Food destinations within easy reach of Dallas, worth the early start.
Food destinations within easy reach of Dallas. worth the train, the rental car or the early start.
Famous for: Stockyards BBQ, Tex-Mex, Joe T. Garcia's legendary outdoor garden
Fort Worth is a city with its own identity, 35 minutes from Dallas, where the Stockyards historic district offers cobblestone streets, daily cattle drives, and a concentration of Tex-Mex and BBQ joints unlike anything in Dallas proper. Joe T. Garcia's has been serving Mexican food in a sprawling outdoor garden since 1935.
Famous for: Farm-to-table restaurants in 19th-century buildings; Food Walks of Texas guided tour
McKinney's historic downtown square holds 56 restaurants in preserved 19th-century stone buildings. Harvest Seasonal Kitchen sources from its own organic farm within 150 miles; Local Yocal pairs a butcher shop with a restaurant; Patina Green does seasonal sandwiches for lunch only.
Famous for: 75-plus Hill Country wineries; Becker Vineyards; the annual Fredericksburg Food and Wine Festival
Fredericksburg is the Texas Hill Country wine capital with over 75 wineries along Highway 290. Becker Vineyards, Texas Wine Collective, and Grape Creek are the flagship producers. The Fredericksburg Food and Wine Festival runs each October with 45-plus wineries and 75 culinary partners.
Famous for: Smitty's Market (since 1948), Black's Barbecue (since 1932), Kreuz Market
Lockhart, designated the Barbecue Capital of Texas by the state legislature, holds three historic BBQ institutions within walking distance of each other: Black's (1932), Kreuz Market, and Smitty's (1948). All serve brisket, ribs, and sausage on butcher paper with no forks required.
Famous for: Courthouse square restaurants; Ida Mae's Soulfood; kolache bakeries
Waxahachie's Ellis County Courthouse square, a National Historic Landmark, is surrounded by independent restaurants in 19th-century limestone buildings. Ida Mae's Soulfood is the destination draw; kolache bakeries and Tex-Mex joints fill out a half-day food circuit.
Famous for: Vietnamese pho corridor on Parker Road; Asia Times Square (Grand Prairie); Korean BBQ on Belt Line
The Parker Road Vietnamese corridor in Plano and Richardson holds the densest concentration of Vietnamese restaurants in Texas, alongside Korean BBQ, Chinese dim sum, and South Asian groceries. Asia Times Square in Grand Prairie is the largest Asian market complex in the Southwest.
Famous for: Lakeside dining; historic opera house district; Texas peach orchards nearby
Granbury's Hood County Courthouse square has an intact Victorian commercial district with restaurants, wine shops, and bakeries surrounding a working 1886 opera house. The town sits on Lake Granbury and several lakeside restaurants serve Gulf fish and Texas river catfish.