Where to Eat in Dallas This March — 5 New Restaurants and What to Order at Each Hot Spot

The hottest new restaurant in Las Colinas, this upscale Indian spot is a must-visit for its classy atmosphere and incredible dishes. Opened by Sanjay Joshi and Probodh Arora (Saffron House), Sanjh was designed by ID 4 Studio. The modern space features neutral colors, highlighted by warm tones of satin brass and marble stone. A gold tree serves as a centerpiece in the dining room. To create the menu, the Sanjh team brought on chef Balpreet Singh Chadha, who was recently awarded a spot on Condé Nast Traveller‘s 2023 “40 under 40: India’s Most Exciting Young Chefs” list.

Best Sips: The Gulab Jal is a great, refreshing cocktail to start with. It’s a mix of vodka, rose petal jam infused with orange liqueur, rose water, and sparkling water. A real stunner on the drink list (and the most popular according toour server) is the Old Fashioned. It’s a classic but comes out smoking for a little tableside show.

Best Bites: The menu can be a bit overwhelming, especially if you don’t know your Indian dishes well, but we had some help from the chef to highlight the best of the best. To start, the bharwan paneer tikka is a must-try. The large cubes of paneer cheese are seasoned with spices, herbs, and nuts. It’s also filled with a small amount of cream for a flavorful surprise. Another shareable starter is the scallops recheado. Served with cauliflower-based sauces of varying colors and steamed gram flour dumplings, this is one of my favorite scallop dishes in Dallas now. And if you’re really hungry, add on the Aloo samosa filled with potato. They are delightful.

As for our meat dishes (a large portion of the menu is vegetarian), we opted for the masaaledaar chaampan — lamb chops, Old Delhi Butter Chicken, and Sanjh signature meat curry with goat. Add on some garlic naan and you honestly don’t even need the meat. I wouldn’t mind going fully vegetarian next time.

A more casual spinoff of Lower Greenville’s upscale omakase spot Shoyo, this new sushi restaurant is located just down the street from its sister spot. Led by chef Jimmy Park, Kaiyo offers Japanese izakaya small bites, hot and cold courses, and a full bar in an intimate space.

Best Sips: There is a full bar menu of unique cocktails, but one that stood out to me was the Not My Oni One. It’s a delicious mixture of Roku gin, red bell pepper, honey, lemon, and mint. The restaurant also has wine, sake, and Japanese beer.

Best Bites: A must-try starter is the Hamachi Star sashimi with yuzu oil, sunflower seeds, citrus, and more. It comes in a small rectangular box which emits smoke when you open it. The Avalanche Roll is another favorite with assorted fish and cream cheese. It is deep-fried, baked with masago aioli, and topped with eel sauce. And if you’re looking to try a bit of everything, one of the chef’s sets is the way to go. The nigiri platter comes with eight pieces, the sashimi has 12, and the deluxe offers six pieces of sashimi, four nigiri, and one specialty roll of your choice.

Just opened in the former Dallas Chop House space in downtown Dallas, this Fort Worth-based steakhouse is a welcome addition to our city’s steakhouse scene. Wicked Butcher’s modern environment has a Western touch with horse saddles hanging from the walls.

Best Sips: I’m not usually a bourbon drinker, but I was convinced to try the Smoking Gun cocktail. I was pleasantly surprised as it was a balanced concoction of bitters, demerara, orange oils, and obviously, came out smoking. The Truffle Negroni is another popular twist on a classic. The white truffle adds an addicting sweetness and the large ice cube is adorned with a tiny edible flower.

Best Bites: Start with the steak tartare. Raw beef tenderloin comes in little cones, topped with green onion, truffles, horseradish creme, and black tobiko. The Dallas-exclusive beef carpaccio is another favorite — especially the lavender aioli that comes in several dollops across the dish. From the raw bar, the dressed oysters are also a can’t-miss with green apple and cucumber.

For mains, the Beef Wellington is a stunner with steak cooked medium rare and accompanied by spinach and mushroom duxelle inside of a puff pastry. If you’re looking for something a bit lighter, the ginger miso Chilean sea bass is a delightful and unique choice with basmati rice, cashew, and green apple curry nage. We also couldn’t get enough of the cacio e pepe and corn crème brûlée sides. And for dessert, do not miss the chocolate souffle.

From chef Michael Bao Huynh, who has appeared on Iron Chef and MasterChef Vietnam, this new East Asian concept took over the former Green Papaya space on Oak Lawn Avenue. It offers dishes with Vietnamese, Thai, and Lao flavors. The interior features booths, white tablecloths, bistro chairs, and a more upscale ambiance. If you stop by Monday through Sunday (from 3 pm to 6 pm), Indochine has a great happy hour for bites and drinks. All cocktails were created by Orson Salicetti, the former beverage director at the now-closed Lumos NYC, a bar devoted to Chinese liquor (baijiu).

Best Sips: During happy hour we opted for the Phoenix cocktail. It was only $7 and included ginger syrup, lime juice, Campari, grapefruit, and mezcal. It was a refreshing drink to enjoy on the restaurant’s patio. Next time, we’re looking at The Moon — a gin-based cocktail with lychee flavors.

Best Bites: Start with the hot crab spring rolls. Also only $7 during happy hour, these toasty rolls come filled with pork and shrimp. Another favorite is the pan-seared beef dumplings with an addictive black vinegar sauce for dipping.

For mains, we enjoyed the caramelized salmon, which comes in a steaming pot filled with bacon and green peppercorn. There’s a lot to try on the menu and we’ll be going back for the vermicelli bowl soon.

One of the coolest new bars in East Dallas, Columbian Country Club was inspired by the original, a historic Jewish country club of the same name that opened in Dallas in 1891 and closed in 2008. Founded by Brian Rutt, Justin Kallhoff, and Jonathan Rosenberg (co-owners of the nearby Pan-Asian concept Alice), the space was designed by Wallace Johnson Studio and features salvaged decor from the original club.

Best Sips: If you enjoy espresso martinis, order one at CCC. They make it with Tito’s, Luxardo espresso, Licor 43, and cocoa bitters. Another favorite drink of the evening was the Paloma Rose with tequila, Aperol, lime, sparkling grapefruit, and rosemary.

Best Bites: The bar mainly offers small, shareable bites. My guest and I made a dinner out of a good portion of parmesan bagels with whipped cream cheese, the Cheese-Bao-Ger (a play on sliders in bao buns with bacon jam), and our favorite — Nonnie’s Doozie, which is bite-sized turkey pastrami sandwiches on marbled rye bread.