusion dishes. The $17 bành bao and $19 ginger lemongrass octopus are excellent places to start. Explore the Massachusetts black bass for $29 or Vietnamese chicken curry for $28 for entrees. The best part about this chef’s menu, in particular, is that all the entrees come as “complete thoughts,” so you’re getting a protein, veggie and starch for the entree price, although regulars will say you have to get the $11 side of garlic noo- dles. It’s the most popular item on the menu, but we’d go to bat for the $15 slice of choco- late cake here any day. Ngon Vietnamese Kitchen 1907 Greenville Ave. (Lower Greenville) How thoughtful. Ngon makes things easy for us with its standard Monday through Friday happy hour from 3-6 p.m., during which three appetizers are discounted: nuoc nam wings, regular spring rolls and shrimp spring rolls, all for $8. You can get $3 beers, $10 cocktails and a fun 32-ounce tropical mimosa for $32. Ngon, which also received a Bib Gourmand distinction, also offers plenty of entrees under $20, such as chicken or shrimp fried rice for $17, the Pho Hanoi (chicken, beef or seafood) for $19 and traditional bun bo hue for $19, which is vermicelli noodles in a beef lemongrass broth served with beef shank, pork roll and crab balls. Don’t leave without a Vietnamese coffee, though: you can hear color after one of those. Nonna 4115 Lomo Alto Drive There are two ways to try the menu at Nonna without spending a ton. The first is lunch on Fridays from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., with appe- tizers for less than $15, $17 pizzas, and main courses for about $20. All the pizzas easily serve two people, so you’ll have the capacity for one of those $7 desserts. The second op- tion is to join them for dinner. You could also go with pizzas for this, but there are several generously portioned entrees, like the hand- made pasta, which averages around $30 for a half-portion, but for $9 more, you can get a full serving, then split it. Two for around $40 isn’t bad. Also, everyone who dines in gets complimentary bread and fried olives. Rye 1920 Greenville Ave. (Lower Greenville) Rye has a $185 chef’s tasting menu, but if that’s out of range, the a la carte menu with creative and affordable dishes is fun. The Icelandic hot dog may be the cheapest thing on the menu at $8, but budget or no, it’s a must. The duroc pork belly lollipops ($22) were praised by chef Guy Fieri last month, and the Cheeky Pun tacos for $25 make sure no hunger cue goes unfilled. Save room for the sauerkraut cake here; the $16 slice is the only chocolate cake ever featured on Diners, Drive-ins & Dives. And lest we forget, the restaurant was recently Michelin-recog- nized for the cocktails. Maybe we can adjust the budget for that. Monarch 1401 Elm St. (49th Floor) We love happy hour at Monarch, which runs from 5 to 6:30 Sunday through Thursday. Island Creek oysters cost $2 each, and a plate of meats and cheeses is $20. Get your classic cocktails for $15 in- stead of the $22 standard. Then move to the main menu for mains like oxtail cap- pelletti for $26, wood-fired chicken for $32 and sides like whipped potatoes and grilled asparagus for $14 each. Finally, seal things off with a dessert wine by the glass for $15-16. Whatever you do, don’t look at the steaks and seafood. Crown Block 300 Reunion Blvd. Crown Block’s best value may lie in its week- end, all-you-can-eat brunch service for $80 (excluding tax and gratuity). This spree in- cludes a buffet-style sushi and seafood bar, meat carving station, dessert station and breakfast station with oats, pastries and quiche. Their sushi rolls alone cost $20 dur- ing regular service but during brunch are AYCE. It may be the most expensive brunch in Dallas, but you can’t eat like this for $80 on a regular night at Crown Block. Tei-An 1722 Routh St. There are many ways to dine at Tei-An and get a taste of chef Teiichi Sakurai’s Japanese excellence. This restaurant is most famous for its soba noodles, which can be tried hot or cold, in soup, on a plate, or dipping style. Most options are under $20, and there are two types of ramen for $14. The bulk of the menu is yakitori-style, where you order a bunch of little plates individually, but you’ll need to bring a few friends for this one to re- ally enjoy the experience. It’s easy to rack up a bill and not leave full if you only have one or two people. Are we speaking from experi- ence? Maybe. Order a handful of small plates for apps, then get a bowl of noodles for something hearty. Finish things off with desserts that are shockingly only $7-8, such as the black sesame mousse. Fearing’s Restaurant 2121 McKinney Ave. This longtime Dallas dining darling has a lunch menu that offers some plates at half the price of the dinner menu. Some say it’s a crime not to order Dean’s $17 tortilla soup, but we won’t blame you for grabbing the $15 Texas red chili cheddar empanadas instead. Maple-cured buffalo tenderloin tacos go for $26, and the Nova Scotia halibut on Orleans rice pilaf is only $30. The loaded whipped potatoes for $10 are an obvious and filling choice for a side. Alternatively, the brunch service here is similarly priced and is Sun- day’s only from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Mercat Bistro 2501 N. Harwood St. At Mercat Bistro, happy hour runs week- days from 2:30 to 6 p.m. the full dinner menu is available starting at 5 p.m. Get there at 5 p.m., grab starters like ricotta and honey and shishito peppers for $6 each, and select martinis like a cosmo for $6 each. Moules frites for $26 and gnocchi a la Parisian for $24 will stretch your dollar far for dinner. They have a lunch menu Mon- day through Friday, but the prices aren’t too different from dinner, and the happy hour is more fun. Alison McLean Gor for the Elegante Experience at El Carlos Elegante. | CITY OF ATE | t Dish >> p16
