Rocco Smith
Irving is a northern suburb and member town of the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area with similar white-collar appeal as Dallas proper.
Irving houses five international Fortune 500 company headquarters and thousands of other companies, making it a major business hub.
If you aren’t in Irving on a business trip, there are plenty of other attractions to explore. You can delve into the infamous assassination of President John F. Kennedy at the Ruth Paine House Museum.
Fans of the arts will love the massive Irving Arts Center, where they can see art exhibits by day and theatrical productions by night.
Irving’s abundance of businesses has spawned a booming restaurant scene for high-quality power lunches, lively happy hours, or romantic pre-show dinners.
Irving is full of fine dining steakhouses and elegant seafood restaurants, but it also has plenty of casual, family-friendly eateries that encompass many world cuisines.
Best Restaurants in Irving
- Via Real
- Andalous
- Empa Mundo
- The Ranch At Las Colinas
- Cavalli
- LA Burger
- Vila Brazil – Irving
- Pacific Table – Las Colinas
- Fish City Grill
- Saltgrass Steak House
- Italian Café
During my most recent trip to Irving, I found great dining options for every taste and budget. Whether you’re looking for the perfect burger or a family-style Italian meal, you’ll find the best restaurants in Irving on the following list.
Via Real Restaurant
4020 N MacArthur Blvd Suite 100, Irving, TX 75038
Phone: 972-650-9001
Visit Website
Via Real is an upscale Tex Mex restaurant in a lovely country-meets- industrial chic dining space with exposed brick walls and floor-to-ceiling windows that overlook lush green landscaping.
Owner Fran Mathers took over Via Real in 1985, refining the menu and polishing the service and décor.
Now, Via Real has set a high standard for upscale Mexican and Southwestern cuisine, serving the Las Colinas neighborhood for nearly 40 years.
They serve Tex Mex and Southwestern cuisine at Via Real with a multi-course menu of appetizers like fajita nachos and smoked brisket flautas, followed by elegant steak and seafood entrees.
You can enjoy top-shelf margaritas and other Mexican and tropical cocktails with your meal as well. My favorite entrée was the adobo shrimp and crab enchiladas with mango black bean salsa and lemon butter sauce.
Andalous Mediterranean Grill
6450 N MacArthur Blvd, Irving, TX 75039
Phone: 972-401-8900
Visit Website
Located in North Irving in Las Colinas, Andalous Mediterranean Grill is run by twin Chefs Sam and Wassim, who grew up working in the family restaurant and cooking their Mediterranean mother’s recipes.
With Andalous, Sam and Wassim use their heritage, culinary experience, and business savvy to create a contemporary dining experience in which to enjoy traditional Mediterranean cuisine.
The menu takes inspiration from many Mediterranean countries, both in Europe and the Middle East. As is tradition, Mediterranean food begins with various mezze, including hummus, eggplant dip, kibbe, falafel, and many more small plates.
I loved their Spanakopita, spinach and feta pies wrapped in delicate, buttery phyllo dough. They have options for large family meals that come with various mezze, gyro meat, kebabs, and rice with hand-made coal-fired pita.
Empa Mundo – World of Empanadas
3977 N Belt Line Rd, Irving, TX 75038
Phone: 972-746-4516
Visit Website
Empa Mundo-World of Empanadas is a fast-casual Latin American restaurant specializing in oven-baked empanadas typical in Argentina.
Located in the Song neighborhood, across Belt Line from Victoria Park, Empa Mundo is a modest, affordable, and family-friendly empanada stand with quick, friendly service.
They offer a wealth of authentic Argentinian empanadas and a fusion of global flavors like teriyaki chicken empanadas or cheesesteak empanadas.
A classic Argentinian empanada is the Criolla with ground beef, onion, green olives, raisins, and eggs. Save room for an alfajor, a classic Argentinian cookie stuffed with dulce de leche and shredded coconut.
The Ranch At Las Colinas
857 W John Carpenter Fwy, Irving, TX 75039
Phone: 972-506-7262
Visit Website
The Ranch at Las Colinas is a massive ranch-style complex surrounded by greenery that backs up to Hackberry Creek.
The interior is all repurposed wood, high-beamed ceilings, plush leather chairs, wooden chop block tables, and antique chandeliers. The massive outdoor area has multiple decks and patios to enjoy cocktails and live music.
The Ranch serves elevated Southwestern and Texas-style comfort food. Starters include fried okra, branding iron onion rings, and cornmeal fried Texas gulf oysters.
They use local Texas-raised beef for all their steak entrees. My favorite Texas-style meal was their Chicken Fried Steak, using Texas wagyu beef, breaded, fried, and smothered in jalapeno sausage gravy.
Cavalli
3601 Regent Blvd, Irving, TX 75063
Phone: 972-915-0001
Visit Website
Located a few minutes away from DFW International Airport, Cavalli is an authentic Neapolitan Pizzeria serving the most authentic pies on this side of the Atlantic.
They import all the ingredients from San Marzano tomatoes for the sauce to Caputo Mill flour for their dough to Italian bufala mozzarella. Even the wood-burning oven is an authentic Italian make.
Their perfectly bubbly and charred thin-crust pizzas have earned Italy’s coveted seal of approval, a VPN certification for authenticity.
The menu also has panini, antipasti, and Italian desserts. My favorite specialty pie is the Texas Heat, with fresh mozzarella, San Marzano tomato sauce, spicy soppressata, jalapeno, garlic, and oregano.
LA Burger
10045 N MacArthur Blvd #113, Irving, TX 75063
Phone: 972-501-9188
Visit Website
LA Burger is a fast-casual, trendy Korean American fusion restaurant owned by Korean American brothers Jon and Ben Lee, who drew inspiration from the Korean fusion food truck movement in their native Los Angeles.
The brothers combine Korean flavors with classic American comfort food. The creativity and incredible taste of LA Burger’s dishes have garnered accolades from the Dallas Observer and D Magazine.
Located in Valley Ranch, LA Burger has a wide selection of incredible burgers that you won’t find anywhere else.
Take, for example, the K-Town burger with kimchi, pickled jalapeno, bulgogi glaze, lettuce, tomato, sriracha mayo, and a fried egg.
Vila Brazil – Irving
2315 W Airport Fwy, Irving, TX 75062
Phone: 972-607-4224
Visit Website
Teetering between Hillcrest Oaks and Plymouth Park, Vila Brazil is a contemporary Brazilian churrascaria, serving all-you-can-eat meats sliced onto your plate directly from the roasting pit.
Vila Brazil’s dining space is a contemporary ranch-style space with fine-dining service, high-quality meats, and a massive buffet of authentic Brazilian food for an affordable price.
You can choose between 5 or 8 cuts of spit-fired meats to accompany a salad bar and hot dish buffet with 25 authentic Brazilian side dishes included. Whether you want pork, chicken, or steak, there are various varieties of each protein to choose from.
Pacific Table – Las Colinas
5238 N O’Connor Blvd #136, Irving, TX 75039
Phone: 972-957-7620
Visit Website
Overlooking the lovely Lake Caroline in Las Colinas, Pacific Table is an elegant seafood restaurant and cocktail bar with a modern interior and a gorgeous outside patio right on the water.
Executive Chef Felipe Armenta serves fresh seafood, steaks, sushi, sandwiches, and salads, using flavors and ingredients from the Pacific Northwest.
Pacific Table has a fabulous happy hour on weekdays from 4-6 pm with cheap cocktails and discounted wine and beer pours to accompany some fried calamari or California roll appetizers.
For the main dish, I recommend the trout almondine, grilled simply with fresh herbs and topped with butter and almonds with a side of mashed potatoes.
Fish City Grill
7750 N MacArthur Blvd #160, Irving, TX 75063
Phone: 214-484-9437
Visit Website
Fish City Grill is a welcoming and lively seafood restaurant from owners Lovett and Bill Bayne that started as a modest 12-table restaurant, transforming into a 20-restaurant chain.
Fish City Grill in Irving is in Las Colinas, offering high-quality seafood combined with regional and global flavors along with a full cocktail bar.
Their wonderful menu features appetizers, soups, salads, sandwiches, and a wealth of seafood combo entrees.
I started with the lump crab cakes with lemon aioli over a baby arugula salad. I loved their seared Georges Bank scallops with applewood bacon-wrapped shrimp for the main dish.
Saltgrass Steak House
560 W Lyndon B Johnson Fwy, Irving, TX 75063
Phone: 972-373-9944
Visit Website
Located in Hackberry Creek, Saltgrass Steak House is a budget-friendly American steakhouse and cocktail lounge from the famous Landry family of restaurants.
The old-school Texas-style interior features a classy marble bar, limestone columns, and wooden walls lined with longhorn antlers.
Their weekday Happy Hours are unbeatable, with the cheapest craft and imported draft beer, wine pours, and cocktails to accompany half-priced appetizers.
For a Texas-style Mexican treat, try their queso fresco and brisket nachos with queso Blanco, slow-braised brisket, pico de gallo, cilantro, green onions, and tostada chips.
They also make finger-licking-good, fall-off-the-bone BBQ pork ribs that come with an order of fried shrimp.
Italian Café
387 E Las Colinas Blvd #120, Irving, TX 75039
Phone: 972-401-0000
Visit Website
Italian Café is a quaint, old-fashioned Italian American eatery and New York-style pizzeria in Las Colinas with a red and white checkered storefront, a full bar, and giant flat-screen TVs with your favorite sports games playing.
Italian Café is a family-friendly, mom-and-pop-style haunt with comforting Italian American baked pasta, New York-style pizza, sandwiches, salads, and freshly baked bread.
The menu is massive, the portions are generous, and the prices are affordable. I loved their baked pasta dishes, and if you can’t decide on which one sounds best, they have a sampler with beef lasagna, chicken cannelloni, and ravioli in tomato sauce with mozzarella.
Final Thoughts
Restaurants in Irving cater to sophisticated and adventurous palates as much as they do to tried-and-true traditional tastes.
Whether you’re looking for a fine-dining Brazilian Steakhouse or a funky Korean American fusion burger joint, you’ll find something to suit your taste on my list of the best restaurants in Irving.
If you want additional dining suggestions in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, check out my list of amazing restaurants in Dallas. Did we leave a restaurant out of this list? Make sure you leave us a comment, and we’ll check it out!
