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Top Restaurants In Garland, Texas

NEA decorative Santa bottle holder lies on a counter as patrons enjoy the traditional Christmas wunderland decor in Rolfs German restaurant in New York City. The 19th-century German tavern decorates for the Christmas season with artificial fir trees and pine garlands, Victorian dolls and thousands of Christmas lights.
NEA decorative Santa bottle holder lies on a counter as patrons enjoy the traditional Christmas "wunderland" decor in Rolf's German restaurant in New York City. The 19th-century German tavern decorates for the Christmas season with artificial fir trees and pine garlands, Victorian dolls and thousands of Christmas lights. | © Mario Tama/Getty Images

More than just another Dallas suburb, the best restaurants of Garland, Texas, match – and often beat – the restaurants of the city they border. From a barbecue joint with a unique smoking secret to one of the first Chinese restaurants in the USA, we list the top 10 dining spots here.
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Babe’s Chicken Dinner House

An extremely popular choice for local families, Babe’s Chicken offer ‘classic country cooking:’ delicious versions of Texan favorites made from scratch onsite along family traditions passed on through generations of Southern home cooks. Although the chicken is delicious enough on its own, with all the side dishes you could wish for, including biscuits, mashed potatoes and corn, it is essential to save room for their selection of homemade pies, from Mississippi mud to lemon meringue.

Cristiana’s Fine Mexican Restaurant

Restaurant, Mexican, $$
Cristiana’s offers classic Tex-Mex in a casual setting. Offering Mexican home-cooking, the atmosphere is as lively as the restaurant’s margaritas. All of your Tex-Mex favorites are present and correct plus some unique dishes inspired by the cuisine of the restaurant’s owner’s central-Mexican roots, making for food as authentic as it is delicious.

First Chinese BBQ

Back when First Chinese BBQ first opened, authentic Chinese food was almost unheard of, both in Texas and throughout America. First Chinese BBQ was one of the first restaurants to change that, and they still offer the same high-quality traditional food today. Their barbecue dishes are their most popular. But there are many treats worth discovering in the extensive menu offering Cantonese classics at affordable prices and generous portions.

Main St. Deli

Restaurant, American
Perhaps Garland’s most popular deli, Main St. Deli is loved by its legions of fans around the area for great lunches. Always fresh and high quality, the Main St. Deli is the perfect choice for those who want a casual and inexpensive lunch without wanting to lose any quality. Family-owned and operated, even first-time diners will feel like one of the many regulars, and find themselves returning time and again to see the new special or to retry old favorites.

Meshack’s

Restaurant, BBQ, $$
Consistently acclaimed as one of the finest barbecue restaurants in Dallas; Meshack eschews the typical hickory smoking for a rather more Texan approach. In fact, the head chef uses Texas’ state tree, the pecan, to deliver a distinct flavor to his barbecued meats that has all but revived the Meshack’s name singlehandedly. The place is infamously difficult to find, but offers delicious meaty rewards completely unlike those found anywhere else for those able to do so.

Napoli’s Italian Bistro

Restaurant, Italian, $
One of the Garland area’s most popular restaurants, Napoli’s is a Mediterranean-influenced Italian restaurant known for its freshly made sauces and Italian desserts. The restaurant represents a culinary journey that began with its head chef helping out his brother in a small restaurant in Manhattan many years ago, and now results in Napoli’s Italian Bistro, one of the favorites in the popular Firewheel Town Centre.

Scotty P’s Hamburgers

Dallas Morning News has named their burgers, hot dogs and cheese fries some of the best in town on numerous occasions and USA Today and MSN have named them their best burgers in Dallas-Fort Worth for many consecutive years. But do not just take their word for it. Try their succulent and customizable burgers and hot dogs for yourself and discover why Scotty P’s has maintained such a positive fan base for so long.

Siciliano’s

Siciliano’s offers food as tasty and truly Italian as the name suggests, and have been doing so for three decades. Paulo Siciliano developed his own taste of southern Italy from his mother’s cooking whilst growing up in the Italian town of Reggio di Calabria, and has been sharing this local knowledge and skill with the residents of Texas since moving here at the beginning of the 1980s.

Taj Mahal

Bar, Restaurant, Indian, Vegetarian, Vegan, $
Situated between Garland and Dallas is the Taj Mahal Indian Restaurant with specialities such as cooked-to-order tandoori curries and kebabs that are well worth traveling out of the city for. And if you do not want to be out of Garland too long do not worry, they offer a full takeout service as well.

Zyka

Restaurant, Indian, $$

Zyka specializes in Hyderabadi cuisine, a historic style from Central India known for its prowess with spices and a large array of rice and meat dishes, with key ingredients including dried coconut, tamarind, peanuts and sesame. Zyka uses these culinary beginnings to create exceptional food. Their food is expertly spiced, and historic (some recipes following traditions from the 14th century and before) while also completely contemporary.

About the author

Samuel is a London-based freelance writer who studied English Literature at King’s College London. In his work, he combines highbrow and lowbrow culture, which has seen him writing about everything from Michelangelo to Madonna (and sometimes both at the same time) for publications including NME, The Telegraph and Penguin Books. At The Culture Trip, he mostly writes about museums and restaurants, but his wide ranging interests have seen him discussing (amongst others) kung fu films, Cambodian temple-robbing and Norman Wisdom.

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