Yardbird Southern Table & Bar’s team greet their guests with real Southern-style, downhome warmth and hospitality. From the moment you enter Yardbird’s spacious premises in the downtown Dallas Park District, you’ll feel right at home. This delightful restaurant has been here five years now, conveniently located across from Klyde Warren Park and the Arts District museums and entertainment venues.
My colleague Chris Waits and I were invited to try Yardbird’s lunch specials, along with items from their LTO menu celebrating National Burger Month May 1-31. Just reading over their extensive menu, with so many favorite Southern and Southwestern classics, can be slightly overwhelming. Especially when your mouth starts watering at the menu descriptions.
Yardbird Southern Table Lunch Favorites
We asked Regional Executive Chef Anton Vintes, (who recently added the title of General Manager to his resume), to help us choose from some of their most popular lunch offerings. Our lunch table soon looked ready to welcome a Southern family reunion, overflowing with creatively plated and aromatic dishes.
Servers brought out a grilled burger and truffle fries, Lobster Mac, BLT bites, grilled salmon, smoky pork ribs, and (my absolute favorite) a bowl of chicken tortilla soup. This soup is Chef Anton’s own recipe, and it only took one spoonful to realize he’d created the ultimate chicken tortilla soup.
Yardbird’s Chicken Tortilla Soup
This dense, flavor-packed soup makes most other versions look like pretenders. The Chef added chipotle crema, avocado slices, roasted garlic, black beans and corn, all perfect complements to the Rotisserie chicken and crispy tortilla strips in the classic southwestern soup.
Yardbird Southern Table in Dallas is celebrating May as National Burger Month, so we started and ended our lunch with burgers. A grass-fed Burger BLT (grilled 8 oz beef patty with sharp cheddar, smoky bacon, pickles, lettuce, and tomato on brioche) was a big hit with Chris, while I stole most of his truffle fries.
Burgers for Dessert?
Our dessert, the Southern Butter Pecan Ice Cream Sandwich, was also from the LTO burger menu. It’s made with Wagyu tallow chocolate chip cookies, butter pecan ice cream, and toasted pecans, topped with bourbon caramel. Scrumptious!
The Lobster Mac was adorned with a lobster shell that I originally thought was just for decoration. But no, it was a whole lobster with plenty of meat to add to the artisanal cheesy pasta. Our server said it was one menu item that people “either loved or hated.” I can’t imagine anyone not loving this creamy, luscious Lobster Mac. The menu lists it as “Market Price” so maybe it’s sometimes pricier than others.
The Smoke Show
Another show-stopping entrée, The Smoke Show (sweet St. Louis BBQ Ribs) featured enough juicy, succulent pork ribs for two or three people to share. We tried another made-to-share dish, the Fried Green Tomato BLT Stack House, from the starter menu. Smoked pork belly, pimento cheese, tomato jam, frisée, and lemon vinaigrette, were small bites that disappeared quickly.
I also enjoyed Yardbird’s grilled and well-seasoned salmon. While salmon’s not listed on the regular menu, a Bayou Jerk Salmon burger is listed on the LTO Burger Month Special. Copper River Salmon is also the first course on Chef Anton’s highly anticipated June 4 Yardbird Barrel & Vine Spring Edition VIP event, with the menu honoring the TV show “The Prisoner.”
Chef Anton Vintes
We were extremely impressed by everyone we met at Yardbird, especially Chef Anton. Everything we tried durin our Yardbird’s tasting adventure was delicious, with the Chef’s unique touches apparent in every bite. It was quite a surpise, though, to learn my new favorite Chicken Tortilla Soup was created by a Chef who grew up in Niagara Falls, and not Mexico or New Mexico.
Chef Anton says his passion for cooking was influenced by his grandmother in Niagara Falls, originally from Canada, who introduced him to Italian cuisine and traditional techniques. His other grandmother in Brooklyn, New York, was from Trinidad, and taught him bold Caribbean flavors and cooking styles. He says these experiences laid the foundation for his ability to balance flavor, depth, and cultural influence in his cuisine.
Atlanta Culinary Training and School
After moving to Atlanta, GA, he continued his training at a variety of concepts and graduated from culinary school. The 20-year industry veteran has been the Regional Executive Chef for Yardbird Southern Kitchen five years, following key roles with Five-Star Hotels, fine dining establishments, private chef services, catering, and exclusive private dining experiences. Chef Anton says the secret to his culinary success is “Let the ingredients speak for themselves and appreciate their natural flavors — simplicity is delicious.”
Yardbird’s Southern Kitchen in Dallas
If you’ve never been to Yardbird’s Southern Table, you’re missing a great experience. One you’ll want to repeat, and to share with all your friends. They’re located at 2121 N. Pearl in the Park District of downtown Dallas. They’re open from 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Mon.-Thurs., 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. Fri., 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sat., and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sun., serving weekend brunch along with weekday lunch/happy hour/dinner.
Ongoing promotional offers at Yardbird include “The Bird Feeds Two,” a Friday-only lunch offer designed for sharing. Available from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., this Southern-style meal for two includes a whole rotisserie chicken, creamy mashed potatoes, roasted Brussels sprouts, for $30, or add an optional pecan pie for $10.
Yardbird is a modern Southern kitchen that started in Miami Beach, and now has additional locations in Dalls, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Chicago, and Singapore. For more information, visit runchickenrun.com.
