Born-and-braised short rib with tobacco-fried 1015 hash and vegetables: Photo by Desiree Espada

Born-and-braised short rib with tobacco-fried 1015 hash and vegetables: Photo by Desiree Espada

Hotel restaurants don’t have to try too hard. Overnight guests provide a captive audience. But when new ownership took over Hilton Park Cities in 2012, its hotel restaurant at the time, Opio, received a welcome overhaul, getting upgraded from a breakfast buffet to a neighborhood retreat. The restaurant reopened later that year as Grain, adding dinner service and a slew of farm-to-table dishes sourced from Texas. With his Philadelphia upbringing, chef James Music may seem like an unlikely candidate to execute the concept, but he channels his inner Texan to serve what he claims is the best short rib in town. Sourced from Windy Meadows Farm in northeast Texas, the dish is topped with crispy fried Texas 1015 onions — a type of sweet onion grown in South Texas — and served with fresh vegetables. The bacon barbecue shrimp is another favorite. “I would never dream of wrapping Gulf shrimp in bacon and frying it, but people love it,” Music says. The menu changes with the seasons depending on what’s available, which means that a new fall menu is in the works. Popular meat and seafood dishes will stick around refreshed with seasonal sides. Music says to expect more beans, squash and asparagus — or whatever looks best at the Dallas Farmers Market.

Grain
Restaurant and Bar
5954 Luther
469.232.4962
grainrestaurantandbar.com

Ambiance:
Casual

Hours:
Breakfast and lunch:
6:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Mon-Fri
7 a.m.- 2 p.m. Sat-Sun
Dinner:
6-10 p.m. Sun-Thurs
6-11 p.m. Fri-Sat

Did you know?
Happy hour is 4-7 p.m. weekdays, including $2 off beer, well drinks and house wine.