Restaurants in Irving

Bacon-covered burgers, chili-cheese-soaked fries, turkey-stacked sandwiches, syrup-slathered pancakes, and meat-melded comfort food dance across the pages of Norma's breakfast, lunch, and dinner menu. Welcome the sun back to its rightful place atop the sky's throne with a three-egg Spanish omelet (with onions, bell peppers, cheese, and salsa; $5.50). Or ease into the evening with chicken-fried steak ($6.95), which is "as big as the plate it’s served on, and with a good, crunchy crust," according to D magazine. But Norma's real forte is her thick slices of mile-high cream or fruit pie; some say they're the best this side of the Mason-Dixon Line (there is one better pie directly on the Mason-Dixon line, but it's covered with bees).

he first Lenny's Sub Shop® opened in 1998 in a suburb of Memphis, TN to satisfy cravings for authentic subs and Philly Cheesesteaks. Lenny's provides an unmatched value for our guests' hard earned dollars.

Though Luna de Noche's menu doesn't stray far from its Mexican roots, the restaurant’s chefs introduce nuanced flavors in all their dressed-up versions of Tex-Mex classics. As staff members make guacamole tableside for patrons, they may add unique ingredients such as pecans, creating a dish that is as distinctive as it is traditional. Even the margaritas—served frozen, on the rocks, or from a hose—build on the classic recipe by incorporating ingredients such as Kahlúa, fresh jalapeño juice, or housemade sangria.

Flames shoot skyward, then disappear into the ether. Soon they reappear, several feet from where they first emerged. They're not caused by invisible volcanoes or a dragon puffing out his birthday candles. Instead, they stem from saganaki, a cheese that's set ablaze tableside. This brandy-fueled display is just one of the rousing events at Stratos Greek Taverna. Here, cooks rub racks of lamb with fragrant oregano and slice gyro meat from a large rotisserie. Layers of spinach, feta, and phyllo dough form dramatic towers of spanakopita, one of the restaurant's many homemade dishes.

The food isn't the only source of excitement. Three nights a week, belly dancers teach guests to gyrate atop the eatery's tables and wooden dance floor. DJs fill the dining room with melodies on a regular basis, and the Dallas String Quartet harmonizes here on some nights. Guests can also explore a double-decker patio swathed in starlight and the sweet scent of honey-cinnamon baklava.

A spacious and casual gathering spot, Big Shots Sports Café is where visitors can stretch out, watch the game, and have a burger and beer. The staff will also agree that it’s the kind of place supposed founder Millard P. Foonswaggle would have enjoyed, kicking back after wrestling pythons and generally living on the edge. Inside, patrons sidle up to the bar for a frozen margarita or relax in a booth with an appetizer platter piled with onion strings, buffalo wings, mozzarella sticks, pickle chips, fries, and fried jalapeños. Stop in on Wednesday, Saturday, or Sunday nights for games of Texas hold’em or Friday evenings for live music.

When The Island Spot owner Richard Thomas was growing up in Jamaica, his mother, Mama Joyce, would always make dinner for the family. On Sunday, they'd head to the farmer's market for mango, passionfruit, soursop, and other fruits to make into juice, which she'd serve along with dishes such as jerk chicken and curry shrimp to a crowd of extended family. Today, Richard uses those recipes to give diners at The Island Spot an authentic taste of the Jamaican food he grew up eating—chicken and beef patties, or meat pies, braised oxtails, smoked jerk chicken, and escoveitched fish fillets.

"I would bathe in the rub they put on that chicken," wrote a D Magazine reviewer about The Island Spot's signature jerk chicken. The Dallas Observer named The Island Spot's jerk chicken the best in Dallas in 2012, due in part to its smoky flavors and the experience of digging in: a "burst of perfume that starts as a wisp and builds to a billowing smokescreen."

Diners sipping rum punch or playing Jenga with a plate of jerk-chicken nachos can admire Richard's family portraits and snapshots of his favorite places in Jamaica as reggae, soca, or steel-drum music plays. On the first Friday of each month, a reggae band treats diners to live jams that transport imaginations to a breezy, sun-soaked island.