Restaurant Week in Dallas/Fort Worth
 

Each year, one of D-FW's most eagerly anticipated culinary events is KRLD's restaurant week. The fund-raiser benefits the North Texas Food Bank and the Lena Pope Home.

This year's dates are Aug. 16 through Aug. 22. During this time, diners can enjoy a special fixed-price, three-course meal for only $30, and $6 of that amount will go directly to one of the charities.


Restaurant Week dinners include a specially selected appetizer, entree and dessert – ordering off the regular menu is not included in this special price. Tax, gratuity and drinks are also not included.

Restaurant Week 2004

I was calling around earlier this week and several of the more popular restaurants (Abacus, Dragonfly, The Mansion) in town were already sold out of Restaurant Week reservations for the entire week. I imagine these places heavily "yield manage" their Rest Wk inventory.

Don't know about this year, but last year Dragonfly had both their regular & their Rest. Week menus going. They dropped the regular one and we had to ask for the RW menu -- you think they would have had it noted on our rez! So, if you want to take an FT chance and play the game, make a regular reservation and see what happens.

Abacus was all RW menu... and it was OUTSTANDING! We were seated 40 minutes late, but each got comp'ed a big flute of Vieuve Cliquot for the wait! Needless to say we are booked again this year!!

Smith and Wollensky had a fabulous menu last year. It was basically their regular menu... pick an appetizer, pick an entree, pick a dessert. They also ran wine pairing specials. One of the best bangs for the buck.

Abacus is always also great. We didn't get in for this year but did get into Jaspers instead.

For those who are Abacus fans, perhaps it is time to do another FT tasting dinner there. Last year we had a dozen folks, most from out of town, for nine courses with wine. Truly memorable!

Ah... good! Just wanted to make sure it got used.

We did Smith & Wollensky last night and it was a 180 from last year's experience. The service was rude and rushed (our steaks were on the table before the appetizers were even finished) and the menu was reduced from last year's offerings.

A colleague dined at Abacus last night and reported disappointing service there. She stated that they waited nearly 30 minutes between courses and that the atmosphere seemed almost chaotic. Drink orders were forgotten and incorrect dishes brought out. This does NOT sound like the Abacus I'm used to!

We do Jaspers tomorrow... I hope to report back something glowing!

I hope so as well, would hate to see the quality decline that much.

Have to wonder what the restaurants are thinking, serving a poor/limited menu, harsh service, then they wonder why the avg Joe has no interest in finer cuisine.

I agree. I've always looked at Restaurant Week as being a chance to sample a handful of places to see them highlight a "best of" type selection.

I recognize that the reduced prices mean that they lose a lot of their margin but rather than look at it as a loss, I see it as a promotional cost.

If folks like what they see, they will rave about it to their friends and return. If they don't, they will tell tons of people "wow... it sucked and imagine how much worse we would have felt if we had spent $60 instead of $30!"

A lot of these restaurants treat their Restaurant Week customers like cockroaches who are bottom feeding... and yeah, it IS a good price... and like coupons, will bring the cheapies out of the woodwork. At the same time, many foodies mark the event on their calendars and use it to hit a different place every single night.

Half the time I end up ignoring the Restaurant Week menu and ordering off the standard menu too just because I like those offerings better. At S&W last night, they offered me a choice of menus when I was seated... when I asked to see both, they stated that we either did RW or regular... but that the whole table had to do the same. Their loss. My friend wanted the RW but I was actually prepared to look at the regular selections in lieu of the RW reduced menu!

Too bad about Abacus -- it was very chaotic there last year too, but our waiter was OUTSTANDING and we never had an issue ourselves.

We did Suze on Wed night and it was great. I've been wanting to get there for 4 years and we will definitely be back. We love small, intimate places and service was superb and not rushed at all.

Tonight it's Al Biernat's and I know he tries hard to never let things go astray!

I've had two pretty good restaurant week experiences this year. Steel on Wednesday night was very good. They only presented our table with the RW menus but the options were varied and tempting enough to where none of us felt compelled to ask for the regular menu. Interestingly, Steel's RW menu was actually 4 courses (appetizer, soup/salad, main, dessert) plus a sorbet palate cleanser before the main so clearly they were making an attempt to put on a good show for RW customers. And their strategy worked as I now can't wait to return for a non-RW meal.

Went to the Oceanaire last night. There the RW menu was printed down at the bottom of the regular menu. We had no issues ordering a regular menu appetizer before the RW set menu (actually we were encouraged to do so - seems like a no-brainer that a restaurant would want to get patrons to order more!). Service was good and leisurely paced (perhaps a tad slow?). Clearly they weren't trying to herd the RW cheapos out the door. Overall the impression wasn't quite as positive as Steel the night before but Oceanaire still gets good marks from me.

I'm chalking Wednesday (my S&W, my colleague's Abacus) up to an oddity. I've been dining at Abacus almost since it opened and have NEVER had a lackluster meal there. S&W, on the other hand, has been rumored to be on a downslide since arriving in Dallas. From what I've heard, my great experience there last year is the exception rather than the rule. (And it might have also been helped that our waiter last year was a transplant from NYC's Cite, one of my regular spots there.)

Jaspers last night was spectacular. Service was a 10 (very nonrushed, nonintrusive... our waiter sinced that my friend and I were going to talk for a good while and watched carefully for interludes where he could drop in). The food was wonderful as well. I will state that I still prefer Abacus... Asian/seafood is more my deal than American/meat. For those who don't like to branch out quite as far as Abacus forces, however, Jaspers is a gem. While it is not likely to be the first place I seek out if I want a meat and potatoes fix (Dallas has far too many good steakhouses including Bob's right down the block), that strip has great shopping and I could easily see myself popping in for soup and salad and a nibble of dessert (much like I treat The Mansion).

Won't be able to try any additional restaurants before this closes out on Sunday... but rumor has it that many (Jaspers, Abacus, S&W all among them) are extending through next weekend. If that is the case, I may try more next week when I get home from traveling.

Gourmet Mag’s (Oct 04) “Big Deal / Good Deal” restaurants for Dallas/Ft Worth

Big Deal = Gourmet, Elegant food
Good Deal = “cheap” local’s spots

Big Deal Restaurants:

Aurora
4216 Oak Lawn Avenue
Dallas
214.528.9400

York Street
6047 Lewis Street
Dallas
214.826.0968

Good Deal Restaurants:

Oishii
2525 Wycliff Avenue
Dallas
214.599.9448

Joe T Garcia's
2201 North Commerce Street
Fort Worth
817.626.4356

Since Sweet Willie has bumped this thread up, and since I'm going to Dallas next week and so was searching the subject, here are my favorite restaurants when I'm visiting Dallas:

For steak, most definitely Del Frisco's. Huge servings, including some very tasty sides, and most excellent beef.

For seafood, Cafe Pacific (24 Highland Park Villsge, Cross Street: Mockingbird Lane). A bit pricey and a bit elegant, but good.

Since I'll be there for four nights this time, I'll have to try some of the other suggestions listed in the thread.

Don't overlook Patrizio (right across the driveway from Cafe Pacific in Highland Park Village). Patrizio serves quite good Italian fare at very affordable prices in a fun, people-watching setting. Can be very noisy but it's the best Italian food at its price level.

Also, to second a recommendation by Sweet Willie further up in this thread, I tried Steel for the first time this year during restaurant week and was quite impresseed. If Japanese/Vietnamese fusion in a hip, modern setting is your thing, you should definitely visit Steel. According to guidelive.com they have free sushi in the bar for Wed. night happy hour; I'll have to check that out sometime...

If you get this while there...
 

Then you must try either La Duni! It is mentioned by the OP and is still outstanding, having added a second location a few months back!

Possibly the best Latin/South American food I have had outside of that vast region of nations! And they have a killer, exceedingly well-priced wine list. Duni, the wife of the team, is famous for her cakes and pastries! See La Duni

Cuquitas (the original on Henderson or the one at Coit & Spring Valley) is certainly a GREAT mom&pop place. I'll usually see people I know who grew up in El Paso when I'm there (a good sign!). Just don't go on Tuesday as they are closed then.

I've heard good things about Calle Doce (seafood), but haven't made it there yet.

Javier's is the place to go for "upscale" Mexico City cuisine!