You won’t have to wait long for Dallas-Fort Worth’s most interesting restaurants opening in 2026. Arriving early in the year is the most fascinating bar I’ve seen in Dallas, Shyboy; the sleek arrival of Design District supper club Delilah; and a “dream” Mexican restaurant in Old East Dallas.
And, did you know former Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett is opening a restaurant in a few weeks?
The beginning of 2026 will be an adventure for North Texans wanting a bite of something new. Especially if it’s Mediterranean food, a popular genre this year.
Eat up while you can: The year might also bring a restaurant reckoning as chefs vie for pricey D-FW real estate and diners rework their budgets.
Restaurant News
Former Dallas Cowboy’s coach Jason Garrett, right, and restauranteur Julian Barsotti will soon open Sicilian restaurant Caffe Lucca on Dallas’ Travis Street.
Angela Piazza / Staff Photographer
Our list of 20 exciting restaurants opening in D-FW in 2026 spans nine North Texas cities and five Dallas neighborhoods. At least four occupy historic buildings that are 75 years or older.
What you won’t find here are coming-soon restaurants from at least four prominent Dallas chefs. John Tesar (of Knife), Toby Archibald (Quarter Acre), Peja Krstic (Mot Hai Ba and Pillar) and Anastacia Quiñones-Pittman (formerly of Jose) want to open restaurants but are waiting to sign leases.
“The state of restaurants is a little scary right now,” said Quiñones-Pittman, who has plans to open a restaurant called Eledi. She, and others, are willing to bring their great ideas to the plate, but only if they can make the math work.
Unlike in 2025, when pricey tasting menus took center stage, only a few of 2026’s new restaurants will cost big bucks. Take that as a sign.
One of the most significant new restaurants in North Texas in 2026 will be a Mexican tasting room from Jonathan Percival, left, and Olivia López. They have quietly become a force in Dallas food with their small business Molino Olōyō.
Jason Janik / Special Contributor
“Price is something we talk about every single day,” said Austin Rodgers, co-owner of Goodwins on Greenville Avenue, who will open a Mediterranean restaurant called Corsaire in 2026.
He hopes his restaurant appeals to “everybody.”
In 2026, Dallas diners should not sit back, relax and enjoy the show. It’s not going to be that kind of year. Instead, lean in. Look around. And, when you can, enjoy the creativity blossoming in North Texas restaurants.
Restaurants listed in chronological order by expected opening date.
Seegars Deli in Dallas’ Cedars neighborhood
“Sandwiches are a kingdom,” said Olivia Genthe, owner of Seegars Deli and sibling restaurants Fount Board & Table and Little Blue Bistro. She wants to take a little corner of that kingdom, in a 1940s building in Dallas’ Cedars neighborhood, and sell pastrami, mortadella and pork tenderloin on house-made bread. The shop will likely be open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., an all-day option for espresso, natural wine and not-too-expensive lunch or dinner.
- Opening date: early January 2026
- Cuisine: sandwiches
- Address: 1910 S. Harwood St., Dallas
AM/FM in the Dallas Design District
Annette Marin and Matthew Harber, who have made their careers in music, are opening a restaurant in the Dallas Design District in 2026.
Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer
AM/FM is a diner and cocktail lounge from D-FW concert promoters Matthew Harber and Annette Marin, of Spune Productions. They operate Club Dada in Deep Ellum and recently took over the former Ferris Wheelers in the Dallas Design District. Concerts have continued in the big backyard, under the lights of a Ferris wheel, but in place of the barbecue restaurant, Dallas chef-consultant Anastacia Quiñones-Pittman is creating an all-day Southern menu. Options include a catfish po’boy, a smothered porkchop, and vegan- and vegetarian-friendly breakfast all day, Harber and Marin said.
AM/FM was designed specifically for musicians and concertgoers: those who stay up late or get up early, and may be traveling from place to place. It will also be a hangout for soccer matches, as Harber and Marin are big fans.
- Opening date: Jan. 8 2026 for the Arsenal vs. Liverpool match. Open fully by Jan. 20, 2026
- Cuisine: diner and lounge
- Address: 1950 Market Center Blvd., Dallas
Felina in Fort Worth
Felina owner Alessandro Salvatore tosses dough during a holiday pop-up.
Tom Fox / Staff Photographer
Alessandro Salvatore is fairly new to Fort Worth, as he grew up in the Rio Grande Valley, moved to Italy as a teen, then lived in Puerto Rico. But “when I started spending time here,” he said of Fort Worth, “there’s something really, really cool happening down here.” He opened Italian restaurant Bocca Osteria Romana in 2024, and he and his brother and sister are days away from opening a second Italian restaurant, Felina, in Fort Worth.
Most of Felina’s pizzas will be thin crust, like this one with pomodoro, hot soppressata, homemade hot honey and ricotta.
Tom Fox / Staff Photographer
This Roman-style pizzeria will take over the former Funky Picnic brewery. Felina specializes in a thin-crust pizza called Tonda Romana, though Felina may also dabble in Pizza al Taglio, which is more focaccia-like. But don’t put a label on the Salvatores’ food: Felina will also sell house-made pastas, salumi, street-food sandwiches called panuozzo and more.
- Opening date: mid-January 2026
- Cuisine: Roman-style pizza
- Address: 401 Bryan Ave., Fort Worth
Shyboy in downtown Dallas
The Blue Room is a quieter and more intimate section within Shyboy.
Courtesy of Headington
It’s nearly impossible to be first at anything in the entertainment industry in Dallas, but a basement bar called Shyboy is the closest of any on this list. This “hi-fi” — or high-fidelity — bar, inspired by the jazz kissas in Japan, is created as much for music nerds as it is for casual listeners.
Shyboy creator and former touring musician Jonathan Merla has spent two years buying from private vinyl collectors, bringing home obscure Japanese jazz, Brazilian bossa nova and Detroit techno records.
Jonathan Merla, Headington Cos. vice president of marketing and the brain behind Shyboy, has been collecting vinyl for two years.
Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer
Visitors to Shyboy will hear music of any kind. Feel moved to dance? It’ll be the perfect place. The bar will sell cocktails for $13 or less, including a selection of Japanese highballs — a fizzy drink that can be served quickly so visitors can get “eyes up, ears up,” said consultant Gabe Sanchez. A second room, a 1920s-era bank vault with its massive door still ajar, will be a quieter option, with listening sessions and master classes curated by musicians, record collectors and others.
Shyboy is financed by art collector, film exec and oilman Tim Headington. The “curved brutalism” design of the space is an art piece unto itself, and it feels like the fantastic fever dream from a team of artists pioneering a new place for dancing, drinking and listening.
- Opening date: late January 2026
- Cuisine: listening lounge with cocktails
- Address: 1313 Main St., Dallas
Caffe Lucca in Dallas
Caffe Lucca, a project between former Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett, left, and restaurateur Julian Barsotti, is located near the Katy Trail.
Angela Piazza / Staff Photographer
With a front-row seat to the Katy Trail and the Knox Hotel, Caffe Lucca will serve Sicilian food on Travis Street, in the former Restaurant at Grange Hall. (The retail shop — and its lovely flowers — will remain.) Caffe Lucca is a partnership between Dallas restaurateur Julian Barsotti, who created Michelin-honored Italian restaurant Nonna, and former Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett. They named it after former NFL quarterback Babe Laufenberg’s late son, Luke. In Italian, Lucca means “bringer of light,” Barsotti said.
The menu includes Mediterranean, Moroccan, Greek and Italian influences. “I love Sicily because it sits as the conduit from the East to the West. And it’s been conquered by everybody,” Barsotti said. Options include hummus and muhammara, a Moroccan lamb meatball sandwich, a selection of pastas, branzino, and butter chicken with tzatziki. The “thing” — if there’s one — will be busiate, a corkscrew-shaped pasta Barsotti believes is the oldest in Italy.
- Opening date: January 2026
- Cuisine: Sicilian and Mediterranean
- Address: 4445 Travis St., Dallas
Delilah in the Dallas Design District
Delilah started in Los Angeles and has expanded to Las Vegas and Miami. When Delilah opens in Dallas, the 15,000 square-foot supperclub will be the largest one yet.
Teek Eaton-Koch
We’ve been waiting for Los Angeles hot spot Delilah to open in Dallas for several years, and it’s almost time to get a peek behind the velvet curtain. Despite “nothing to see here” on the marquee, inside, Delilah will have three stages for burlesque dancers, a main stage for big bands and several private dining rooms with dedicated exits for high-profile guests. You’ll want to pull your phone out to get photos of the indoor palm trees, the biggest Champagne bucket you’ve ever seen, the Roaring Twenties design and the portraits of Dallas celebrities in a back room. But be cool. Delilah will keep your secrets, if you keep hers.
- Opening date: early 2026
- Cuisine: 1920s supperclub and lounge
- Address: 1616 Hi Line Drive, Dallas
Meraki in Fort Worth
Chef Tim Love is opening a high-end Mediterranean restaurant, Meraki, in Fort Worth in 2026.
Tom Fox / Staff Photographer
Fort Worth’s most prolific chef, Tim Love, is opening a Mediterranean restaurant in 2026 he hopes will attract Michelin attention. The French critics have skipped over Fort Worth’s finest restaurants almost entirely, but Love has a new idea: launching a “fun, approachable” Mediterranean restaurant called Meraki with three to four courses at lunch and six courses at dinner. “It’s not fancy,” he said. “It’s focused.”
The most fun day of the week will be Sunday, when Love is planning a “vibrant” brunch with dancing. Big groups are welcome.
- Opening date: February 2026
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
- Address: 1615 Rogers Road, Fort Worth
Molino Olōyō tasting room in Old East Dallas 
Olivia López tests a recipe for her coming-soon tasting room in Dallas.
Jason Janik / Special Contributor
Olivia López credits women in her family for inspiring her to open her own restaurant in Dallas. As a kid in Mexico, López was tasked with shopping for groceries for her grandmother, who was rigid about quality. Get there early and get the best or don’t go at all, she was told. When López moved to Dallas and started cooking in restaurants — none of them Mexican — it was her mother who offered focus for her future: “Stop killing yourself for others,” she told her daughter. So López saved up and bought a molino, or a mill, to grind the highest-quality corn she could find.
Dishes from Molino Olōyō’s pop-ups have included scallop aguachile with strawberry and red habanero jam, green coriander, Rio red grapefruit, strawberry juice and coriander flowers.
Elizabeth Lavin
Today, López and her partner Jonathan Percieval own Molino Olōyō, a small business where customers can pick up tamales, tortillas, carnitas and salsas from an industrial kitchen near Interstate 35. At pop-ups, López showed off her immense skill for beautiful Mexican food, made her way. The year 2026 is big for López, when she will open a restaurant in Old East Dallas that seats about two-dozen people.
“This space is my dream,” she said. “It’s what I thought would not be possible.”
- Opening date: February 2026
- Cuisine: Mexican
- Address: 4422 Gaston Ave., Dallas
The Landing in Grand Prairie
Chef Tiffany Derry, pictured here at a State Fair of Texas tasting, is opening a new restaurant in Grand Prairie in 2026.
Juan Figueroa / Staff Photographer
Dallas chef Tiffany Derry, known across the world as a judge on Fox TV show MasterChef, is opening a new restaurant in Grand Prairie. “It’s a sports bar-meets-a-speakeasy,” said Derry’s business partner Tom Foley. He knows sports bars and speakeasies don’t always match, but at this property at EpicCentral, he thinks The Landing can be both.
“How do we create a vibe on a Friday night where you can listen to jazz music, and on a Saturday, you can watch football with the garage doors up?” Foley asked. Customers might be pleased to know Derry will create the menu of smashburgers, chicken wings and the like.
- Opening date: first quarter 2026
- Cuisine: sports bar
- Address: 2951 S. State Highway 161, Grand Prairie
1902 Prosper and Mary Ann’s Speakeasy, both in Prosper
“The sunset from the roof is world-class,” said Jason Young.
Chitose Suzuki / Staff Photographer
A two-in-one restaurant and bar is slated to open in downtown Prosper in 2026. The restaurant, 1902 Prosper, will serve American food in an “elevated equestrian” room designed with leather-strapped chandeliers, hunter green walls and a black granite bar top, said owner and CEO Jason Young. Chef Amy DiBiase will create the menu. The speakeasy on the second floor, Mary Ann’s, is named for Young’s late grandmother who was equal parts strong and sweet. You can picture her: She had “the vibe of an Old West barkeep,” Young said.
- Opening date: first quarter 2026
- Cuisine: American
- Address: 209 W. Broadway, Prosper
Punk Noir in the Dallas Design District
At a pop-up in 2025 in the Dallas Design District, the owners of Punk Noir tested their coming-soon concept.
Michael Shellis
“If a fine-dining restaurant got vandalized — but by a very good artist” that’s Punk Noir, said Design District resident Cole McKeel. He’s opening a 20-course tasting-menu restaurant with his dad and brothers. The restaurant was inspired from a family trip to nearly a dozen countries, including Japan, Korea, Denmark, France and Sweden. Guests will move through several rooms within the Design District warehouse during dinner, experiencing graffiti-inspired art by Michael Shellis and food from chef RJ Cooper.
Just 26 people fit in the restaurant, and much about the experience — including the price — is a mystery, for now. The experience is key. “We want every moment to be a surprise,” dad John McKeel said.
- Opening date: spring 2026
- Cuisine: modernist avant garde
- Address: 139 Turtle Creek Blvd., Dallas
Ranchman’s by Marty B in Ponder
In 1948, Grace Jackson — whose nickname was Pete — opened Ranchman’s in downtown Ponder.
NELSON, Paula / 7995
Legendary chicken-fried steak restaurant Ranchman’s is making a comeback. Texas restaurateur Marty Bryan (of Marty B’s in Bartonville, a Denton County town) bought the city block in nearby Ponder that includes the more-than 75-year-old restaurant. Ranchman’s closed in 2023, and Bryan will reopen it with a similar Southern menu, then add a saloon and a live-music venue.
Ranchman’s left behind a colorful legacy with stars like Cindy Crawford, John Wayne, Stevie Nicks and Bobby Flay, who dined at the out-of-the-way restaurant over the years. Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway filmed Bonnie and Clyde nearby. Meat Loaf filmed a music video there. So what attracted Bryan to the property? The celebrity was nice, but more importantly, he said, Ponder is no longer dry, which means it’s easier to run a lucrative business there.
When the historic Ranchman’s Ponder Steakhouse comes back to life in 2026, new owner Marty Bryan will add a saloon next door.
Rendering
Reopening Ranchman’s could reestablish Ponder as a cowboy town, Bryan said. “And every cowboy town has to have a steakhouse and a saloon.”
- Opening date: spring 2026
- Cuisine: Southern food and steak
- Address: 110 W. Bailey St., Ponder
Corsaire on Dallas’ Greenville Avenue
Remember Pizzeria Testa on Greenville Avenue in Dallas? Corsaire is the Mediterranean restaurant that will replace it. Corsaire comes from the owners of Goodwins, another Lower Greenville restaurant.
Foxcroft Studio
The owners of Greenville Avenue restaurant Goodwins are looking “for the niche between upscale and casual” at a “light, bright” restaurant a few blocks north, said Austin Rodgers. Choose your adventure at Corsaire, a Mediterranean-inspired spot: Go for drinks and dips. Or with the whole family, for a table full of apps, raw bar bites and charcoal-grilled entrees. Or bring a private party of 10 or more.
“I want to be in a group text with my friends and say, ‘I’m going to Corsaire,’” Rodgers said. “If five show up, great. If 10 show up, even better.”
Chef and co-owner Jeff Bekavac’s menu dips into North Africa, Spain, France, Turkey, Morocco and more — anywhere travelers followed the spice trade. The sprawling restaurant will be redesigned, with a new patio covered in greenery. “We’re putting a lot of effort into making this a cool oasis on Greenville,” Bekavac said.
- Opening date: April or May 2026
- Cuisine: Mediterranean
- Address: 3525 Greenville Ave., Dallas
Parker Social in Plano
In advance of World Cup matches in North Texas 2026, Dallas restaurateur Alberto Lombardi is opening his first sports bar. Parker Social in Plano will have a “beautiful design,” Lombardi said, but it will be a casual place serving burgers and chicken wings. It’s an interesting next step for the longtime Dallas restaurateur, whose restaurants like Bistro 31, Toulouse, Taverna, Mar y Sol and Lombardi Cucina Italiana are higher-end. “We want to do something for the family,” he said of this location in Plano, the former Kona Grill.
- Opening date: April 2026
- Cuisine: sports bar
- Address: 5973 W. Parker Road, Plano
Madron in Fort Worth
The Public Market building in Fort Worth, which is nearly 100 years old, is under renovation.
Emily Jolliff
Around 1930, a beautiful building opened in Fort Worth for nearly 150 vendors to sell their wares. Fast-forward almost 100 years, and this vacant Public Market building is getting new life from a team of Tarrant County entrepreneurs spending $54 million to restore it.
“So many people have said, ‘I’ve seen this building my whole life, but I have no idea what it is,’” said chef Jenna Kinard, one of several involved in the reno. The 15,000 square-foot building will have a “hall of fame” hallway, with history lessons from 1930 to 2026. Then come three sections: a cafe and retail store, a cocktail lounge called Bar Willow, and Kinard’s fine-dining Southern restaurant, Madron.
- Opening date: May 2026
- Cuisine: Southern
- Address: 5973 W. Parker Road, Plano
Neighborhood Sushi in Highland Park
Hamachi Crudo is on the menu at Neighborhood Sushi, a casual Japanese restaurant opening in the Shops of Highland Park in 2026.
JUSTIN COOK
The Austin restaurant group that owns a fleet of Texas eateries including Jeffrey’s, Swedish Hill and Clark’s Oyster Bar is moving into Dallas-Fort Worth. The first Dallas restaurant in its expansion will be Neighborhood Sushi, which managing partner Larry McGuire describes as “strip mall sushi” — unassuming food, served quickly. Chef Jorge Garcia’s menu calls for a greatest-hits list of tempura vegetables, yakitori, nigiri, sashimi, sushi rolls and a daily grilled fish collar special.
Plenty of foodies are jazzed for sibling restaurant Clark’s expansion into Dallas, but it isn’t clear whether that opening on the Katy Trail will come in late 2026 or early 2027. So, first: sushi.
- Opening date: May 2026
- Cuisine: casual Japanese
- Address: 4216 Oak Lawn Ave., Dallas
Brazamar on Dallas’ Greenville Avenue
The former Foxtrot coffee shop on Dallas’ Greenville Avenue will become a Mexican restaurant called Brazamar. The retaurant was built around “two very clear ideas,” said owner Jon Garay: the brasa, or the grill; and the mar, or the sea. This “poem to Mexico” will be a relaxed, full-service restaurant, the owner said.
“I just want to eat good food and not pay a ridiculous price for a tostada or aguachile or rib-eye tacos. Also important, he said, are “good cocktails.”
Next door, the team will open Tacos Richy, a Mexican street taco shop similar to Chilangos Tacos, which Garay operates in Dallas, Las Vegas and Nashville.
- Opening date: summer 2026
- Cuisine: Mexican
- Address: 3606 Greenville Ave., Dallas
[Encina 2.0] in Duncanville
We’re still waiting on the official name for chef Matt Balke’s new Duncanville restaurant. But it’ll be a sibling restaurant to Encina, his New American eatery that replaced Bolsa in Oak Cliff. Balke got help expanding south by developer Monte Anderson, who restored the Belmont Hotel in West Dallas and is focused on bringing businesses to southern Dallas County cities, including Duncanville — a town known for football.
Balke and Corey McCombs’ coming-soon restaurant on Main Street takes over a Duncanville fire station that later became a VCR repair shop. Balke and McCombs bought the building, and with financial help from the city of Duncanville’s Economic Development board, are renovating it. “Right now, we’re just genuinely excited that we’re our own bosses and building owners — which is very, very rare in this business,” he said.
- Opening date: summer 2026
- Cuisine: Southern
- Address: 220 N. Main St., Duncanville
White Castle in The Colony
In a funny and unexpected press event in The Colony in 2025, a White Castle “town crier” read the announcement of arrival of the fast-food chain in Texas.
Shafkat Anowar / Staff Photographer
It only took 105 years, but finally, White Castle will move into Texas. Some might know this drive-through burger joint from the silly 2004 comedy Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. Others are fond of its griddled onion sliders sold throughout the Midwest and Northeast.
Jamie Richardson, vice president at White Castle, said the company has “encountered lots of love from all over Texas” since The Colony was picked as its first Texas stop. Richardson wouldn’t say whether this north-of-Dallas restaurant is the first of many. Just this: “There’s lots to explore in Texas.”
- Opening date: fall 2026
- Cuisine: fast-food burgers
- Address: 4520 Destination Drive, The Colony
Romy in East Dallas
Chef Matt Ford tosses ricotta cavatelli with roasted tomato, Harris pesto and wilted greens for a dish that will be featured at Romy, a coming-soon restaurant on Henderson Avenue in Dallas.
Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer
The first of three restaurants in a sizeable office and retail project on Dallas’ Henderson Avenue is Romy. This all-day restaurant will have coffee, croissants and breakfast tacos in the morning, a grab-and-go counter, and sit-down American food for lunch and dinner. It’s named for 12-year-old Rosemary, whose mom Taryn Anderson developed another sector of Henderson Avenue more than a decade ago, when she and Tristan Simon opened Hibiscus, Victor Tangos and others.
Back on the block after years away, Anderson said she wants Henderson Avenue to again be thought of “as a serious dining destination in Dallas.” The Texas-themed wood-fired menu comes from Matt Ford, a Tom Colicchio protégé, and the talent behind Victory Park restaurant Billy Can Can.
- Opening date: December 2026
- Cuisine: wood-fired American
- Address: 2110 N. Henderson Ave., Dallas
Read The Dallas Morning News’ past stories about exciting new restaurants