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Start a Top 5 for SouthernEditor’s picks
Press picks, until locals rank their own Top 5s. Sourced from the local food press. As seen in CultureMap Dallas and Dallas Observer. Updated August 2026.
Norma's Cafe · Oak Cliff, Dallas
Norma Manis opened this Oak Cliff diner in 1956, and it has been a Dallas institution ever since for its chicken-fried steak, biscuits and gravy, and house-baked Mile-High Pies. The portions have stayed as generous as the reputation, and the original Davis Street room anchors a handful of locations.
Ellen's · West End, Dallas
Joe Groves opened Ellen's in 2012, named for his mother, and it helped kick off Dallas' brunch boom before brunch was everywhere. After a nearly two-year closure it reopened in June 2026, still serving steak and eggs, migas, and its layered pancake dishes alongside a spread of eggs Benedict variations.
Paris Coffee Shop · Near Southside, Fort Worth
A Near Southside institution since the 1920s, this Magnolia Avenue diner runs on daily blue-plate specials, chicken-fried pork loin, ham hocks, and fresh-made pies. It reopened after a careful renovation and is less about any single showstopper than a whole menu of steady, unpretentious Southern cooking Fort Worth has relied on for generations.