A Fort Worth restaurant made the list of best new restaurants in America. Spoiler alert: Dallas restaurants didn’t make the cut.
New York-based food magazine Bon Appétit released its list of the 50 best new restaurants in America Thursday morning. In total, seven Texas restaurants made the list with two calling North Texas home. Fort Worth’s La Onda and Garland’s El Rincon del Maiz are the two North Texas restaurants to make the list. LA ONDA ‘FEELS REALLY GOOD’ It surely sparked diners to action. There have already been 30 to 40 calls on Thursday from people calling to make reservation’s at La Onda, said Victor Villarreal, restaurant chef and owner. “We’re a very small restaurant, we don’t have any investors besides ourselves,” he said. “To be put on a scale of that magnitude … it feels really good.” La Onda opened its doors in June 2021 and serves Latin inspired seafood and cocktails. The restaurant’s menu has both land and sea offerings, with dry aged fish, fire roasted beef and pork, caviar and a ceviche of the week, among other dishes. Villarreal wasn’t aware of the list until one of his chef friends from Dallas reached out with the news around 8:30 a.m. on Thursday to congratulate him. Someone from Bon Appétit actually reached out to Villarreal a few weeks ago, asking to him to send over a few photos of their food for what he expected to be a small mention in a write-up. “We never really thought about it or anything,” he said. “They definitely did not tell us about that, so it was just a very big surprise for me this morning to see my restaurant on that list.” For anyone trying La Onda for the first time, Villarreal recommends the ceviche of the week with this week’s offerings including golden tilefish, heirloom tomato, jicama, ginger, cucumber and jalapeno. Another recommendation is the fish of the week, which happens to be dry aged verlasso salmon and seasonal vegetables. The “sharkcuterie” board is another highlight that comes with smoked fish head dip, a half ounce of caviar, gravlax and a small jar of seafood, La Onda’s owner said. Villarreal said not a lot of people visit Race Street where the restaurant is located and it’s been difficult to keep and maintain a steady flow of customers. However, if this morning’ call volume is any indication, the restaurant will have a busy few weeks ahead. “It feels really good to be having the phone ring again like that,” he said. La Onda is open Tuesday-Thursday from 4-9 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 4-10 p.m. at 2905 Race St. The restaurant is closed on Sunday and Monday. VEGAN TACOS AT EL RINCON DEL MAIZ El Rincon del Maiz in Garland are known for their vegan tacos, which Bon Appétit singled out in the best of list. Their menu has jackfruit quesabirria, fried hibiscus and cauliflower tacos and mushroom pozole, among other vegan friendly options. The restaurant is open Tuesday-Friday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 1709 Belt Line Road, Garland. El Rincon del Maiz is closed on Monday.
Read more at: https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/fort-worth/article265499061.html#storylink=cpy
