Our 4 Favorite Dallas Restaurants Right Now — What To Order at a New French Spot, Vandelay’s Latest Concept, Avra’s First Texas Outpost, and More

One of the most highly anticipated Dallas restaurant openings of the year comes from brothers Brandon and Henry Cohanim, co-founders of Feels Like Home (which owns West Village’s Namo and Bar Colette). The contemporary French spot debuted in Uptown at The QUAD. Designed by Bryan O’Sullivan Studio, the space is stunning with two dining rooms, a private dining room, and bar area. The kitchen is led by French-born chef Christophe de Lellis. We published a more in-depth first taste of Mamani story last month, but here are the highlights of the menu.

Recommendations: Start with the Bread We Bake. It’s served with a giant scoop of Rodolphe Le Meunier Butter, which I ended up taking the leftovers home, it’s that good. We also loved the crispy croquettes filled with Benton’s Country Ham and manchego, artichoke served with Za’atar yogurt, confit tomato, and mint, and Vitello Tonnato for shareable appetizers.

The agnolotti is also a must-order under pasta dishes. It changes seasonally. Currently, there’s a delicious-sounding honeynut squash, sage, and brown butter iteration on the menu. For shareable mains, the Veal “Cordon Bleu” is a stunner. Chef de Lellis comes out to serve it tableside, dividing the portions of meat, drizzling a veal jus (that takes two entire days to make and reduce) on top of it, and then mixing some of that sauce into the pomme purée — an iconic Joël Robuchon recipe. This is also the only way to order the classic French potato dish at Mamani.

For dessert, don’t miss the Paris-Brest — a beloved French pâte à choux filled with praline crème mousseline and studded with almonds.

New York-based upscale Greek restaurant Avra Estiatorio just opened its first Texas location at Uptown Dallas’ The Crescent. One of the highlights of the new location is The Conservatory — a glass-enclosed café surrounded by lush greenery, creating an indoor-outdoor atmosphere. The spot serves lunch and dinner, and you can find bites like salads, sashimi, and Greek classics, including spanakopita, halloumi, and souvlaki, on the menu. Before you order, a server will escort you to view the seafood display, where a variety of fresh fish, prawns, and other seafood are showcased. Be prepared for the lobsters to move.

Recommendations: Begin your meal with an order of Greek salad for the table. It’s a refreshing mix of tomato, peppers, onions, Kalamata olives, and arahova feta dressing. Another must-try is the Avra chips — crispy zucchini and eggplant chips with Tzatziki. From the sashimi & ceviche portion of the menu, we highly recommend the yellowtail jalapeño. It comes with a delicious mixture of ponzu sauce, soy sauce, lime zest, jalapeno pink peppercorn, and Japanese eggplant shavings. For mains, you can’t go wrong with the Branzino. It’s served tableside with a ladolemono sauce that is completely addictive. And for dessert, you can’t miss the classic baklava with pistachio and honey syrup.

The Dallas restaurant group behind Hudson House, Drake’s, Anchor Sushi Bar, and so many more, Vandelay Hospitality, opens its first Mexican concept at Dallas’ Snider Plaza. El Molino is inspired by “the vibrant spirit of Mexico City and the refined elegance of French design.” The 2,500-square-foot space is intimate, as there are only 83 seats and a small nine-seat bar. The menu features starters, fajitas, enchiladas, and Especiales.

Recommendations: During a recent preview dinner, we enjoyed the Guajillo shrimp ceviche and spinach artichoke queso fundido, which come fully dressed and prerolled, so all you have to do is dip them in the creamy jalapeño sauce. We also loved the smoked chicken verde, which comes with a bright green tomatillo sauce and a unique side of spicy corn, both delicious. The fried chicken tenderitos fajitas were something we had to try. You can choose from different specialty sauces to accompany your dish, like Molino sauce, creamy jalapeño, and warm tomatillo, but it was the chipotle BBQ that was the perfect match for the tenderitos. A sopapilla cheesecake with a scoop of ice cream was the perfect ending to our meal.

Since 2018, this Italian-ish restaurant from Duro Hospitality (El Carlos Elegante, Mister Charles, Norman’s) has been a go-to spot for a unique dining experience. One of our 10 favorite spots in the Design District, mostly for its incredible service, The Charles is always cooking up something worth a revisit.

The Duro Experience is a $99 per person tasting menu that features a multi-course meal for two, and is a great way to try a little bit of everything at The Charles. The menu changes seasonally, but we recently enjoyed beef tartare, a summer salad, grilled Skull Island prawns with a red pepper bisque (that we scooped up every last drop with grilled bread), lobster ventaglio featuring the tastiest herb ricotta-filled pasta with a lemon brown butter sauce, and an incredibly tender Akaushi Hanger steak with sides of mushrooms and okra. For dessert, the decadent Duro tiramisu was stunning, made with a cardamom-orange mascarpone mousse and salted pistachio crumble that set it apart from the classic dish.