Downtown Dallas Hotel’s Restaurant Makeover Brings Surprisingly Great Hot Chicken and Waffles

Earlier this year, The Sheraton Hotel in downtown Dallas revealed it would be offering five new food and beverage options as part of a multimillion dollar renovation of the hotel. All are now open at 400 N. Olive Street. The new spots include a coffee shop, an American restaurant, pub, bar and grab-and-go market.

I had the chance to try out some things at Open Palette, the new American restaurant in the hotel. First off, the cocktail drink menu has a drink for every color, literally named Red, Orange, Yellow, Blue, Green, etc. I had the Yellow, which was similar in color and flavor to a SunnyD.

On the food menu for the evening were tempura fried green beans, roasted cauliflower, meatballs, shrimp & grits, Waygu beef short ribs, and the most amazing chicken & waffles I’ve ever eaten. But I’ll get to that in a minute.

The Open Palette menu has eight community dishes, or starters, great for sharing. I had zero complaints about the tempura fried green beans with toasted chiles and Meyer lemon ailoi, and the roasted cauliflower with pesto and lemon greek yogurt.

I absolutely despise cauliflower and its colorless, lifeless look and taste. I’ve repeatedly tried cauliflower pizza crust to mix things up and I just can’t. But this starter showed me an entirely different side to the vegetable and I loved it.

In the mains section of the menu, there’s an interesting array of choices. From a beer steamed bacon cheeseburger to chicken schnitzel and pappardelle pasta, there’s something for every mood.

Immediately after scarfing down some meatballs with pickled shallot, lemon crema and demi-glace, the Nashville Style Hot Chicken And Waffle came out. Everyone sat and stared in awe for awhile. One because it looked delicious and two because no one wanted to be the first person to just stick their fork in the middle of the waffle and start chomping down.

We were warned that it was hot, spice-wise, which usually means that I’m not going to try something because I’m a wimp when it comes to spices. I’ve just gotten used to eaten jalapeños on the reg. But the cheddar cornbread waffle with truffle honey butter just looked too good to pass up.

Yes, it was very, very spicy. But my god, it was so good.

The addicting flavors overtook the burning. This chicken & waffle made me realize the appeal of spicy food. I finally understood the satisfaction of going through some pain for a rewarding ending. I am now a spicy food lover.

OK, that might be a bit much, but this waffle was incredible.