There are two ways to do Sanjh. Go for dinner, and you’ll get an upscale experience complete with white tablecloths and suit-clad servers. Start with delicate spheres of dahi puri filled with tangy yogurt foam and topped with tart, crunchy pomegranate seeds, then move to tender goat kebabs cooked in tandoor ovens until they’re glowing orbs of spice and char. A side of creamy black dal should be mandatory here.

When the curtain goes up at this serene, minimalist eight-seat restaurant, you'll start one of the best and most singular dining experiences in Dallas—and the city’s only yakitori omakase. The $200 menu runs for about 12 courses, and changes often, but starters might include an uni-spiked mushroom chawanmushi that eats like silky custard. Or toasted milk bread topped with a mountain of creamy chicken liver pate that might be the best open-faced sandwich you’ll ever have.

This is a Mexican-inspired restaurant from the same team behind Sister, The Charles, and Cafe Duro. The service is top-notch, and the atmosphere feels like a high-end Mexico City restaurant—there’s an in-house masa program for all corn-based plates, a brilliant mezcal menu, and killer cocktails. Get the lengua-filled quesadilla with Oaxaca cheese and caramelized vegetables that comes with pickled giardiniera and dense, rich mole, and don’t leave without trying the pork al pastor.

The duck-fat fried chicken at this low-key but elegant Southern restaurant in the North Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch is famous for a reason: it’s excellent, and you should definitely order it. But you’re missing out if you don’t also try chef Tiffany Derry gumbo and Texas red fish. Dinner at Roots Southern Table works for just about any occasion—just make sure you come here with someone who’s down to split it all and still consider dessert.

Cattleack is the go-to BBQ spot for catering large groups in DFW, and is open for lunch on Thursdays and Fridays (plus the first Saturday of the month for their Whole Hog Day). It’s home to some of the juiciest charred brisket in the Lone Star state—the portions are massive and big enough to feed everyone you came with and then some. Wrap your hands around the pork ribs, smoked ribeyes, and marbled Akaushi beef brisket. It’s BYOB, so grab a few beers on the way.

Restaurant Beatrice is a Cajun-style sit-down spot in Oak Cliff that has two different outdoor spaces, bar seating, and a casually elegant dining room. You can bring just about anyone here and have a great time, whether that’s your parents and your grandparents, a new romantic partner, a nowhere-near-new romantic partner, or just little old you for a solo meal. The menu changes seasonally, but a few current and classic favorites include the gulf shrimp and grits, duck confit, and fried chicken.

Mot Hai Ba is as consistently great today as it was when it was the new kid on the block, a come-as-you-are joint with unusual Vietnamese food from a Serbian chef that’s still special enough for a birthday or anniversary dinner. There are crowdpleasing classics like kimchi foie gras dumplings, garlic noodles, and binchotan-grilled fish. You might find yourself ordering the escargot bolognese-stuffed agnolotti, because the server’s suggestions haven’t missed all evening.

At Lucia, half the fun is watching the cooks swirl sauce into the just-fired fettuccine through the open kitchen. It adds to the feeling that you’re in a good friend’s kitchen at this cozy Bishop Arts Italian restaurant—if your friend served prunes stuffed with foie gras mousse, or made their own salumi, cut into panes as pretty as stained glass. On a recent visit, that fettucini came bright green with parsley and pesto, a balance of acidic, creamy, and even crunchy (thanks to chopped almonds).

A night at Purepecha means finding the almost-hidden door at Revolver Taco Lounge between rowdy bars in Deep Ellum, walking into the kitchen, and sitting at a communal table for a few hours. Warm corn tortillas and hand-ground salsa molcajeteada start things off homestyle, but rather than a family meal, you’re in for a seven-course, artfully plated tasting menu that highlights the traditions of Michoacán for $180.

Their patio opens onto the sidewalk of Lower Greenville, East Dallas’s famous stretch of bars and restaurants, so you can sit back and watch the nightlife while downing $8 Happy Hour wings. Ultra-crispy but tender under the skin, and splashed with Ngon’s house nước chấm sauce, these wings could be a soul-soothing meal all on their own. You should branch out. Fried rice gets big bolts of crab and torn eggs, while the spring rolls come with bright ginger- or pineapple-spiked fish sauce dips.