Dallas’ Hottest New Restaurant Openings — Where to Eat in October

Editor’s note: The Dallas restaurant scene is constantly changing, with new hotspots, must-try places and major food events coming along on a daily basis. Even the most dedicated foodie can have trouble keeping up. Don’t worry, PaperCity has you covered.

Dallas has been exploding with new restaurants opening just in time for fall, so we narrowed down the list to the absolute best to make it a little bit easier to choose where to go next. From authentic Italian and Chinese restaurants to a Japanese izakaya and adults-only dessert bar, there are a lot of worthy restaurants to try.

Here are Dallas’ Hottest Restaurants for October:

Partenope Ristorante

1901 Main Street, Ste. 102

Husband and wife food vets, Dino and Megan Santonicola, just opened their first Italian concept in downtown Dallas. As a master pizzaiolo and Naples-native, Dino is cooking up Neapolitan-style pizzas and pastas in the historic Titche-Goettinger building. The 4,000 square foot restaurant has a pizza oven that he designed with hand-painted tiles, which is a highlight in the open kitchen.

Besides Neapolitan, Partenope offers pizza fritta and focaccia napolitana. For pastas, there is everything from rigatoni and ragu to spaghetti and penne. And the dinner menu is much larger than lunch, with additions of Zia nunzia, airline chicken with tomato sauce, shallot, carrots, and olives, and Branzino all’acqua pazza. But no matter what time of day you come in, the pizza menu is extensive ranging from classic margherita to the il socio with brisket conserva and spicy BBQ sauce.

Salaryman

287 N. Bishop Avenue

This highly anticipated Japanese restaurant from chef Justin Holt has finally opened in Bishop Arts. Situated right in between Macellaio and Azucar Ice Cream, Salaryman is an intimate dining room with just 27 seats. The izakaya is decorated with tons of wood accents and deep blue tiles, as well as a wallpaper with exotic chickens on one of the walls, making it an incredibly unique spot to share some bites.

The new spot offers yakitori, ramen, Japanese whiskey and cocktails. At Salaryman, ramen is made completely from scratch. Choices for ramen are between the Chintan ramen and Paitan ramen. Holt is also cooking up yakitori skewers that he had served at his well known pop-up dinners. Oyster chicken stands out as well as tsukune and negima. There are two salads, a potato salad and cucumber sunomono. Salaryman also has a 36 Steak Hamburg.

400 Gradi

2000 Ross Avenue, Suite 140

An Italian restaurant from Melbourne, Australia has also made its United States debut in Dallas this fall. 400 Gradi, which comes from renowned chef Johnny Di Francesco, is situated downtown in the newly opened 2000 Ross building. The space is huge and contemporary with plenty of seating and bottles of wine.

As for the food, the menu is also vast. Primarily known for its pizzas, 400 Gradi has 17 options on the menu ranging from the Capricciosa with San Marzano tomato, fior di latte, artichokes, olives, prosciutto cotto and mushrooms to the Suprema with pumpkin, arugula, pine nuts and goat cheese. There are tons of starters such as meatballs and mussels, and pasta options are plentiful.

Jia Modern Chinese

8411 Preston Road, Ste. 132

Preston Center’s newest foodie addition, Jia Modern Chinese is striving to bring authentic Chinese cuisine back to Dallas. The new restaurant has two floors. One main dining area that seats about 65 peoples, not including the patio, and a second floor lounge that has sofas and small tables for cocktails and small bites.

As for the food, Jia’s has a small menu, highlighting authenticity and freshness. Kung Pao Chicken, spring rolls and handmade dumplings are some of the dishes. Another is one of Jia’s favorites, Sheng Jian Bao, which is a pan-fried pork bun. And cocktails include rosewater mixtures and wines. Jia’s is in its soft opening phase and will have a Grand Opening on November 7.

Ebb & Flow

2651 Commerce Street

One of the newest and prettiest places in Deep Ellum, Ebb & Flow is a new restaurant from Crafted Bar Concepts. It’s the first venture of brothers Dallas Hale and Eric Bradford, and his wife Laura. They’re joined by The Bomb Factory’s Whitney Barlow. Formerly the Parlor space, Ebb & Flow completely renovated the 3,000 square foot interior with chandeliers, and a glassed-in patio with ivy and flowers.

Consulting chef Rodman Shields has created a menu featuring appetizers like toasted ravioli, meatballs, Cubano egg rolls, and sausage queso. Ebb & Flow is also serving salads and handhelds such as the Chicken Salami and Swiss, Patty Melt, Baked Turkey and Fiji Apple Wrap. And then there are large plates such as Turkey Stroganoff and Ratatouille. The cocktail menu includes drinks like the Frozen Watermelon Mule, Frozen Prosecco, Garden Margarita and the Coco Loma, a coconut-spiked Paloma.

CiboDivino Centro

2001 Bryan Street, Ste. 100

This Italian marketplace’s second location has just opened in downtown’s Bryan Tower. CiboDivino Centro comes from chef, restaurant vet and Italian, Daniele Puelo and his wife Christina. The new space boasts an outdoor patio, green space and private event space.

Exclusive to this new location are new scratch-made and customizable salads, paninis and chef crafted dishes like pastas and pizzas. Centro is the only place in Dallas that you can find Roman-style pizzas with scissor-cut slices. More than 12o retail wines are available, as well as Italian wines by the glass. CiboDivino also boasts a full-service cafe and coffee bar, which serves Lavazza espresso.

Crab House Seafood & Oyster Bar

2508 Maple Avenue

Uptown’s newest Viet-Cajun restaurant is now open. Surprisingly, it also has its own outdoor pool and cabanas in back. Opened in the former Sisu Uptown Resort spot, Crab House decided to leave the pool (Bali Beach) open, although you can’t dine around it. Eventually, a small treehouse area will be open during events and will serve alcoholic ice cream.

But for owner Taylor Nguyen, the focus is on the restaurant. The seafood spot serves crab legs, lobster, shrimp, mussels, and fried baskets of calamari and catfish. There’s a raw bar with oysters and New Orleans influence like Cajun street corn and gumbo are on the menu as well. One of the favorite seafood plates already is the Crab Claws in Garlic Butter. The cocktail menu includes specialty drinks like a frozen coconut colada and watermelon mojito.

Primos MX (Coming Soon)

3309 McKinney Avenue

The iconic Tex-Mex restaurant in Uptown, Primos, is coming back very soon. Tentatively set to open the week of October 14, the new and improved Primos MX Kitchen & Lounge will reopen with classic Tex-Mex dishes with a chef-driven edge. Chef Jeffrey Kollinger is heading the kitchen, while wine connoisseur Robert Hall is creating the custom bar menu.

There will be a lunch and dinner menu, as well as brunch and late night menus on the weekend. Chili dusted beef tenderloin, stuffed jalapenos and enchiladas verdes y crema are just a few of the new dishes in the works. As for drinks, the plan is to bring back some of the classic margaritas of Primo’s past, as well as new cocktails like the Anejo Highball with Bacardi Ocho Anos Gran Reserva Rum, Pierre Ferrand Ancienne Methode Dry Curacao, Angostura bitters and ginger beer.

Better Than Sex Dessert Restaurant

1010 E. 15th Street, Plano

This new, naughty dessert oasis is officially open in downtown Plano. Baking up adult-only themed desserts with sexual innuendos and an intimate date-night vibe, Better Than Sex is worth traveling up north for. The brand comes from Key West, but Plano’s location will have a Texas twist with specific menu items and decor.

The menu includes uniquely named desserts such as Double Stuffed, an Oreo bread pudding, Between My Velvet Sheets Cheesecake and Blueberry Birthday Suit, a buttered up French toast. And drinks have racy names as well, like the Gang Bang, a four-way of candy inspired shooters, and “Rim Jobs,” which are drinks rimmed with chocolates, caramel or sugar.