For the Best of Plano Magazine 2017, our readers voted on their favorite places to dine and drink around town. But where do the best local foodie insiders – the chefs and restaurateurs – go when they’re craving a big, juice steak or a sweet treat in Plano?
My go-to spot is Smoke. I love the Cabrito & Masa combination of cajeto & goat cheese with perfectly cooked cabrito. Chef Time Byres is one of the best chefs in Plano cooking modern Texas ingredients. Whiskey Cake is another favorite, serving 3 Little Pigs appetizer. I love Capital Grille for the ambiance & their pineapple-infused vodka!
– Chef/Managing Partner Gabriel De Leon of Mi Dia From Scratch
Jörg’s Cafe Vienna. When I need some pounded schnitzel and the best spaetzle, this is my fix. Great location, great stuff, great beer and a bit different than the norm…quite like myself.
– Chef Patrick Stark of The Brixton
My last meal would absolutely be anchored by something from the ocean, and Sea Breeze Fish Market & Grill holds a very special place in my heart. My wife and I were regulars back when we were just dating. Rick and Ryan Oruch do fresh seafood as well as anyone in the country. Their New England style lobster roll paired with a crisp glass of Vouvray is where it all starts and stops for me.
– Justin Beam, General Manager at Sixty Vines
One of my favorite chefs in Plano is Salvatore Gisellu, chef and partner of Urban Crust and Urban Rio. One of my favorite restaurants in Plano is the Capital Grille: the filets are one of my favorites there.
– Jörg Fercher, owner and chef at Jörg’s Cafe Vienna
One of my favorite restaurants to share with new people is JS Chen’s Chinese Restaurant. An incredible dish they do is the garlic crab fried rice. They cook a whole Dungeoness crab tossed in a sweet and garlicky sauce and then some of the meat is used to stir fry in an amazing fried rice dish. A bonus is they are BYOB, so you can bring a beautiful sauvignon blanc or chardonnay to enjoy with it.
– Richard Chamberlain of Chamberlain’s Fish Market and Chamberlain’s Chop House
Our go to place in Plano is Yao Fuzi. My husband Jeff traveled to Asia frequently in his former life as a fashion designer and will start craving really authentic, really good Chinese food. My boys devour the soup dumplings and 5-spice ribs. Plus, Chris always has interesting wines, some that I know and some that I discover.
– Jill Bergus, owner of Lockhart Smokehouse
My favorite restaurant in Plano is Bob’s Steak & Chop House. Manager Silvio Carbone runs an amazing place over there.
– Kenny Bowers, owner of Kenny’s Burger Joint, Kenny’s East Coast Pizza,
Kenny’s Smokehouse, Kenny’s Italian Kitchen and Kenny’s Wood Fired Grill
My wife’s office is at The Shops at Legacy so we eat out there a lot for lunch. The places I like: Samui Thai for Pad See Iew and The Monsoon Rolls, Sixty Vines for the orecchiete and the sausage pizza, and Snappy Salads at Preston and Park – I love that dang jalapeño ranch. Also, Ferrari’s Pizza on Coit/Legacy makes a nice Sicilian slice.
– Jay Jerrier, owner of Cane Rosso and Cow Tipping Creamery
I have a few favorites in Plano. I’m Italian, so my favorite Italian restaurant has got to be Covinos. I have created a mixture of sauces [with their mix and match pasta menu option], and it is hands down the best diablo cream sauce on linguine that I have ever had!
I’m crazy biased about dessert, but a go-to place for me and my husband is Whiskey Cake to get, of course, the Whiskey Cake. We don’t just let the homemade whipped cream be enough for topping, we go for a side of ice cream WITH the whipped cream. I can’t help it, I can never just order something off a menu how it comes, I HAVE to mix it up! Coming from someone who refuses to follow someone else’s exact recipe, I’ll give it up for that Whiskey Cake, it’s sure as heck got my vote and my sweet tooth.
– Rachel Barbaro Arrieta, owner and baker at Sugar Ray’s
