The Mansion Bar
Bar · Turtle Creek ·
Upscale bar with cocktails, live music, and late-night bites
Upscale bar with cocktails, live music, and late-night bites
"The Mansion has been a fine-dining institution for 45 years, so it’s a smart pick when you need to feed (and impress) visiting colleagues or clients. There are multiple options for booking groups of up to 60 people, but for smaller dinners we like the wine cellar, a conspiratorial little room with a 12-person table. The restaurant will create a set menu for your group—delicate smoked salmon gougères, bowls of the famous tortilla soup, huge porterhouse steaks that can be sliced for sharing—so everyone’s free to focus on business rather than entree orders. If wine’s in the cards, ask the sommelier to pick out a magnum for dramatic effect." - kevin gray
"The Mansion has been a fine-dining institution for 45 years, so it’s a smart pick when you need to feed (and impress) visiting colleagues or clients. There are multiple options for booking groups of up to 60 people, but for smaller dinners we like the wine cellar, a conspiratorial little room with a 12-person table. The restaurant will create a set menu for your group—delicate smoked salmon gougères, bowls of the famous tortilla soup, huge porterhouse steaks that can be sliced for sharing—so everyone’s free to focus on business rather than entree orders. If wine’s in the cards, ask the sommelier to pick out a magnum for dramatic effect. RESERVE A TABLE WITH RESERVE A TABLE" - Kevin Gray
"A longtime Dallas staple open since the ’80s that has hosted many of the city’s most legendary chefs; the latest chef to take the reins is Charles Olalia, who moved to Dallas from L.A. and has injected the menu with a touch of Filipino flavor married to Texas staples while meeting fine-dining expectations. Case in point: the salt-and-pepper fried quail, which "made its way from the Mansion Bar menu to the tasting menu to a featured entree on the restaurant’s dinner menu," a savory, juicy, rich dish that crosses Texan and Filipino traditions while elevated into fine dining. The venue delivers multiple experiences: eat at the bar while a band plays and folks dance (a prime people-watching spot), enjoy the tasting menu on the picturesque patio, or opt for a multi-course white-tablecloth dinner in the restaurant — described as "just about the most Dallas place to be in Dallas." - Courtney E. Smith
"Go deep into the heart of the Texas experience with an evening at the Mansion Bar. It’s got the wildest mix of stained glass, Texas decor, and fancy drinks in this town. You’re covered for any kind of classic cocktail, as well as innovative inventions from its bar program, and you can have it with Tito’s or the highest-shelf tequilas and bourbons. Plus, there’s often an impromptu dance floor to two-step or waltz across Texas. As always, the Mansion offers free valet services." - Courtney E. Smith
"Chef Charles Olalia’s tasting menu at this venue. His interpretations reflected restraint, high French technique, an uncontrived yet measured blend of Asian ingredients. He is the reason Dallas (not just tourists) need to come back to this venue. His pedigree is peerless, but his humility makes him a true leader. Dallas cannot compete with major culinary destinations until we have a diverse stable of chefs telling their stories through their food. There aren’t very many named BIPOC chefs making ethnic foods in Dallas, unlike Chicago, NYC, Houston, or L.A. where you see Mexican, Filipino, Black, and Korean chefs taking home big awards for their cities. Chef Charles’ appointment as one of the only named Asian-American chefs in North Texas is needed to reinforce our bid to be an esteemed dining destination. This appointment is compounded by the fact that the sommelier, Brian Huynh, is also Asian-American. I count this duo as part of a new generation of culinary cultural producers in our city." — Chef Michelle Carpenter. The tasting menu is praised for restraint, high French technique, a balanced integration of Asian ingredients, and the leadership and representation provided by Chef Charles Olalia and sommelier Brian Huynh." - Courtney E. Smith
