20 December 12 - 18, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER Classified | MusiC | dish | Culture | unfair Park | Contents kitchen staff. The dining room is small, the atmo- sphere is intimate and each table is booked for only one party per night, which makes this one of the most romantic restaurants in Dallas. The food reflects Gorji’s background as both an accom- plished grillmaster and an Iranian-American im- migrant; sample Persian-inspired appetizers and then go for a flawlessly cooked steak or a cut of wild game. 5100 Belt Line Road, Suite 402, Dallas, 972-503-7080, www.gorjirestaurant.com. Harwood Arms: Gastropubs are plentiful across Dallas, but with its combination of a cozy and welcoming dining room and fare that warms both the body and soul, Harwood Arms does the best job of bringing English sensibility and an authentic pub experience close to home. To step inside Harwood Arms is to step into a Welsh country house, with rich millwork, warm lighting and comfortable and secluded booths and tables. When it comes to food, Harwood Arms puts all other bar food to shame, whether you order the homey shepherd’s pie, a cooked- to-order salmon or the brilliant chicken tiki ma- sala. Topping it off is Harwood’s amazing service, which only seems to improve when the pub gets busier, and every visit makes us feel right at home. 2823 McKinnon St, Dallas, 214- 273-5151, harwoodarmsdallas.com. Hutchins BBQ: Hutchins is one of the best all- around barbecue joints in the area with locations in Frisco and McKinney. The appeal here is that everything across the board is excellent, from the thick slices of fatty brisket to the banana pudding for dessert. The original McKinney location is a no-nonsense, old-school dining room. A bonus is that peach cobbler, banana pudding and soft- serve ice cream are free — yes, free — for dine-in customers. 1301 N. Tennessee St., McKinney, 972- 548-2629, www.hutchinsbbq.net. Jamaican Cook Shop: This longtime Mesquite institution serves some of the area’s best Carib- bean food, including lovely beef patties with vivid yellow flakey pastry crusts, lively bone-in curries and tender jerk chicken with eye-open- ing spices. The rice and peas (that’s Jamaican for rice and beans) are terrific, too. 2033 Military Parkway, Suite 104a, Mesquite, 469-917-8417. Jimmy’s Food Store: Jimmy’s is an East Dallas institution, a grocery store with a deli counter that pulls double duty cranking out the best sandwiches in the city. The Italian Stallion sand- wich is one of the biggest, baddest sandwiches around, loaded with just about every meat this superb shop has in its cases. The other sand- wiches are formidable, too, including one of the better muffalettas west of the Louisiana border. 4901 Bryan St., Dallas, 214-823-6180, www.jim- mysfoodstore.com. Jonathon’s Diner: Here you’ll find the city’s best chicken and waffles here, along with some of its best gravy with plenty of black pepper. Breakfast is served all day, but don’t skip the sandwiches like the super-tall club sandwich or the macaroni and cheese that’s full of love and no fanciness. In 2022, they expanded with a second location at 5337 Forest Lane. 1619 N. Beckley Ave., Dallas, 214-782-9273, jonathonsoakcliff.com. Jose: This upscale Mexican restaurant, conve- niently located near some of Dallas’ wealthiest neighborhoods, serves two menus. The first, which it debuted in 2017, is a canny setlist of fan- cied-up Tex-Mex favorites, such as $17 seafood enchiladas. The menu-within-a-menu is the work of a chef hired in late 2018, Anastacia Qui- ñones-Pittman, who brings her own distinctive and creative perspective on Mexican cuisine. Fo- cus on the Quiñones fare by ordering her “tacos de tacha,” a daily taco special made with torti- llas that have been flavored by the addition of hot peppers, black beans, mole spices or some other twist. Look out for seasonal aguachiles, too, and, if you’re lucky, some sensational carni- tas. Quiñones’ mole sauce is an evolving one; new batches are mixed in with the old to help flavors age and grow more complex. 4931 W. Lovers Lane, Dallas, 214-891-5673, www.jose.mx. Ka-Tip Thai Street Food: From the minute it opened, Ka-Tip offered probably the best Thai food in Dallas city limits. Nearly everything on Ka-Tip’s tiny menu is sensational, and spicy- sour noodle soups like tom yum are perfect both for takeout and for winter months. Be- cause the kitchen here doesn’t Americanize, sweeten or tone down its flavors and ingredi- ents, each dish is more vivid than the equiva- lent at many Thai spots around town. 1011 S. Pearl Expressway, Suite 190, Dallas, 214-238- 2232, katipthaidallas.com. Kendall Karsen’s Upscale Soul Food: At the end of a strip center under the shadow of U.S. 67, chef Kevin Winston is rethinking classic South- ern food. What’s remarkable about the dishes at Kendall Karsen’s is their confidence. No, those baked ribs don’t need a sauce, not with their peppery rub and tender meat that comes off the bone with a gentle tug. But there’s a cup of deep brown barbecue sauce on the side anyway, and it’s fantastic. No, these stewed collard greens don’t need half a saltshaker and a pound of bacon to achieve deeply satisfying flavor. (There are inch-wide planks of pork in the cab- bage, though.) What’s even better than the food, though, is the outstanding hospitality of this ultra-friendly team, which serves a close- knit community of regulars. No wonder this spot has hosted celebrity visitors like Bun B. 3939 S. Polk St., #305, Dallas, 214-376-2171. Kitchen and Kocktails: The menu at Kitchen + Kocktails is packed with comfort food staples like Southern-fried catfish, shrimp and grits, and crispy fried green tomatoes. But don’t sleep on the lamb chops here, or the blackened-shrimp- topped deviled eggs, both of which are on a budget-friendly happy hour menu. There’s also an impressive cocktail game: Try the smooth — and powerful — D’usse, a frozen peach concoc- tion topped with a healthy dose of D’usse Cognac. On the weekends they run a clinic: How to Brunch. Pull out those nice heels you’d been saving, make reservations and buckle up. 1933 Elm St., Dallas, 469-472-5445, kitchenkocktail- susa.com/about. Knife: One of the best steakhouses in Dallas, this spot isn’t as flamboyant as Town Hearth, as party-centric as Nick & Sam’s or as old-school as Pappas Bros. What matters here is the meat, most of it expertly dry-aged to deepen the fla- vor. Live it up with excellent seafood crudos, oxtail ravioli, an old-school aged rib-eye from a Texas ranch, some of the world’s most perfect lamb chops and creamed spinach so good you’ll clean the plate. Or you can get out of Knife for under $20 if you just want one of the city’s best burgers. The question is which in- credible burger to choose, from the legendary Ozersky, its thick patty adorned simply with American cheese and red onion with pickle on the side, to the Tail End with pork belly and col- lard greens. The choice is yours, but whatever experience you choose, Knife does it right. 5300 E. Mockingbird Lane, Dallas, 214-443- 9339, knifedallas.com. Knox Bistro: Too often we associate French cui- sine with stuffiness, arrogance, overpriced fare or some combination of the three. Thankfully, Dallas has Knox Bistro to show off the best that French cuisine has to offer in a much more ap- proachable fashion. Knox Bistro’s menu offers ingredients that aren’t at all complex but are so brilliantly executed that they taste like some- thing new and fresh. There are delicate soufflés, naturally, exquisite seafood (don’t sleep on the brilliant branzino) and perfectly prepared vege- tables. It’s all reminiscent of chef-partner Bruno Davaillon’s home in the Loire Valley. His team, including executive chef Michael Ehlert, creates a casually elegant meal that should change any- one’s mind about French cuisine being too pre- tentious to enjoy. 3230 Knox St. Suite 140, Dallas, 469-250-4007, knoxbistro.com. Kumar’s: Kumar’s uses savvy, “small plates” marketing to appeal to a non-Indian audience, but the restaurant is usually buzzing with south Indian guests who know the kitchen is turning out some of the best food in Plano. The menu highlights specialties like thalapakatti biryani, with big, tender pieces of goat mixed into the rice. Kumar’s offers a lot of goat, but vegetarian options abound, too — go for the delightfully spicy cauliflower that’s marinated in seasonings and then fried, roasted eggplant or a masala dosa. 3305 Central Expressway, #275, Plano, 469-666-0682, www.kumarmessdallas.com. La Calle Doce Oak Cliff: Sitting on the porch at La Calle Doce in Oak Cliff, you could easily be- lieve you were lunching in San Antonio, not Dal- las. Upscale but not stuffy, this local institution (which also has an East Dallas location) serves some of the best-quality Mexican seafood in town, from ceviche cocktails and tostadas to seafood chiles rellenos and perfectly grilled shrimp alambres. Many of the main courses come with appetizer cups of fish stew, so be careful not to chow down too hard on chips and salsa. 415 W. 12th St., Dallas, 214-941-4304, www.lacalledoce-dallas.com. La Me: The noodles at La Me, a Vietnamese spot in far northeast Dallas, go well beyond pho. Try my quang, a bowl of rice noodles with turmeric in the dough to turn them yellow. The noodles are loaded up with shrimp, peanuts and a show- ering of herbs. Or try a delicately flavored duck noodle soup. Even the egg rolls here are good. 9780 Walnut St., #140, Dallas, 972-669-8515. Las Almas Rotas: This “shrine to the spirits of Mexico” has an extraordinary library of tequilas, mezcals, sotols, raicillas, corn whiskeys and more. You could nerd out over a specific rare li- quor from the list of specials, or you could sit on the patio, order a margarita and jam out to one of the city’s best bar playlists. Lots of good sto- ries start at Las Almas Rotas, like the rumor about the back room being haunted, or the time that its owners smuggled a smoked brisket into Mexico to help distill the world’s first Top 100 Restaurants from p19 Alison McLean Gyao Grob at Ka-Tip Thai Street Food Alison McLean Short Rib Carnitas at Jose on Lovers Lane in Dallas >> p22
