Dallas: Where To Eat
They say “you are what you eat”. THANK THE LORD that isn’t the case, because otherwise I’d be a 300 lb taco, or worst - a 300 lb gummy worm. Wouldn’t that be a sight. Thankfully my appearance doesn’t reflect the amount of food I eat (thanks Mama and Baba for your high metabolic genes), but regardless, life is too short to be eating shitty food. ESPECIALLY when you’re travelling. Travel (literally) opens up a whole new world of food and when you’re headed to a place like Texas, where they’re known for messy BBQ and delicious Tex-Mex, there’s just no time to waste.
So @heyamby compiled a list of places for us to eat while we visited her home town of Dallas. And although our short (but sweet) 4 days in Dallas wasn’t enough time for us to try everything on her list, we gave it our best shot. Here’s her list along with her notes (and ours) to help you eat your way through Dallas, because there’s really just nothing worse than playing the “where do you want to tonight” game while on vacation.
Breakfast
Aims says: LOVED this place! It’s super trendy, super chic, and therefore also super IG-worthy. Not only is their food tasty AF (try their Croque Madame - YUM), but they’re also a full on bakery. I’ll bet you can’t walk by their goodies display and not buy one of each.
Aims says: If I could describe this place in one word, it’d be AUTHENTIC. This is as authentic and as southern as it gets. They serve chicken and waffles on chicken and waffles in this living room-turned kitchen/restaurant.
Aims says: Ellen’s is best described as a brunch diner. Their food is pretty well what you’d expect at a breakfast place - eggs, bacon, toast and hash, but it’s was a perfect place to kill some time before our late flight.
Amber says: Rise No. 1 is rustic and super adorable on the inside, plus they serve bread on mini guillotines - how cute is that?! Try their marshmallow soup while you’re there, but they’re most well known for their sweet and savory souffles.
BBQ
Amber says: Pecan Lodge boasts a very Texan interior in Deep Ellum (a super hip district to walk around), but be prepared for really long lines. If you go there, try their brisket and jalapeño sausage.
Aims says: Amber was right, the line up was MASSIVE. Like through the restaurant, out the building, around the corner and down the street kind of massive. But the wait was totally worth it. We indulged in their brisket, sausage, and pulled pork as our mains but OH-EM-GEE the mac and cheese? SO GOOD.
Pecan Lodge - From left to right: brisket, pulled pork, mac and cheese and pickles/onions above.
Amber says: Both these places serve tacos with non traditional fillings that are really interesting. I like the trailer park “trashy” style from Torchy’s - it’s fried chicken with queso!
Aims says: We tried 4 different tacos at Velvet Taco and they were great (skip the Hibiscus Tacos tho), but it’s the Red Curry Queso Dip that I’m still dreaming about. Plus their rich red velvet cake with cream cheese icing - YUM. Oh, and their margaritas were incredible too. Note: If you try their margs, they’re weirdly cold. Like burn-your-mouth kind of cold.
Velvet Taco - Top From left to right: Crazy cold margarita, famous red velvet cake, soda. Bottom from left to right: fish n chips haddock taco, shrimp and grits taco, braised angus beef taco, pulled pork in hibiscus taco.
Burgers
Amber says: The burgers here are all really good, but their truffle fries and milkshakes are even better.
Southern Comfort Food
Amber says: Check out the vintage “quilted” airstream they have!
Amber says: The best fried chicken! These two are sister restaurants and have the same fried chicken served at both locations.
Aims says: Bubba Cooks Country was the first meal we had upon landing in Dallas. If I had to compare it to something similar from home though, it’d be like Popeye’s.
Bubba’s Cooks Country
Dessert
Amber says: They have a pretty floral wall and neon sign at the Deep Ellum location (perfect for those Instagram shots) - and it’s right next to Pecan Lodge (double whammy)! Try their apple and chocolate pies - so good.
Amber says: This one’s a Texas cult fast food chain. The honey butter chicken biscuit is the best - get it after midnight though because it’s technically a breakfast food.
Amber says: All the chicken dishes are great and be sure to top it off with a frosted lemonade!
Aims says: When we were boarding our flight to Dallas from Canada, we heard someone say “They have Chick-Fil-A in Dallas right? I’ve never had Chick-Fil-A and I wanna try it”. SAME BRO, same. It did not disappoint.
Chicken Burger at Chick-Fil-A
And if you’ve had enough of eating your way through Dallas and wanna give your taste buds a rest, then hop on over to this blog post on What to See and Do in Downtown Dallas to engage your visual senses for a change 👀