Dallas Restaurant Recommendations?

I’ll be in Dallas towards the end of the week and find that I am responsible for finding a place for 15-20 people to eat dinner Friday evening. We’ll be starting out at the Hyatt Regency on Reunion Blvd (near Houston & Commerce). We’re mostly graduate students, so we don’t want anything particularly pricey. And, probably a good third of us are vegetarians, so I’m not real enthusiastic about going the steakhouse route.

So. Any suggestions out there?? Thanks!
P.S. I will be in Dallas for four days altogether and know nothing about the city, so if there are other things I should check out, let me know!

A lot depends on your transportation situation. “Restaurant Row” in Addison, just north of Dallas, has literally over a hundred different restaurants, right next to each other. Most are chains, but still.

The best German restaurant I’ve found in the U.S. is in Plano, about a half-hour north of downtown Dallas. The Bavarian Grill’s vegetarian selection is extensive and tasty, surprisingly for a German restaurant.

El Fenix is tasty, old-school Tex-Mex. Best of all for you, it’s right in downtown, near American Airlines Arena, and about 1.25 miles away, according to Google. It’s a large restaurant, so handling a party of 15-20 shouldn’t be a big deal. Of course, Wolfgang Puck has his Five Sixty Restaurant, but that’s going to be very spendy.

I’ll again recommend Chowhound.com’s message boards for further off-the-beaten-path suggestions.

As far as things to see in Dallas, the Trammell and Margaret Crow Asian Art Museum is free and a delightful collection. The Dallas Museum of Art is not free, but within walking distance of the Crow, and not too expensive for students. The Sixth Floor museum is pricey, and a total rip-off, according to family that live in Dallas, but if you’re a Kennedy Assassination buff (or a Bill Hicks fan), it’s probably worth a visit. Dealey Plaza is free to walk around, of course, just keep your clothes on.

With a car, you can go to the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth. Near them are the Stockyards, where you can indulge your taste for cowboy kitsch. Also not to be missed in Fort Worth are the Water Gardens. When I visited them, I was amazed that they ever got built, given the regulatory and litigational climate. The park’s basically an artificial canyon with waterfalls that you can climb all over. No guardrails or ropes. They have modified the pools somewhat after four people drowned in them. Still, the Gardens are striking and a quintessentally Fort Worth experience.

The Ballpark in Arlington requires a car to get to, but is supposed to be worth the trip if you’re a baseball fan. Not sure if the Rangers will be in town during your visit. I think the Mavericks will be in the playoffs, so if you’re a huge NBA fan, that might be worth doing.

The light rail train is right there. I mean, literally right there. There is a tunnel from the bottom of the Hyatt/Reunion tower, and stairs up from the tunnel to the train stop. There are a ton of restaurants if you take it north 4-5 stops. The West End stop probably has the most variety. It IS pretty yuppie and trends toward bar-b-que and steak.

http://www.dallaswestend.org/index.aspx

If you go up to the Pearl Street exit, there is a place on the left (north west corner) called “Plaza of the Americas”. It’s a food court, and very handy if you ever are trying to arrange lunch and no one can agree.

If you want more of an adventure, take the train north to the Cityplace station and get off. There, you can get to this trolly, which is free and cool;

You can take that trolly to the West Village, which is also neo-trendy, but it’s a younger trendy and I like it more. There are tons of restaurants and it’s a fun area to explore:

You can also take the train up to Mockingbird Station, which has a bunch of stuff, but it’s more high-end and a bit stuffy, I think.

If you’re vegetarians and dig Indian-ish food, Cosmic Cafe on Oak Lawn is probably your place.

Go down Main to the east, take a left on Pearl. Drive up Pearl, take a right on McKinney. Less than half a block up, you’ll take a left onto Maple. Drive Maple until you get to Oak Lawn. The Scottish Rite Children’s Hospital will be on the left, and an Exxon station will be on your right. Take a right.

Cosmic Cafe is up the way about 3-4 blocks on the right side.

Nobody’s mentioned it, but Dealey Plaza and the 6th Floor Museum are not far from the Hyatt at all. Also, the Crow Asian Art Museum is pretty cool (used to work in the Trammel Crow Tower), and so is the Nasher Sculpture Garden and the Dallas Museum of Art (all 4 are across one street or another from each other at Ross @ Olive)

If you do end up at the Plaza of the Americas (don’t; I ate there often for 2 years while I worked downtown), eat at Treebeard’s cajun. It’s the only thing non-fast food in there. It’s good, but gets old quick. I’d recommend the restaurants in the Uptown area and West Village, or on Maple/Oak Lawn.

For GOOD tex-mex, go to Herrera’s on Maple. Do like I described for Cosmic Cafe, but keep going past the Exxon and Herrera’s is a dumpy joint up on the left. Get the tamales; they’re good.

Thanks, all. This is very helpful. I had no idea that the light rail was right there, and that makes getting a group of impoverished grad students around so much easier!