Here's a look at the best new Dallas/Fort Worth restaurants, corporate event venues, hotels, conference centers, and private and party rooms to open for events this winter. These new and renovated Dallas/Fort Worth venues can accommodate groups large or small for private and corporate events, conferences, meetings, weddings, business dinners, teambuilding activities, cocktail parties, and more.
Madrina, which translates to “godmother” in Spanish, combines Mexican cuisine and French technique. The restaurant, located at the Shops of Highland Park, is the second concept from the Misery Loves Company restaurant group. Chef Julio Peraza’s menu includes hay-smoked foie gras with jaggery, plantains, pepita, and coconut, and the cocktail list from Michael Martensen features Mexican mezcals and tequilas and French spirits. The dining room seats 70. For group dining, there is the six-seat Chef’s Counter overlooking the open kitchen or a private wine room that seats eight. The cantina-style bar area seats 24 in its lounge and 14 at the bar. It opened in September.
Aviators, a renovated 10,000-square-foot event space at Hyatt Regency DFW, opened in October. With a name that reflects the hotel’s location within the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, the space offers a cavernous venue for meetings, events, or shows. The space has a moveable wall system to divide the space. The renovation sought to implement several environmentally friendly design elements, which include a new high-efficient HVAC system and energy-saving LED lighting that retains full dimming capabilities. Overall the 811-room hotel has 92,000 square feet of meeting space spread over 74 separate meeting rooms.
For outdoor events, Anchor Design District Pool & Bar opened this summer at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Dallas—Market Center. The nautical, Hamptons-like design features wooden cabanas and lounge seating surrounding an angular pool. The venue seats about 130 or holds 200 for poolside receptions. A menu of sharable plates, salads, and cocktails, beer, and wine is available.
The 32-story Hilton Garden Inn Downtown Dallas, a new-build hotel in the historic LTV Tower, opened in September. Located less than a mile from the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center, the hotel has 171 rooms and a total of 5,000 square feet of event space with natural light. The largest space is the Trinity room, which holds 200 guests for receptions or seats 100 guests banquet-style or 54 classroom-style. The hotel’s Southern-tinged restaurant, Shelby Hall, provides catering for events.
The Ritz-Carlton, Dallas updated its guest rooms, Club Lounge, and lobby areas in a renovation that finished in September. The Uptown hotel’s new look, from Patty Xenos Design, uses muted gray and blue hues in the new carpets, drapes, and other soft goods in the 218 guest rooms. The upgrades also include new tech amenities such as Internet TV. As part of the lobby redesign, the hotel added the Tequila Library—a complement to its “Guacamologist” station with nightly mini margaritas paired with fresh guacamole. Overall, the property has 19,000 square feet of meeting space, including a 9,450-square-foot ballroom, for events of as many as 600 guests.
Elevating her family recipes with “bacon, butter, and booze,” chef Blythe Beck opened the Southern restaurant Pink Magnolia in September with restaurateur Casie Caldwell. Dishes include chicken-fried rib eye, pan-seared Texas red fish with lobster dirty rice, and a grilled eggplant “steak.” The interior from F&P Studio presents a polished yet quirky design such as a greenery-covered wall and black-and-white prints on the banquettes. The eatery, located near the Bishop Arts District, has inside seating for 84 and outdoor dining for 20.
Chef Matt McCallister's FT33 serves seasonal dishes that pay homage to local cuisine. His menu includes Taxas Wagyu tartare, Texas quail, and warm apple cake with butterscotch, sour cream, and pecan. It seats 74 and has 10 seats at the bar. McCallister plans to open a new restaurant, Filament, later this fall in Deep Ellum.
A barbecue joint with a passion for jazz music, 18th & Vine BBQ opened in October. The menu pairs Kansas City-style barbecue with seasonal dishes in a space that features framed photos of jazz singers. The space measures 3,400 square feet with 100 seats in the downstairs dining area and 30 seats upstairs at its live jazz venue, the Roost.
The Austin-based Mexican restaurant Tacodeli opened its first Dallas location in August. The casual eatery, located in the West Dallas/North Oak Cliff area, uses fresh tortillas from the local La Nortena Tortillas as well as other local ingredients to make its daily menu of nearly 40 tacos. It seats nearly 90 inside and 50 on a covered patio.
A restaurant that transitions into a lounge in the evenings, TBD opened in Uptown in August. The menu features contemporary American fare such as lobster mac 'n' cheese, fruit sashimi, and flatbread, as well as an extensive cocktail menu. The design aesthetic is clean and modern, with white walls, leather banquettes, and a rotating collection of colorful artwork. Inside, the venue seats 50 or holds 100 in a nightclub-like arrangement. The covered patio seats 100 or holds 200 for receptions.
