The Best Dishes Eater Dallas Ate in September

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

Culpepper Cattle Co.

3309 Elm St., Suite 100

A hankering for Tex-Mex led me to Culpepper Cattle Co. in Deep Ellum, and the bartender talked me into a lunch plate of fajitas. I didn’t know that the restaurant makes its flour tortillas in-house and serves them with butter as an appetizer — a steakhouse-style bread service instead of chips and salsa. I also didn’t know it has a $10 single meat lunch fajita plate deal on Fridays, which is down from the usual $25. Quite the deal. The meat was sizzling and the steak was top-notch — I would order it rather than a combo platter with chicken next time.

Doughbird

5560 W. Lovers Ln., #260

As fall slides in, a French dip sandwich sounds so good. I checked out Doughbird when it opened in West Dallas early in the month, and can confirm that this prime rib dip is juicy, meaty, cheesy — a great sandwich. I ordered it with a Caeser salad on the side instead of fries since I also had the sinfully good mozzarella sticks, and I can confirm it makes a wonderful pairing. Don’t skip those mozzarella sticks.

Soy Cowboy

888 Nolan Ryan Expy, Ste. A in Arlington

Jerryworld has brought in some new restaurants in the past few months, including this fancy Asian fusion spot with sushi (including omakase that can be ordered for the table), robota, and steaks. Our waiter let us know that if we liked, he could curate a tasting menu that drew from all the many chefs on-site. We did, and two standout dishes were the plate of A5 Kobe beef with togarashi and truffle soy sauce, served over flaming salt (this place does love a showy presentation) and the miso marinated black cod served with seasonal tomatoes and cucumbers.

Nuri Steakhouse

2401 Cedar Springs Rd., Suite 120

Honestly, I didn’t want to like the food at Nuri Steakhouse as much as I did. It is just all so damn good, as is the service. There’s not one dish I can recommend more than the others. The Nuri tasting board, which lets the diner sample four different types of meat from the current menu along with an array of banchan — also makes for excellent leftovers. Lobster as an add-on with uni butter? Absolutely. The creamed kale made me say, “Creamed spinach? I don’t know her.” My devotion to the Maque Choux Corn Cheese, a New Orleans twist that has all the cheese of mac and cheese with corn, jalapeño bacon, and Fresno peppers, knows no bounds.

Quesadillas Mexico City Style

271 S. Zang Blvd.

After a movie at the Texas Theater, a friend suggested stopping into this place on the corner for some San Antonino-style Mexican food. It did not disappoint. The chicken was fresh and beautifully roasted with enough, but not too much cheese (it’s not Tex-Mex, y’all) and the unnecessary but texturally welcome addition of shredded iceberg lettuce. I tried all the sauces on the table, and each one was a delight.