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 June 2019 issue. In case you missed it, restaurant critic Patricia Sharpe’s 2019 list of Texas’s Best New Restaurants came out in our March issue, and you can also read up on her latest Pat’s Pick, on Austin’s Comedor.

Click “More Info” for further detail on each restaurant:

Austin

Chispas

Tailored for the Warehouse District’s pub crawlers, the tacos, snacks, and libations at splashy newcomer Chispas are strictly over the top. Chef-owners Jason and Jake Dady (of San Antonio’s Tre, Range, and Shuck Shack) are going for gusto and originality rather than tradition and restraint. You’ll find said gusto in the thick house-made corn tortillas, the deviled eggs with (honestly) too much mayo, and the generous portion sizes on everything. (Given that the tacos go for $3.25 to $4, size matters here.) Two very fine bites on an initial outing were duck confit (oui, French duck on a taco, tarted up with crema, bacon, jalapeño, and pineapple) followed closely by the meaty pork belly adobado (brightened with pico and bits of apple). Crazy, rich, but not Asian may be the best description of the baked butternut squash taco, its filling paired with goat cheese and candied pumpkin seeds and splashed with a sweet agrodolce sauce. Think of it as dessert and all will be well. Have a prickly pear margarita and all will be even better.

Mexican | ⭑⭑⭑ | $$ | More Info

Houston

Truth BBQ

When you head up to the Heights for your noontime fix at the new Truth BBQ, bring a side of patience along with your appetite. Stevie Ray Vaughan riffs ringing from the speakers will help you shuffle along in the slow-moving line, which forms at the door well before noon on a weekday. The best of the meats (offered with two sauces) are the brisket and the garlic beef sausage, but truth be told, there’s not a clunker on the chalkboard. The sides of corn pudding and tater tot casserole are a bit dry and bland, but the coleslaw and mac and cheese are top-drawer. These folks are serious about their trade; as you wait in line, check out the ten massive indoor cookers that keep the place hopping till the ’cue runs out.

Barbecue | ⭑⭑⭑ | $$ | More Info

McAllen

Salomé on Main

Tex-Mex is not on the menu at McAllen’s swanky new traditional Mexican restaurant, where the kitchen pairs modern presentation with age-old techniques. Housed in a historic building on McAllen’s original main street, Salomé gets its name from Salomé Ballí, the original “Queen of McAllen.” In the kitchen, chef Larry Delgado and team meticulously execute pre-Hispanic cooking techniques such as nixtamalization, where they steep maize and hand-grind it in a molino to produce masa. We started with the aguachile, fresh Gulf shrimp cured in citrus with cantaloupe and guava and served with yuca chips. Our main entrée was cochinita pibil: achiote-and-citrus-marinated pork braised in banana leaves and served with perfect tortillas.

Mexican | ⭑⭑⭑ | $$$ | More Info

Dallas

Beverley’s Bistro & Bar

The vibe inside is Manhattan bistro; on the patio, it’s Dallas cocktail scene. Passing on the one-hour wait for a cozy banquette, we dined at the bustling bar from a menu of bistro classics—think charcuterie, steak frites, mussels, burgers. Our favorites veered away from predictable, though: yellowtail crudo served on avocado cream and adorned with pickled green tomato, pistachios, spicy chiles, and mint; silken chicken liver foie gras toast crowned with fig mostarda, hazelnuts, and a tangle of herbs; and excellent pasta noodles with plump rock shrimp in a lemony sauce.

American | ⭑⭑ | $$$ | More Info

Austin

Uncle Nicky’s

It’s still la dolce vita at this all-day Hyde Park cafe, which recently replaced a longtime bar and gelato shop. Start the day pulled up to the laminate counter with a cappuccino or the aptly named fluffy orange juice and gobble down a breakfast sandwich of Taylor Ham, egg, and cheese on a white kaiser roll (it comes with ketchup to keeps things legit). The allied forces running the spot include the masterminds behind local Italian favorites Juniper and Via 313, so be sure to try a pane tostato; we chose the lemony bright zucchini flecked with mint. Greet the evening with a Campari aperitif, a kale e tartufo salad, and the pork meatballs in marsala cream. A cruller was a bit soggy, but the almost-too-peppy eighties-heavy sound track kept things lively.

Italian | ⭑⭑ | $ | 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? .