Food recommendations in Dallas

[Fromda808]

Good morning all. I'll be heading to Dallas next week and I love to eat. I'm from Hawaii, so we don't get much good BBQ or Tex Mex there, so I was hoping to hear some recommendations for must eat spots while I'm here in Dallas. I'll be staying in the Galleria area near Addison, but will have a rental car and do not mind driving. Please share your favorites so I can start searching. Mahalo in advance...

[CG2014]

If you want real mexican food and not that faux Tex Mex stuff, go to

Meso Maya

Staying near Addison?

Perfect!

They have a location in Addison on Belt Line just east of the Dallas North Tollway at the SW corner of the 1st traffic light right next to Whole Foods.

https://www.mesomaya.com/locations/

http://www.mesomaya.com/menus/addison/addisonbrunch/

The Del Mar enchilada with crab meat and shrimp and the Fresh Guacamole and 2 different kind of Pozole (chicken) soup are to die for!

For BBQ I recommend:

Pecan Lodge close to Downtown 2702 Main St, Dallas, TX 75226 but be aware that other than Friday and Saturday when they are open all day, the other days they are only open for lunch starting at 11 am and it gets crowded if you don't get there around 10:30 am to get in line.

Or if you are willing to drive almost the same distance to Downtown from Addison but going North instead of South, go to Hutchins BBQ in 9225 Preston Rd, Frisco, TX 75033Frisco.

All you can eat BBQ for $22 a person: 2 kinds of sausage, moist or dry brisket, pork ribs, turkey, ham, pulled pork, pulled chicken, all the sides (Mac n Cheese, green beans, 2 kind of pinto beans, fried okra, french fries, kernel corn, mashed potatoes, cucumber salad, broccoli salad, coleslaw, potato salad, fpickles, onions, and other fixings) bread, banana pudding, peach cobbler made from scratch on the premises, ice cream, all included as much as you want.

They are open every day from 11 am to 9 pm except Monday and Tuesday when they are closed.

The place can get crowded for lunch at 11 during the weekdays and for dinner starting around 6 pm on Friday and Saturday so I get there around 4 pm and eat before the crowds appears and there is a line out of the door.

You can't see them as you are driving north on Preston, they will be on your left side after you cross Main Street: make the first left into a shopping center after the light. Look for Popeye's fried chicken, Hutchins is tucked away behind it.

Photos I took from two of my trips there:

[dallasfan]

Depends on the type of food you like. I like a good variety.

Bbq- soulmans In Terrell has some good brisket and sausage. Hard eight I Heard was good but busy. Didn’t care for pecan lodge personally much though heard good things about it.

Chinese bbq - first chinese bbq has some good roast duck and pork.

Torchys taco - try the Baja fried shrimp taco

India - butter chicken at al kabobs is worth trying if you like Indian / curry.

Sushi - sushi shack has the sushi shack roll that is good and their fried rice is good.

[Fromda808]

Originally Posted by CG2014

If you want real mexican food and not that faux Tex Mex stuff, go to

Meso Maya

Staying near Addison?

Perfect!



The Del Mar enchilada with crab meat and shrimp and the Fresh Guacamole and 2 different kind of Pozole (chicken) soup are to die for!

For BBQ I recommend:

Pecan Lodge close to Downtown 2702 Main St, Dallas, TX 75226 but be aware that other than Friday and Saturday when they are open all day, the other days they are only open for lunch starting at 11 am and it gets crowded if you don't get there around 10:30 am to get in line.

Or if you are willing to drive almost the same distance to Downtown from Addison but going North instead of South, go to Hutchins BBQ in 9225 Preston Rd, Frisco, TX 75033Frisco.

All you can eat BBQ for $22 a person: 2 kinds of sausage, moist or dry brisket, pork ribs, turkey, ham, pulled pork, pulled chicken, all the sides (Mac n Cheese, green beans, 2 kind of pinto beans, fried okra, french fries, kernel corn, mashed potatoes, cucumber salad, broccoli salad, coleslaw, potato salad, fpickles, onions, and other fixings) bread, banana pudding, peach cobbler made from scratch on the premises, ice cream, all included as much as you want.

Awesome, thank you so much for the recommendations. I had actually just started poking around on Yelp and had checked out Meso Maya. Hearing from a local always pulls weight, so thanks for that.

As for Pecan Lodge, I had seen them on Food Network so they were already on the radar. But that AYCE BBQ joint sounds pretty tempting too.

Thank you for sharing! Oh and I also seen your other thread about good Pizza in Dallas too. I love pizza and anything Italian, so I'll read more into that. Hahaha, started reading it, then got sidetracked looking for ladies to see while I'm up there.

[CG2014]

Between Pecan Lodge and the BBQ places dallasfan recommended (which are good) and AYCE BBQ, I will always pick AYCE BBQ.

You get more food and get to sample more items at the AYCE for actually less than what you will pay at those other BBQ places.

You saw the Pizza thread? LOL!

We also have another thread about Burgers:

https://www.eccie.net/showthread.php?t=2331251

If you want Japanese where you can get both sushi and a filet mignon with lobster cooked at the table:

http://www.jinbeh.com/

Since you are staying in Addison, you got to visit Texas De Brazil

https://texasdebrazil.com/menu/meats/

or Fogo:

https://fogodechao.com/menu/

All the meats you can eat with a gigantic salad bar included.

They bring the meats to your table on big skewers and slice it in front of you as much as you want.

Photos I took at Texas De Brazil during 3 different trips there and yes I like my meat medium rare to rare (dessert not included, the soup is lobster bisque which is included but only available at dinner):

[Crock]

Originally Posted by CG2014

...and 2 different kind of Pozole (chicken) soup are to die for!

For BBQ I recommend:

Pecan Lodge close to Downtown 2702 Main St, Dallas, TX 75226 but be aware that other than Friday and Saturday when they are open all day, the other days they are only open for lunch starting at 11 am and it gets crowded if you don't get there around 10:30 am to get in line.

Pozole is hominy soup and usually has pork, not chicken in it. Not sure if you were recommending a chicken pozole or stating that pozole was chicken soup, but thought I'd clarify.

And for weekday lunch, I'd recommend Mike Anderson's (near Parkland hospital) over Pecan Lodge. Pecan is HIGHLY overrated, imo.


Oh, and while Texas de Brazil and Fogo de Chao are always a great meal, they're all over the country, so not a very unique Texas stop. (But if you've never been to a good churrascaria, Dallas is as good a place as any to try one!)

[CG2014]

On their menu one of the Pozole is chicken and I had it many times before:

http://www.mesomaya.com/menus/addison/dinneraddison/

POZOLE VERDE 5 / 10
mexico city-style green tomatillo chicken soup with hominy, cilantro, poblano peppers, queso fresco, fresh lime juice

[CG2014]

On their menu one of the Pozole is chicken and I had it many times before:

http://www.mesomaya.com/menus/addison/dinneraddison/

POZOLE VERDE 5 / 10
mexico city-style green tomatillo chicken soup with hominy, cilantro, poblano peppers, queso fresco, fresh lime juice

[aJohnDough]

Aloha bbq on Lemmon ave

[CG2014]

Damn!

Now I want BBQ!!

[VeryClean]

Originally Posted by dallasfan

Depends on the type of food you like. I like a good variety.

Bbq- soulmans In Terrell has some good brisket and sausage. Hard eight I Heard was good but busy. Didn’t care for pecan lodge personally much though heard good things about it.

Chinese bbq - first chinese bbq has some good roast duck and pork.

Torchys taco - try the Baja fried shrimp taco

India - butter chicken at al kabobs is worth trying if you like Indian / curry.

Sushi - sushi shack has the sushi shack roll that is good and their fried rice is good.

Great advice. I want to try out some of your suggestions.

I've eaten at kabobs and I didn't like it. First of all, just from the name "al kabobs" you know it's not an authentic Indian owned restaurant. It's a Pakistani or Bangladeshi Muslim who's representing his food as "Indian" because Indian food is more popular and arguably more appealing than "Pakistani food" or "Bangladeshi food". This happens all the time all over the USA and most people visiting these restaurants don't even know and think they're eating authentic Indian food...they're not.

Most Indians have a strong dislike for Muslims/Arabs/Middle Easterners due to historical grievances. Just to clarify, India is not in the Middle East. Indians are not Middle Easterners. So most Indians would not visit a restaurant called "al kabobs", regardless of how good their chicken would be.

That's not to say "al kabobs" serves bad food, food tastes are subjective and I'm sure others may enjoy the chicken just like you do.

The two Indian restaurants I recommend are Mumbai Grill in far north dallas and Curry Bliss in Richardson. Mumbai Grill is your typical north indian/punjabi restaurant with butter chicken, tandoori chicken, butter naan, mango lassi etc. but they do it well.

Curry Bliss is owned by South Indians and while they serve the usual north indian fare, they also serve a lot of south indian food, which is heavily rice and coconut based. South indians eat rice every day. Curry Bliss is also 100 percent vegetarian, no meat and no seafood. I recommend the lunch buffets for both of these restaurants.

[CG2014]

Ever been here, VeryClean?

https://www.indiapalacedallas.com/

https://www.indiapalacedallas.com/wp...alace-Menu.pdf

I love lamb and theirs is outstanding!

They also serve goat.

[VeryClean]

Originally Posted by CG2014

Ever been here, VeryClean?

https://www.indiapalacedallas.com/

https://www.indiapalacedallas.com/wp...alace-Menu.pdf

I love lamb and theirs is outstanding!

They also serve goat.

Yes I have! I'm glad you mentioned this place because if I had to suggest a third restaurant, it would be India Palace.

It's not the cheapest place out there but the food is high quality and tasty.

[dallasfan]

I guess I should have said middle eastern. Similar foods. The butter chicken is good there though. Other dishes I didn’t really care for. I always get it to go. Not great atmosphere. Lol. The guy there is nice but the lady there is like the soup nazi.

I may have to try some of the other spots

[VeryClean]

Originally Posted by dallasfan

I guess I should have said middle eastern. Similar foods. The butter chicken is good there though. Other dishes I didn’t really care for. I always get it to go. Not great atmosphere. Lol. The guy there is nice but the lady there is like the soup nazi.

I may have to try some of the other spots

No worries man, I wasn't trying to correct you, just making more of a general point.

Whenever I think of middle eastern food, I think of hummus, falafel, pita bread, baba ghanoush, tabbouleh, tzatziki, zaatar bread, baklava, shawarma, kibbeh etc. That's the food you'll find cooked and eaten in Middle Eastern countries like Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, Syria, Israel etc.

In the USA, most Middle Eastern restaurants call themselves "Mediterranean" restaurants. They do this because their food is Mediterranean but also because the word "Middle Eastern" or "Arabic" has a negative connotation to it for a lot of Americans, especially after 9/11.

If you want to try out a good Middle Eastern Arabic buffet, try out DiMassi's Mediterranean restaurant at 75 & Campbell in Richardson. The restaurant is owned by a Lebanese Middle Eastern Muslim family and the food is authentic fresh tasty Middle Eastern food. Lots of salads but also several different types of meats, freshly baked pita breads, baklava etc. They have an all day buffet but different prices for lunch and dinner.