From 2023
We are often asked to name Dallas’ hottest restaurants. Usually the person doing the asking has a certain definition in mind for the word “hottest”: trendy, new, the place where everyone’s going this weekend. This story is a little bit different. Here, the word “hottest” means something more like its meaning in sports: the player who’s hitting every shot, making every catch, striking every batter out.
In that sense, the hottest place to eat in Dallas right now—the kitchen that’s delivering the biggest thrill—is Ruins.
The Deep Ellum bar and music venue has always had personality to spare, with its colorfully morbid art, ample patio, and outgoing staff. It’s also always had good tacos and tortas. But this summer, chef Humberto Lira rolled out a new food menu, and now Ruins unapologetically serves up some of the boldest, biggest-flavored Mexican fare in town. Oxtail mole, cabrito, snapper tacos, and birria quesadillas are features. The cocktails are just as inventive.
Start your meal with one of Dallas’ best bar snacks: Dorilocos, nachos served inside a plastic chip bag. And we’re not talking about ballpark nachos. You can choose from crispy tripe tossed with salsa verde, barbacoa, pork al pastor, or my favorite option, the Prawn Star, with shrimp, queso blanco, jalapeños, and onions cooked down in mezcal.
After that, it’s on to fried nopales served with cups of salsa and mole, or a lovely aguachile of red snapper, cucumber, and red onion. Don’t resist the tender whole oxtail braised and served in a blanket of mole manchamanteles (literally “tablecloth-stainer”). The oxtail comes with tortillas, for taco assembly or simply for dunking in mole, and a scoop of refried black beans.
Brunch here is a blast, too: chilaquiles loaded with carnitas; a chorizo-potato-egg chimichanga; and huevos divorciados, with one egg drowned in salsa verde and the other plated with mole rojo, black beans, and chorizo. The brunch menu is available every day until 4 pm—and the kitchen stops serving dinner at 1:45 am.
Tequila and mezcal have taken over cocktail menus across Dallas, but Ruins was one of the original leaders of our agave scene, along with Las Almas Rotas and La Viuda Negra. Its cocktail list still stands out and includes bacanora, huitlacoche-infused charanda, sotol, Oaxacan corn whiskey, Singani (a brandy from Bolivia), and pulque.
If any of those words just made you scratch your chin, a delicious education awaits you. Ruins’ staff made passionate recommendations to help us find great drinks to suit our tastes, such as an indulgent frozen riff on a mangonada with a chamoy swirl and a refreshing pisco cocktail with muddled avocado and pineapple. The beer list spans all of Latin America, and all wines but one are from a Spanish-speaking country.
The food at Ruins is now as unapologetically bold as its vibe. Whether or not it meets your definition of “hot,” it’s one of the most exciting places to eat in the city.
This story originally appeared in the September issue of D Magazine with the headline, “The Hottest Restaurant in Dallas.” Write to brian[email protected].
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