At Goodwins, the neighborhood dining trend in Dallas reaches new heights

The student has become the teacher. Maybe that’s not what Goodwins is after, and even if it were, they’d be too modest to admit it. But spend enough time at this all-American bar and grill, curated by a team of chefs who learned their craft at places like Neighborhood Services, The Grape, Town Hearth, and Remedy, and you’ll start thinking Dallas The neighborhood restaurant movement has reached its peak.

You may also wonder if Neighborhood Services is looking over your shoulder. It was there that much of Goodwins’ management team met for the first time. Jeff Bekavac was executive chef at the original Lovers Lane location, and Austin Rodgers worked there before becoming general manager at Town Hearth. (Danyele McPherson, executive chef at the well-known Remedy, is also in the kitchen.)

Neighborhood Services impresario Nick Badovinus has nothing to do with Goodwins, but it’s an easy mistake to make. Rodgers and Bekavac show his influence in their minimalist website, in witty menu names and descriptions, in reservations that are much easier to get when you know someone, in recipes that keep it simple and don’t mess it up, and in cheeky nostalgic desserts.

Part of the fun of reading a Badovinus menu is deciphering the eccentric sauce names, unusual abbreviations and inside jokes. That experience is replicated at Goodwins, where you might consider Spicy Tuna Cone’s ’01, Lil’ Rippers, Red O’s, steaks with “matching sauce,” or a burger with Black Angus CBS. (In order: spicy tuna tartare in mini sesame waffle cones; Chicago-style cocktail-sized hot dogs; red onions; your choice of steak sauce, peppercorns or salsa verde, and a mix of chuck, brisket and short rib.)

Once you decipher the code, everything is exactly as promised and exactly how you want it to be. Zucchini chips are fried just right, not too hard, then dusted with sea salt and served with Green Goddess dip. The crab salad has a light dressing, celery and gherkins for crunch and a portion of Ruffles-style chips. The “Caesar-esque” (one of six types of salad) is well dressed and topped with an anchovy and large, crispy croutons. Cheese beignets are probably 90 percent cheese by weight: fried cheese with cheese dip.

Goodwins may not be a wild culinary safari, but every neighborhood needs a spot for the evening where you can enjoy a martini or a Caesar and not have to think.

The waiters recommend you try The Underhill, a steak sandwich with caramelized onions, provolone and a side of fries. You’re right. It is one of the rare steak sandwiches with thick medium rarity steak slices that are still pink in the middle. If you’re used to refined roast beef, The Underhill will be a real showstopper.

Every dish on our first few visits was prepared exactly how we wanted, from spicy, salty shrimp pasta all’amatriciana to grilled pork chop with sweet and sour peppers. The cocktail menu offers only slight deviations from the classics. Even better, someone told the wait staff to reveal their entire personality, so we spent the night making jokes. And compared to Neighborhood Services, comparable menu items at Goodwins are just a few dollars cheaper.

There are plenty of feel-good restaurants in Dallas. They know what we like, they take care of us and that’s all. Goodwins may not be a wild culinary safari, but every neighborhood needs a spot for the evening where you can enjoy a martini or a Caesar and not have to think. Goodwins is the latest restaurant to continue this tradition of hit play. It’s also the best new example in a long, long time. Perhaps even the best thing since the glory days of the kitchen where its founders met.

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This story originally appeared in the October issue of D Magazine with the heading “Street food.” Write to [email protected].