Dining in Oak Cliff - Updated!
The most complete listing of North Oak Cliff and Bishop Arts Restaurants.
More than a dozen new restaurants arriving the the past few years -- from home cooking, bistros, coffeehouses, Tex-Mex, Italian, Steaks and ethnic delights are available for your every culinary pleasure. Many of the new places are in the Bishop Arts district and nearby on Davis -- although there are a few elsewhere. Yumm, it's lip smacking good...
See our new map of Bishop Arts Dining options.
SNEAK PEEK -- See the New Oakcliff.com Restaurant Guide Beta
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Best romantic dinners: Our choices are Tillman's Roadhouse for good classic Texas food in a fun and casual atmosphere and for great Tex-Mex in a romantic setting we recommend La Calle Doce.
Other romantic selections: Thai -- Chan Thai, Southern bistro - Hatties, intimate cafe and great food -- Hula Cafe, Pizza - Enos Pizza Tavern.
A dinner with the family -- the best Oak Cliff restaurants to take your family -- for kids through grandmother at a "family" price -- Tex-Mex -- we choose El Fenix or Tejanos; Family steakhouse - Charco Broiler; Home cooking - Norma's; Burgers - Hunkey's; Texas cuisine - Chili's; Late night or Coffee Shop - Cafe Brazil.
Watch for the new Gloria's coming soon at Bishop and Davis!
Experience Great Dining
Ratings are based on input from our secret diners and comments from you. They are based on the quality of the experience for the type of dining establishment. Please send us your input.
Aunt Stelle's Snow Cones, 2002 W Clarendon Dr -- perfect snow codes for over 40 years.
Belmont Hotel Bar - The outside bar area has the best view and the food is great - veggie burger - chicken salad - other bar foods. (Reported by Claire) 214-393-4141 -- See Smoke also.
Bolsa - 614 W Davis St, (214) 943-1883 - D Magazine's Restaurant of the Year in 2009 and Dallas Observer's 'Best Place To Take A Date' and 'Best Patio' makes Bolsa a great choice for lunch or dinner 7 days-per-week.
Burgesia Burger - 710 Ft. Worth Ave (214) 748-7376 "We love burgers. We love Mexican food. So we created the Mexican burger."
Cafe Brazil - "Not just another coffe house" On Davis at Bishop (611 N. Bishop). Great coffee, breakfast (thy the walnut pancakes), sandwiches. soup and salads. Open late for you night crawlers. 
Chan Thai - In the Bishop Arts district at 312 W. Seventh Street right around the corner from Vitto's. Great and tasty Thai food. (Bishop Arts District)
Charco Broiler - An Oak Cliff landmark for decades (with its huge Angus Steer on the roof) -- This is the place for a good inexpensive steak dinner. Nothing fancy, you understand, but good food. At 413 W. Jefferson Blvd. 
Click here for a review.
Chili's -- the 1000th Chili's restaurant. 1610 North Cockrell Hill (near I 20).
Cliff Cafe - (Reopened as Smoke)
Cafe Madrid - A Dallas fixture for 18 years, now in Bishop Arts as Dallas’ first Spanish restaurant and tapas bar. It offers a cozy, intimate dining setting reminiscent of the little cafes found on the streets of Madrid. 408 North Bishop Avenue suite 108. 
Decanter Restaurant and Wine Lounge - 408 East 8th/Bishop, 214-948-0644 - listen to live Jazz, pull up to the bar or enjoy our ever-changing menu designed by Executive Chef Tony Gardizi.
El Fenix - Located at Colorado and Zang (120 E. Colorado), a long-time favorite of Cliffites -- they have the best chips in town! Check out the Wednesday special. For those who have lived in Oak Cliff for decades, visiting El Fenix is like a step back into time -- yes it has been updated some, but the atmosphere is just like the Martinez family restaurant from the 50s or 60s...We give a 4 acorns because it has been a quality mainstay for Cliffites for over 5o years, and continue to provide classic Tex-Mex dining. 
El Padrino - 330 W Davis St Ste A, 214-943-8888, Great tacos
El Ranchito - 214-946-4238 (In the old Red Bryan's BBQ building)
Enos Pizza Tavern - Great (thin) pizza, salads, sandwiches, pasta, etc in an upscale fun atmosphere. 407 N. Bishop (Bishop Arts). Lunch and Dinner.
Faz-Cuisine - Corner of Polk and Jefferson (Continental cuisine with a Mexican accent.)
Gloria's - Not Tex-Mex, but a kissing cousin. This is excellent Salvadorian-Tex cuisine. Try the scrambled eggs with roast beef! The menu features new and interesting flavors (and they also include some Tex-Mex for those less adventurous.) (600 W. Davis, 214-948-3672) Although there are 10 of these restaurants in the Dallas area now, this is the original.
Greek Cafe and Bakery - a sister to the Duncanville restaurant. 334 W. Davis. Good authetic Greek food at a reasonable price.
Hula Hotties Cafe - Soon to reopen as an Italian restaurant (Jill's speciality) Try ANY of the baked goodies... Ymmm... They also do catering. 214-943-CAFE,
244 W. Davis, Dallas 75208 
Hunkey's Old Fashioned Burgers - located on Bishop at the location that used to be Bishop Grill -- excellent burgers, salads and desserts. (Bishop Arts District)
La Calle Doce -- This is a family-run restaurant with traditional and nouvelle Mexican cuisine offered in a stylishly old 1920's converted prairie house. Excellent seafood. 415 W. 12th Street. (Also known as "The Twelfth Street Restaurant" to locals.) Although there are several of these restaurants in Dallas, this is the original. It is a head above almost all Dallas Tex-Mex restaurants. 214- 941-4304
Lockhart's - Bar-b-que with "No forks, no sauce, no kidding" - a cousin to the Central Texas restaurant Kreuz Market at 400 W. Davis.
Lulu’s Authentic Mexican food at 1234 Newport Ave. It’s off the beaten path, but well worth the trip. Recommended by Scott...
Hattie's -- In the Bishop Arts District -- Good upscale American dishes. (Bishop Arts District) A very good place for lunch or dinner.
Mariscos La Reyna - Mexican Style Seafood - 517 west Jefferson Blvd
Norma's Cafe - Oak Cliff Home Cookin' where the chicken fried steak is slathered in creamy gravy and the rolls are served hot out of the oven. Look at the Oak Cliff tornado pictures on the wall. An Oak Cliff institution if there ever was one. Serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. Located at 1123 W. Davis. For down home cooking that is good and basic, Norma's gets a well -deserved 3.5 acorns.
Oddfellows - 316 West 7th, (214) 944-5958, Seasonal, traditional American food with a concentration on fresh, local ingredients.
Ojeda's Cafe & Cantina, 1001 W. Jefferson, 214-948-9900, Authentic Tex-Mex from a long-time Dallas resturant family.
Smoke - BBQ restaurant located at the renovated Belmont Hotel on Fort Worth Avenue -- experienced Cliffites may remember this as the old Hungry Bear Restaurant location. (And more recently the Cliff Cafe.)
Spiral Diner -- 1101 N. Beckley - 214-948-2727, All vegan cuisine, but even my carnivorous friends love it! Web Page: http://www.spiraldiner.com/ The highlight of Spiral is their baked goods. Of course, the wraps, sandwiches, and salads are all made with the freshest and tastiest ingredients (and their chipotle mayo is AMAZING), but when I discovered that I could be vegan and still eat cakes, pies, cookies, brownies, and peanut butter cups, my life got a whole lot sweeter. The atmosphere is great too, with a fun waitstaff. Contributed by Shannon
Tejanos - One of Oak Cliff's long-time family favorite restaurants. When the movie JFK was being filmed, this is where the stars and crew members came for some authentic Tex-Mex food. Located at the corner of Beckley and Davis (110 W. Davis). D Magazine calls it "One of the 5 best Mexican Restaurants in Dallas." This was originally an El Chico restaurant -- it changed names when the brand was sold. There is a big stained glass window in the main dining room that came from the original El Chico that tells the story of the family as it came from Spain, through Mexico and to the US. Another of Oak Cliff mainstay Tex-Mex restaurants where Cliffites have met together for over 50 years (first as El Chico and now as Tejano's)
Texas Best Catfish at W. Kiest. and Hampton Rd. According to 52 year Oak Cliff resident, Bubba, it is truly the best catfish place in Texas -- and it's in Oak Cliff.
Tillman's Roadhouse - Mmmm... good food...Tillman’s Corner is now Tillman’s Roadhouse. It has been redecorated and completely revamped. Check out the new website www.tillmansroadhouse.com 324 West 7th Street. 214-942-0988. (Bishop Arts District) If you want a great dinner in a wonderful ambience, this is the place. It is a great date or anniversary restaurant, or a place to meet for business or pleasure.
Veracruz Café - MesoAmerican, Mayan, and Aztec Cuisine, 408 N. Bishop Ave., Suite 107 (Facing Eighth Street), 214-948-4746
Wingfield's Breakfast and Burgers -2615 South Beckley Avenue
Zen Sushi - 380 W. 7th Street - Premium modern Japanese Cusine.
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