Texas Monthly adds and updates approximately sixty restaurant listings to our Dining Guide each month. There’s limited space in the print issue, but the entire searchable guide to the best of Texas cuisine is at your fingertips online!

Below are a few highlights from the new restaurants reviewed in our April 2022 issue. Click “More Info” for further detail on each restaurant:

Dallas

Cry Wolf

Chef Ross Demers creates bold dishes with top-tier ingredients, French techniques, and global accents at his charming, 28-seat restaurant. It’s a cozy spot, with vintage-looking ceiling tiles, snazzy wallpaper, and an open kitchen. For our first course, smoked mackerel teamed up with briny caviar, tangy crème fraîche, celery, and diced potato. Next, a bed of kimchi added complexity to whole Florida prawns bathed in garlic-parsley butter and gently prepared on the wood-fired hearth. Our favorite dish was the crispy Wagyu beef tongue, cooked sous vide for 48 hours; it dazzled with luxurious flavor, melt-in-the-mouth texture, a crisp-seared crust, and a seductive sauce espagnole. There were tamer offerings too, like tender linguine with Burgundy truffle and black trumpet mushrooms and a bavette steak with demi-glace and potato puree.

Modern American | ⭑⭑⭑ | $$$$ | More Info

Maize Houston
Maize, in Houston.Becca Wright/Courtesy of Maize
Houston

Maize

Possessed of a fine culinary pedigree (Xochi, Mark’s), chef Fabian Saldana dreams up impressive Mexican dishes in a welcoming space in far west Memorial. We couldn’t resist the intriguing cocktails, like a mezcal margarita spiked with ancho pepper syrup (the extensive wine list is notable too). We noshed on the evening’s ceviche special: yellowfin tuna with diced habanero and cucumber in a vivid ruby-hued sauce made from the fruit of prickly pear cactus. We were equally delighted with our entrées: the enchiladas del pato, the tortillas stuffed with succulent duck confit and dressed in earthy green tomatillo salsa, and the barbacoa de res: tender chunks of beef, slow-cooked
in an agave leaf, served with fresh corn tortillas and adornments of habanero sauce, crisp white onions, and cilantro. If you’re feeling brave, there are no fewer than five dishes featuring insects.

Mexican | ⭑⭑⭑ | $$$ | More Info

Dallas

Written by the Seasons

As the name might suggest, this airy, casually elegant spot in Bishop Arts takes its culinary cues from seasonal produce. The menu is small at just one
page, but everything is simply and beautifully prepared and presented. We loved the wood-fired avocado half, barely charred, mingling on the plate with shrimp, multi-colored cherry tomatoes, arugula, and olive oil. Other favorites included a chunk of tender mahimahi on banana leaf with a side of jasmine rice; glazed and grilled chunks of juicy chicken thigh; and a cakey dessert they call an apple-cranberry crumb garnished with fresh raspberries,
golden flower petals, and a whipped topping. The bar offers wine, beer, and craft cocktails, including something called a Beetrita, with apple, lime, and ginger added to beet juice and tequila. On pleasant evenings, huge doors
open onto the patio.

Modern American | ⭑⭑⭑ | $$$ | More Info

Fort Worth

Birrieria y Taqueria Cortez

This sit-down, table-service taqueria represents the success of a popular
food truck that still operates just a few blocks away. Birria is the thing here, and to best experience it, you’ll definitely want to order the quesatacos: falling-apart-tender beef stewed with chiles and spices, stuffed into corn tortillas with cheese, grilled until hot and crispy, and served with chopped onions, cilantro, and lime. Alone, every bite is cheesy, meaty goodness, but
up the ante by dipping your quesataco into the consommé, which is bursting with big chunks of stewed beef and so flavorful that you’ll end up spooning out every last bit.

Mexican | ⭑⭑⭑ | $ | More Info

Koko's Bavarian Austin
Koko’s Bavarian, in Austin.Mackenzie Smith Kelley/Courtesy of Koko’s Bavarian
Austin

Koko’s Bavarian

There’s plenty of gemütlichkeit in this East Austin beer garden. The presence of partner Tim Love, the well-known Fort Worth chef, is apparent on the menu; consider the chunky rabbit-rattlesnake sausage and the cheese-stuffed venison sausage, both served on soft buns. Inside, there’s a bar and an open fire, where the roast chicken goes on the tanning bed before being plated up with an herby dipping sauce and some addictive frites. In true European fashion, there’s mayo and ketchup for dipping the double-fried fries, but we loved dunking them in the queso that accompanied the enormous pretzel.

German | ⭑⭑ | $$ | More Info

Rating System

Our reviews are written by critics who live in the cities and regions they cover. They remain anonymous to ensure that they receive no special treatment. The magazine pays for all meals and accepts no advertising or other consideration in exchange for a listing. Comments? .