The Best Dishes Eater Dallas Ate in October

The amount of excellent food available in Dallas is dizzying, yet mediocre meals somehow keep worming their way into our lives. With your Eater Dallas editor dining out frequently, that means coming across lots of standout dishes and drinks that need to be shared.

Courtney E. Smith

Amore Italian Bistro

6931 Snider Plaza

After daydreaming about cheesy lasagna during a trip to New York City this month and then not having any, it was an itch I needed to scratch. I was hunting for something specific: oven-baked Italian American-style beef lasagna with loads of melted cheese. I found it on a cold October weekend over lunch at this Snider Plaza spot, snuggled into its dark wood tables near the kitchen. It was served with a basic salad and slices of pizza crust for bread. The sauce was just a little sweet, but adding some salt and pepper to taste got it right where I wanted. And the price was under $15 for the lunch serving with no wait to get in.

Courtney E. Smith

Harvest at the Masonic

215 N Kentucky St. in McKinney

It has long been one of the favorite spots on the Square in McKinney. Harvest relocated in October after a years-long journey to renovate a former Masonic temple into three floors of restaurant space. It’s gorgeous, with hidden corners, incredible decor, and a totally different experience on all three floors. The chicken tinga is an adaptation of the dish created for one of the restaurant’s family meals that was so good they put it on the proper menu. It was excellent.

Courtney E. Smith

Sugar and Sage Bakery

4314 Lovers Ln.

A sweet tooth drove me to this wonderful bakery for a treat. I got the toasted marshmallow latte (not pictured) and found it not nearly as sweet as it sounds. There’s a depth that comes with the maple brown sugar and vanilla syrup in it, but getting it with oat milk probably helped. I also had a cruffin cinnamon roll that was a delight and a monster Rice Krispie treat that was probably overkill, but it was my trick-or-treat moment.

Courtney E. Smith

Second Bar + Kitchen at The Crazy Water Hotel

401 N Oak Ave. in Mineral Wells

Is it worth driving to Mineral Wells for a meal? If chef David Bull is preparing it, it is. The man has a gift for pulling together seemingly incongruent flavor profiles and is a master of layering textures into dishes. This gorgeous salad, the Farm to Market, is one of the menu’s highlights.