Plomo Quesadilla Bar on McMillan Avenue is open until 4am Friday and Saturday, filling the gap between the bar crowd and the breakfast crowd with made-to-order quesadillas in a scratch kitchen.
Try: Scratch-kitchen quesadillas with Oaxacan cheese
Tip: The mushroom and Oaxacan cheese quesadilla with habanero salsa is the call. The best window is 1-3am when the crowd has cleared. Every quesadilla is made individually, not pre-pressed.
DaLat on North Fitzhugh serves authentic Vietnamese pho and banh mi until 2am Friday and Saturday with a full bar running Vietnamese-fruit cocktails. The best late-night pho in Dallas.
Try: Pho, banh mi, Vietnamese-fruit cocktails
Tip: The pho is the 1am call. The bar's Vietnamese-fruit cocktail menu is the best in East Dallas. Walk in; no reservations. The kitchen matches bar hours exactly.
Saint Valentine on Bryan Street is the most sophisticated late-night option in East Dallas: a craft cocktail bar from two veteran Dallas bartenders open until 2am most nights, serving goose fat-washed Martinis, miso garlic noodles, and caviar-topped hash browns.
Try: Caviar hash browns, miso garlic noodles, craft cocktails
Tip: The goose fat-washed Martini with enoki vermouth is the cocktail to order. The miso noodles are the best late-night food on the menu. Happy hour ends at 7pm; full cocktail menu runs until close.