Restaurants in Dallas: Key Takeaways
- Dallas has approximately 3,974 restaurants spread across various key neighborhoods.
- Full-service restaurants dominate the scene with about 2,500 venues in the city.
- Mexican cuisine is the most popular with around 1,300 restaurants, followed by burgers and pizza.
Dallas boasts a diverse dining scene with 3,974 restaurants. This article offers a detailed breakdown by area, category, and cuisine, explaining why exact numbers can differ across sources.
If you're opening a new restaurant or expanding your business in Dallas, it's essential to review restaurant owner responsibilities for compliance and success.
Discover how restaurants are distributed across Dallas’s neighborhoods and explore types like full-service, fast food, and cuisines ranging from Mexican to Japanese, showcasing its rich culinary diversity.
Restaurants in Dallas: Key Takeaways- Breakdown of Restaurants in Dallas by Area
- Breakdown of Restaurants in Dallas by Category
- Breakdown of Restaurants in Dallas by Cuisine
- Official Dallas Records and Registered Restaurant Businesses
- Restaurants in Dallas Listed on Google and Other Online Platforms
- Why Restaurant Counts in Dallas Vary and Conclusion
Breakdown of Restaurants in Dallas by Area
Below is a detailed snapshot of how many restaurants each major Dallas area contains.
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| Area | Number of Restaurants |
|---|---|
| Downtown | 500 |
| Uptown | 400 |
| Deep Ellum | 300 |
| Oak Lawn | 350 |
| Lakewood | 250 |
| Highland Park | 200 |
| Bishop Arts District | 150 |
| Other | 1774 |
Downtown and Uptown together offer a vibrant central hub with 500 and 400 restaurants respectively, attracting diners with diverse options. Deep Ellum and Oak Lawn also contribute significant dining scenes with 300 and 350 eateries.
Other neighborhoods, including Lakewood, Highland Park, and Bishop Arts District, add to the city's culinary breadth, while many restaurants fall into various other areas across Dallas totaling over 1,700 venues.
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Breakdown of Restaurants in Dallas by Category
This table illustrates how various restaurant types contribute to Dallas’s dining landscape.
| Category | Approximate Count |
|---|---|
| Full-Service Restaurants | 2500 |
| Fast Food and Quick-Service Restaurants | 500 |
| Cafes and Coffee Shops | 300 |
| Bars and Pubs | 400 |
| Food Trucks and Street Food Vendors | 100 |
| Pop-up Restaurants | 50 |
| Ghost Kitchens and Virtual Restaurants | 24 |
Full-service restaurants dominate Dallas's scene, making up about 2,500 venues offering sit-down experiences. Fast food and quick-service outlets form a sizable portion with 500 locations catering to convenience.
Cafes, bars, and pubs contribute further with hundreds of spots, while innovative formats like pop-ups and ghost kitchens are emerging, reflecting Dallas's evolving food culture.
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Breakdown of Restaurants in Dallas by Cuisine
Dallas's cuisine spectrum is broad; here's the distribution by food type.
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| Cuisine | Approximate Number |
|---|---|
| Mexican | 1300 |
| Italian | 228 |
| Chinese | 259 |
| Japanese | 154 |
| Indian | 135 |
| Korean | 133 |
| Vietnamese | 111 |
| Mediterranean | 112 |
| Thai | 99 |
| Cuban | 9 |
| Greek | 31 |
| Barbecue | 202 |
| Seafood | 372 |
| New American | 240 |
| Pizza | 526 |
| Burgers | 741 |
Mexican cuisine leads Dallas with about 1,300 restaurants, showing the city's strong Southwestern and Latin American influences. Burgers and pizza are also incredibly popular, with 741 and 526 establishments respectively.
Seafood, Chinese, and Italian cuisines add to the rich variety, while Nashville-style Barbecue and New American spots highlight Dallas's distinct regional flavors.
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Official Dallas Records and Registered Restaurant Businesses
The City of Dallas maintains official records through health inspections and business licensing that help track registered food establishments. These records ensure that all venues comply with safety standards and local regulations.
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Official listings represent the baseline figure of operational and legally registered restaurants, providing an authoritative count of the dining venues within the city limits.
Restaurants in Dallas Listed on Google and Other Online Platforms
Platforms like Google Maps aggregate publicly visible and actively operating restaurants. These sources often show varying numbers compared to official records because they rely on user contributions and current business statuses.
Consequently, online counts emphasize venues with active online presence and may exclude newly opened, temporarily closed, or unlisted restaurants, leading to slight discrepancies in totals.
For those interested in the crew behind the scenes, discover bartender responsibilities that contribute to Dallas's vibrant bar and pub scene.
Why Restaurant Counts in Dallas Vary and Conclusion
Different methodologies, definitions, and data sources cause the variation in Dallas’s restaurant numbers. Some data include officially licensed places only, while others factor in informal dining like food trucks and ghost kitchens.
Ultimately, Dallas's dining scene is a dynamic and evolving ecosystem with nearly 4,000 restaurants that reflects its cultural diversity and ongoing growth in food offerings.
