I will submit two places that I never hear anyone talk about or mention. Both happen to be in Addison. No real reason other than we live in North Dallas, so I guess Addison is close to us.

1. Canary by Gorji (I see online that it is now just called "Gorji Restaurant")

Not sure if he's doing dine-in again but this is basically a two man operation. Gorji the chef and his salaried, long-time waiter. We LOVE this place and it's probably one of the most unique spots in DFW (no tipping). It's a very small restaurant because it's just him and his waiter. It's a blend of Mediterranean and a few other cultures. Pretty unique menu and he has a boutique wine list that you will not find anywhere else. He will carry wine from Israel, Texas, Turkey along with the usual wine regions. So, if you want to try something different and get a small, European kind of feel this is a perfect place.

Anytime we've eaten there he comes to your table and talks to you after he cooks your food. Really nice guy and neat to talk to. He makes his own sauces as well which you can get at Whole Foods, if interested.

2. Table 13

We just ate here for the first time last month for our anniversary. Looked promising so I took a shot at it. Really cool place. Has kind of an old school rat pack yet modern feel to it. They had a gal playing piano while we there. The good thing being it was old school music and she was not screaming at you so you got to hear fun, classic music and still be able to hold a conversation. The menu is classic with nothing innovative, but it was well prepared and good. Really fun date place.

Will have to check out Gorji!

Addison Cafe, while we're talking about Addison. Very unassuming strip mall exterior but very good

Petra and the Beast and Urbano Cafe are great, and they're both byob.

Both of these sound right up my alley. Will have to check them out, thanks.

Also, I'll throw in 2 places in Plano. Mignon and Sea Breeze. Both in the same shopping center.

Mignon is a local steakhouse. Great food, set up to be high-end dining but still manages to oull off a neighborhood atmosphere. Very unpretentious.

Sea Breeze is a seafood market and restaurant with very good fresh seafood. More east coast style than cajun, which is kind of hard to find around here. Never had a bad meal there.

Ferrari's Pizzeria in Plano (Legacy & Coit) real deal New York-style pizza and Italian dishes.

Owner is from New York (believe Yonkers). .

When I need a pizza or calzone fix this IS the place.

https://m.yelp.com/biz_redir?link_source=yelp_app&s=c7746f33847a77305b2f7a19e67bd47edeef42d91e8bb9195ee5a5b2bffa4a16&src_bizid=yNoiQLuabPv2npnQRWw9uA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ferrarispizzeria.com%2F&website_link_type=website

Me too. Also that old.

Thank you for the recommendations! Son lives in Las Colinas and I'm always looking for new places to take him when we are visiting. We will be there next weekend for Father's day and will dine at two of these!

Will check these out. I've never spent much time in Plano so don't know much about the area.

Food from Galilee in Snider Plaza is the best Mediterranean for my money. Owned by a nice Lebanese family and BYOB.

Couple of fun facts, the Texas de Brazil in Addison is the first one. The Chili's on Belt Line is the flagship for that chain, and I'm pretty sure Brinker is headquartered in Addison.

As for a suggestion, J's Breakfast & Burgers on Midway and Belt Line is an old school hole-in-the-wall 24 hour diner that's delicious and cheap. You can get a double meat cheeseburger and a bunch of fries for like $7. Used to go there after a night out.

LSA on the Square in Denton. The food is good - burgers and such but if you get a table upstairs overlooking the Square, it's a very cool dining experience.

AggieBarstool said:

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Will have to check out Gorji!

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Check to see if he's doing dine in or not. Also, the pro tip we realized early on was that you go early or you may not get in because it's so small. I don't recall if he does reservations so we would end up just going by 5:30 or 6 and do an early dinner.

How long has this been opened? That's a who's who behind that one.

YouBet said:

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How long has this been opened? That's a who's who behind that one.

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no idea but i went there in 2019 and the person who gave us the gift card said they had been going there for years.

Zombie Jon Snow said:

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YouBet said:

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How long has this been opened? That's a who's who behind that one.

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no idea but i went there in 2019 and the person who gave us the gift card said they had been going there for years.

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Well that blows my mind since we lived over there for years and actually know some people tied to that place. Never heard of it. WTF!

Nvm. Found the place I was thinking of earlier.

Mariana's Taco Shop in downtown Frisco.

Lounge Here opened around 2017 I believe.

Went there for the first time on Friday evening. Cool vibe.

I agree that Lounge Here has a great atmosphere (the curved wood slat wall is really cool) and the food is good, but I wouldn't call it great (just my opinion obviously). Alice, off of Ross and Hall is excellent. I'm not sure if it's well known or not. The dumplings, steamed buns, and brussel sprouts are awesome.

BoomGoesThe said:

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I agree that Lounge Here has a great atmosphere (the curved wood slat wall is really cool) and the food is good, but I wouldn't call it great (just my opinion obviously). Alice, off of Ross and Hall is excellent. I'm not sure if it's well known or not. The dumplings, steamed buns, and brussel sprouts are awesome.

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It's better than almost anything like a chain and even most small local places. The criteria here was just just under the radar restaurants. It qualifies and some of the experience might just be the food relative to the exterior/location/name/etc. But I would put it up there but not quite the level R+D Kitchen if you've been there. Great atmosphere and good food.

Fortune House in las colinas has incredible soup dumplings

Ramen Izakaya Akira in Lewisville has some of the best Ramen I have had. It is gaining popularity after appearing in a YouTube video of a prominent travel/food enthusiast for best ramen in Dallas. It is small so there might be a wait

Urbano at Bryan and Fitzhugh is great and BYOB.

https://www.urbanodallas.com/

Good place.

It's extraordinarily loud though.

CS4LIFE said:

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Thank you for the recommendations! Son lives in Las Colinas and I'm always looking for new places to take him when we are visiting. We will be there next weekend for Father's day and will dine at two of these!

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Hugo's Invitados is insanely good. We've only been once but plan on returning soon.

Killer margaritas and upscale traditional mexican food. It is NOT tex-mex and if you go expecting queso and cheese enchiladas, you will be disappointed. I hold those two near and dear to my heart, but that is not what you get at Hugo's.

Everything is made from scratch, even the corn tortilla chips.

I could make a meal of just the Pork Belly Chicharron and the Barbacoa from the appetizer menu. And several margaritas.

The only thing our group thought could be better was teh Mexican Cioppino, but it was still good.

Peking Kitchen on Westmoreland

BoomGoesThe said:

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I agree that Lounge Here has a great atmosphere (the curved wood slat wall is really cool) and the food is good, but I wouldn't call it great (just my opinion obviously). Alice, off of Ross and Hall is excellent. I'm not sure if it's well known or not. The dumplings, steamed buns, and brussel sprouts are awesome.

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Came to recommend Alice. Love the vibe in there. Great food and have become friendly with the bartenders too.