The Best Dallas Restaurant Takeout We’ve Tried During Quarantine

Australian LDU Coffee was always a go-to spot for me, but when I started to work from home every day and needed a brief drive to Fitzhugh for a coffee break, the addiction picked up.

Here, drinks are always on point and online ordering is easy. The pickup process is also a breeze — it doesn’t take long for the personable baristas to learn your name. Definitely go for the “Sunbeam Me Up, Scotty,” a delicious and warm sweet potato sandwich with candied pecans, lime, cilantro, and feta. Other great sandwiches include a simple ham and cheese, one with smoked turkey, aioli, crushed red pepper, cheese, and roasted tomatoes, and one breakfast option.

For my in-quarantine birthday last month, my boyfriend asked me where I wanted to get takeout from. I had only been to il Bracco once before (last fall on a patio), but the memory of their bolognese lingered.

I was a little worried the takeout version might not live up to my own hype. Thankfully, it was fantastic. Along with the beef, lamb, and pork bolognese, we ordered the chicken piccata with kale salad, a Caesar salad, and the homemade focaccia. All was just as good as had it been served on il Bracco’s patio.

The day after my birthday, I decided I owed myself a present, so I ordered something I’d been craving. I had tried TJ’s Maryland jumbo lump crab cake at the Preston Royal location a few months prior and couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I treated myself with a to-go version of the classic entree.

I was impressed as soon as I opened the box and saw a perfectly organized meal complete with sriracha slaw and squash. TJ’s owner Jon Alexis had recently told us that his restaurants have completely changed how they plate takeout food to make it more appeasing to customers. It was worth it.

Sometimes, with Mexican food (particularly with enchiladas or tacos), the takeout version has a hard time living up to the dine-in experience. But at Mesero, the chips were just as crisp and the enchiladas verdes and brisket tacos were just as flavorful.

I made the most of my takeout order and added the cinco leches cake to split with my boyfriend. Let’s just say it wasn’t an even split.

Near SMU, the Park Cities institution serves Southern comfort food like fried chicken, catfish, green beans, mashed potatoes, and more. It’s so popular, in fact, that we shouldn’t have been surprised to discover a line of about 20 cars at their drive thru. But then again, what else did we have to do that day? After about an hour of slowly inching our way forward in the drive-thru we got our takeout chicken tenders, rolls, and french fries.

Was it worth it? By the time we got home and were absolutely starving, yes, it was. Should we have just ordered curbside pickup as we saw several others doing once we pulled out of the drive-thru to save time? Probably. But, the crispy chicken tenders dipped in barbecue sauce and gravy with the some of the best rolls I’ve ever tasted quickly made us forget how long we had to wait.

Terry Black’s Barbecue was my favorite barbecue joint when I lived in Austin. To my excitement, the famed barbecue joint opened a second location in Deep Ellum this past fall. When they announced they were doing takeout after dining rooms closed, Terry Black’s was one of my very first stops.

I ordered a half pound of turkey, a half pound of brisket, mac and cheese, and green beans for two people. Somehow, I still wish I had ordered more.

Another new personal go-to for takeout is Lower Greenville’s Three Egg Muffins, which specializes in savory and sweet egg-based muffins and coffee.

I found the cafe via Uber Eats at the start of quarantine, which was both good and bad. I now order the Veggie Delite and banana nut muffins every weekend. Thankfully, muffins are only $3 each and a pour over coffee is only $2.75.