Favorite restaurants in Dallas/Plano (Richardson, Allen: house, neighborhood, living)

[fndmom]

Hi I'm new to the board so forgive me if a similar post is already out there. I'm wondering what some of your favorite restaurants are broken down by type of food. It seems like we are stuck in a rut of the same places. We live in far north Dallas but are willing to drive up to 30 minutes for a good meal. So let me know your favorites for:

Pizza
Italian
Tex Mex
Chinese
Seafood/fish
Steak
Other

[TurtleCreek80]

Pizza - Il Canne Rosso (Deep Ellum), Taverna (Knox-Henderson), Scalini's (Lakewood)

Italian- Nonna (Park Cities)

Tex-Mex - Mia's (Oak Lawn), Manny's (Uptown), Mi Cocina (multiple)

Chinese- difficult. We have better Japanese and sushi- Tei An (Arts District), Blue Fish (Lower Greenville ), Shinsei (Park Cities area)

Seafood- Rex's (Park Cities area), Daddy Jacks (Lower Grenville), Palomino (Uptown)

Steak- Nick & Sam's (Uptown) for expensive, Dunston's (Park Cities) for economical

Other good & fun restaurants are:
Neighborhood Services- American - Park Cities
The Porch - American - Henderson
La Duni- Latin & great brunch! - multiple locations
Breadwinner's - great brunch- multiple
Twisted Root- bear burger- multiple
Bolsa- American - Bishop Arts District
Tillman's Roadhouse - Bishop Arts District
Gloria's - Salvadorian-Mex - multiple
Cafe Izmir - Middle Eastern - Lower Greenville
Local - American - Deep Ellum

[MckinneyOwnr]

I'll second a few of those mentioned by TC80, Taverna, Palomino and Nick and Sam's.

I'd also add Rosita's for Mexican on Maple Ave, though Yelp is saying it's closed now? Sal's (Oaklawn) and Roma's (Downtown) for pizza.

Iron Cactus (downtown) has decent, not great food, but the view and outdoor area make up for it.

Steak, Bob's Chop House is a perennial favorite. Seafood... well, after living on the coast and having extremely good seafood, Dallas doesn't have too many places that can really compare. For a "quick" seafood meal, you have plenty of choices around. Rockfish and Pappadeaux's are always good, and occasionally great.

If you want to head a bit north, then the tollway has III Forks, where I've never had a bad meal, and on 75 up in Allen, Braza Dancante is a great Brazilian steakhouse, one of the better ones I've ever been to.

Happy hunting.

[homebyer]

Bijoux for French but $$$$
III Forks for Steaks
Sushi Sake in Richardson
Afrah for Middle Eastern / best bakery for bread and baklava
Toulouse -French for brunch
Si Tapas -Spanish Restaurant Bar in downtown Dallas

[mSooner]

Italian--I like Vapiano, but it can divide people
Seafood/fish--Big fan of Fish City Grill. Multiple locations. Rockfish is very similar and good as well.
Steak--Cheap steak: Saltgrass; Nice Dinner Out Steak: Perry's
Other--Kubys for German (only open for dinner on weekends, though)
B.B.Bop--Good for casual Korean. Neat concept
Casual Homestyle: Cowboy Chicken--much better than Boston Market

[DFWgal]

Italian - Penne Pomodoro. Great food (healthy options), and desserts. Even their espressos are delicious!

[TriumphOfTheSprint]

For some choices up north where you are:

Pizza - Fireside Pies (Shops at Legacy)
Thai - Thai Orchid (Addison), Best Thai (Far North Dallas)
Seafood - Chamberlain's Fish Market Grill (Addison), Flying Fish (Addison)
German - Bavarian Grill (Plano)
Other - Whiskey Cake (Plano), Oliver's Eatery (Far North Dallas)

[Mr Grieves]

My current favorite places are Nobu and the French Room, I enjoy doing the tastings there where the Chef decides I eat out almost every meal, and so far these two places are the best experiences I have had.

[stan4]

La Duni rocks.

Abacus is really yummy.

Great sushi and other food (delicately prepared) at Densetsu.

If you don't want to spend too much on French food, try Mignon.

I think Bob's is overrated for steaks. Honestly, the best steaks I have ever eaten (worldwide, including NYC, LA, etc) were prepared at home.

For something different, Roy's (Hawaiian fusion) can be fun.

Enjoy a nice glass of wine and a plate of prime rib next to a cozy fire over at The Keg.

Polka and schnitzel at The Bavarian Grill is awesome. Seriously. Ask for the Weiner Art and toss back a couple of shots of apfelkorn before downing your half liter of hefe.

There are great thai places all over - try the mom and pop places. There are some insanely authentic places! There is one on Parker and Alma (I think alma)...on the southwest corner. We had to take a thai person to interpret the menu for us. His parents' friends owned and run the place.

As an Indian person, I can tell you I enjoy Roti Grill and Saffron. Different venues, but I enjoy the food from both.

Tapas at Malaga.

Crap...I had the best babaganoush at this little place off of Greenville...urgh!!!! Can't remember.

Love Zorba's gyros.

Amy's has great Chinese ice cream. Make sure you put coconut and almond jelly on it!

[Brookside]

Since you asked for some Plano-specific options:

1. Whiskey Cake - awesome, inventive food, cool vibe.
2. Bavarian Grill - I think someone has mentioned this already, but the food is superb, the service outstanding and the beer list - amazing. It is family owned; they are German and show an old-world courtesy to every customer that I simply love.
3. Fireside Pies - Pizza; Legacy Village.
4. Season's 52 - Great, inventive food, good wine list.
5. Twisted Root Burger seriously rocks and blows In and Out out of the water.
6. Breadwinner's - Best. Brunch. Ever.
7. Mexican - everyone has a favorite they will defend till the end, but we usually vacillate between Mi Cocina and Gloria's in Fairview. There's also a *great* Mom and Pop place called Chito's on Legacy where I recently got the best enchiladas of my life. Seriously. Lots of folks rave about Blue Mesa Grill (off of Preston, just south of 121), but I haven't made it over there yet.

8. Italian -- All the chains are represented in Plano and are always decent. My favorite is a neighborhood place called Picasso's (at Coit and Legacy). Wonderful, family-owned place. I've never had a bad meal there, the vibe is comfortable and true home-style Italian, plus it's BYOB -- I can bring my own favorite bottle of red instead of paying $50 for a mediocre bottle of Calif Cabernet.

9. Greek - it's a toss-up between Zorba's and Ziziski's, with the edge going to to Zorba's. I like the food and service and it's also BYOB (see #8). Ziziski's is slightly more upscale and the menu is more diverse (more vegetable options) but we've had really awful service there.

10. If you are a beer aficionado, do not miss Holy Grail Pub. Probably the most extensive and eclectic I've seen. It's located in a rather nondescript strip shopping center off of Preston, but the atmosphere inside is very comfortable. Decent fish and chips, too.

As for sushi - my local favorite is Naan (Legacy Village). A lot of people like Sushi Rocks in Allen but I think the food is just so-so. Ra is decent but the atmosphere just ruins it for me -- loud and obnoxious. Richardson is sushi heaven -- Sushi Sake is regularly rated as the best in Dallas, period. I like a neighborhood place in Preston Hollow called Ku -- great food (get the Ahi Tower) and outstanding service.