Located in North Texas, Dallas is one of the major industrial and financial centers in the southern United States. Its population in 2009 was nearly 1.3 million, with millions annual visitors, due mostly to the presence of Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, one of the world's busiest airports. Good eating places abound in the Dallas area and they span the spectrum from Tex-Mex emporiums to classic steakhouses to restaurants offering creative continental cuisine.
Featuring a low-lit dining room replete with mounted game, original paintings and hanging plants, the focus at Javier's is on authentic Mexican dining in the style of Mexico City. Highlights of the menu are beef tenderloin, red snapper, chicken, and shrimp prepared in styles that pay homage to a rich Mexican heritage dating to the Aztecs. Features at Javier's include a cigar bar, a wine list of handpicked bottles and three private dining rooms for special events.
Chef Stephan Pyles' signature is New Millenium Southwestern Cuisine, defined as a global mosaic of flavors and textures. The chef's influences are from Texas, South America, Spain, the Middle East and the Mediterranean. The restaurant has an exceptional location in the Dallas Arts District in the Southwest Plaza in a building designed by renowned architect George Dahl and constructed in 1963. It is within easy walking distance of the Dallas Museum of Art and the Meyerson Symphony Center.
The menu at Charlie Palmer at the Joule goes beyond steakhouse basics with dishes such as poached black tiger shrimp in a Bloody Mary vinaigrette and a dry-aged New York strip steak with bone marrow flan. The restaurant is located in a 1920s-era building that is an expansion of the former Dallas National Bank. It is the only Gothic revival-style tower in the city of Dallas. Its decor features spinning turbines within ceiling lights in honor of the fact that Texas is the nation's leading producer of wind energy.
Housed in the historic Adolphus hotel, the French Room, featuring fresh seasonal ingredients and an extensive wine list, consistently rates among the top restaurants in the country. A team of internationally trained chefs produces cosmopolitan dishes that rival those served at the world's leading fine-dining establishments. The French Room is the only restaurant in the state to have earned the AAA Five Diamond Award, the hospitality industry's highest honor. As of 2010, it had earned the award for 22 consecutive years.
