Editorial
Dallas rooftop restaurants split between the downtown tower rooms with horizon views and the Uptown low-rises with patio-bar food. The 10 below are the ones our editors return to for the dinner, not just the photo.
For sibling lists, see the best rooftop bars in Atlanta, the Nashville rooftop restaurants, and the Chicago rooftop restaurants. The Dallas city guide covers the wider drinking landscape.
The Reunion Tower geosphere sits 561 feet above Downtown and rotates one full turn every 55 minutes. The Wolfgang Puck dining room runs Pan-Asian ($34 to $62 mains, tasting menu $135). D Magazine's annual dining issue has named Five Sixty among the city's best special-occasion rooms eight years running. Reservations open 30 days out and the 7:30pm Saturday slot is the city's hardest-to-secure rotating table.
The Joule's flagship dining room operates a serious modern-American kitchen and the hotel pairs it with the rooftop pool deck overlooking Main Street. Mains $26 to $58. The Dallas Morning News repeatedly calls CBD "the city's best hotel dinner" in its annual restaurant rankings. The 7pm Friday slot books two weeks out; the Sunday brunch pool deck is the locals' weekend choice.
Uptown's rooftop restaurants run more accessible than the downtown towers. The three below pair a working kitchen with the West Village or McKinney Avenue view.
A third-floor rooftop restaurant above West Village with a retractable roof and a Mediterranean-leaning menu ($22 to $46 mains). Eater Dallas flagged Upside in its 2024 rooftop review as "Uptown's most-recommended rooftop dinner". Reservations open 14 days out and the 7pm Friday slot fills fastest. The room operates a heated terrace through the colder months.
A Knox-Henderson rooftop above a serious wood-fired kitchen. Mains $24 to $48; the wine list runs natural-leaning and the Mediterranean tasting menu is the order ($75). The Dallas Observer named Sister one of the city's best new restaurants of 2024. The room caps at 80 seats on the rooftop and Tuesday 7pm walk-in is the calmest slot.
A two-level Deep Ellum room with the neighbourhood's largest open-air rooftop. The menu runs shareable American ($14 to $32 plates) and the rooftop bar pours $12 cocktails. D Magazine called Stirr "Deep Ellum's most-recommended rooftop dinner". The 9pm Friday slot is the locals' choice; weekends after 11pm the room shifts to bar-only.
Beyond the Joule, four hotel rooftops run as full dinner restaurants rather than cocktail spaces. Each pairs a working chef with the skyline.
A two-level Uptown rooftop with a sports-bar lower floor and a more serious dining terrace upstairs. Mains $18 to $36. The Dallas Morning News rooftop survey 2024 flagged Wheelhouse's upper terrace as "the city's most underrated rooftop dinner". The terrace seats 70; reservations open seven days out and Sunday brunch on the terrace books fastest.
The 22,000 square-foot rooftop above Victory Park is one of the largest in Texas. The menu runs Texan-American ($14 to $34 plates) and the room operates a heated patio year-round. Eater Dallas called Happiest Hour "the city's most-recommended big-group rooftop". The 6pm Thursday slot before the after-work rush fills fastest; weekends require a reservation.
The Uptown Truluck's pairs a serious seafood dining room with an upper-floor outdoor terrace. Mains $34 to $68; the stone crab program runs October to May. D Magazine called Truluck's "the city's most-recommended occasion seafood room". The terrace seats 40 and reservations open 21 days out. The 6:30pm Friday slot is the room's hardest to secure.
The two below run further from the city core and book lighter than the central rooms. Both are worth the drive.
A rooftop that looks across the Trinity River to the downtown skyline. The menu runs Southern-American ($16 to $36 mains) and the cocktail list is the order. The Dallas Observer called Cedar Social "the city's most underrated skyline view rooftop". The 6:45pm Saturday slot is the best sunset window. The dining room seats 90 on the rooftop.
A Lower Greenville rooftop above a paleo-leaning American kitchen. Mains $14 to $28; the bowls program is the order. D Magazine flagged HG Sply Co in its 2024 rooftop survey as "the city's most-recommended healthy rooftop dinner". The Sunday brunch terrace books a few days out. The room operates heat lamps from November through March.
Dallas rooftop season runs late March through early November but the city's mild winters keep heated rooms open well into December. Five Sixty, CBD Provisions and Truluck's stay open year-round indoors. Upside, Stirr and Happiest Hour run heated terraces through January. Sister and Cedar Social close their decks for three weeks in February.
The top tier (Five Sixty, CBD, Truluck's, Sister) requires 21 to 30-day reservations for prime weekend slots. Mid-tier (Upside, Stirr, Wheelhouse) takes a 7 to 14-day window. The casual rooms (Happiest Hour, Cedar Social, HG Sply Co) walk in midweek.
For more drinking and dining, see the Dallas city guide, the global rooftop bars hub, and for comparison the Atlanta rooftop restaurants list. For the wider Texas circuit, the Austin rooftop bars is the next stop south.
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