Coastal Mexican is having a moment in Dallas.
It started when Mar Y Sol opened off Knox Street in 2024 with a huge splash as one of the first fine dining spots to do it. The waters stayed calm until this spring, when Puerto Cocina, from the owners of Ayahuasca Cantina and Xamán Cafe with help from James Beard-recognized chef Anastacia Quiñones-Pittman, opened its doors; as did Maroma, from Big Dill Hospitality with James Beard-recognized chef Omar Flores. It will be followed soon by Molino Olōyō, helmed by chef Olivia Lopéz of Colima, Mexico, on the country’s western Pacific side, and promises to deliver more seafood than the average Mexican spot (even if that is not explicitly the focus).
Maroma is the fourth collaboration between Big Dill and Flores, following Tex-Mex spot Muchacho, seafood-focused Even Coast, and steakhouse Casa Brasa.
“Mexican seems to be hot right now, especially Tex-Mex,” says Big Dill COO Alex Urrunaga. “We thought we’d differentiate what we’re doing and focus on coastal Mexican seafood.”
That decision was also driven by the group’s notice that Dallas consumers are moving towards heart-healthy diets and an overall conversation about better nutrition—even as they select which restaurants to eat at, notes Big Dill Director of Marketing Grace Marshi.
“We met Omar when he was at Abacus, through family friends. We were huge fans,” Marshi says. “We had a connection from the start. The partnership… is like a perfect puzzle piece.” The parties have since been working together for 10 years.
The menu is tight and manageable. Appetizers lead with a grandiose seafood tower for those who want to indulge, with moments for platters of oysters and lobster that taps into the heavy influence from Japan that is present in coastal Mexican cuisine through the use of ginger and yuzu ponzu. Red snapper gets topped with charred pineapple and serrano chiles and served atop a spicy and citrus-forward marinade used to cure Peruvian fish. Char shows up all over the menu, thanks to a mesquite wood grill in the kitchen.
There is also a selection of tostadas, plated for one but easily broken in half and shared. The crab toastada showcases those Japanese influences also, mixing guacamole salsa with Kewpie mayo and toppings of smoked trout roe with furikake. “At Maroma, we are focused on cravings, both in the kitchen and at the bar,” Urrunaga says of the menu’s shareable nature. “A lot of people like to eat communally.”
There are so many sharables on the entradas (guacamole for the table, little neck clams with chorizo, calamari frito) and taco plates, too. Increasingly popular ribeye tacos are there, along with seafood-focused Baja fish and shrimp options. The shrimp taco is a full, battered jumbo shrimp, drizzled with salsa divorciada and Mexican crema. The in-house tortillas, which are nixtamalized in such a way as to keep the texture a bit grainy, really enhance the experience.
The options for mains might seem surprisingly small, at a tight four options, except for the list of steaks under it and the variety of shareables that precede them. The star here is the red snapper served in an exquisite lemongrass coconut broth. Of all the dishes exploring a mix of Mexican and Asian inspirations, this one balances the two cultures aplomb.
The cocktail menu veers towards the expected, with resort-inspired plays on classic cocktails, but there are a few standouts. In particular, the Shiso Fresh, which combines gin with sweet elderflower, St. Germaine, and yuzu juice with refreshing cucumber juice and a pink peppercorn syrup, manages to hit all the notes of a cocktail ideal for the tropics.
Drawing inspiration from the glossy all-inclusive resorts that populate Mexico along both coasts, the muted tones in the restaurant are interrupted by bold patterns from the jagged black paint lines in the wallpaper that look hand-drawn to the patchwork of pastel materials on the backs of some booths. What the closed-in patio lacks in views from its ground-floor perch, it makes up for in plant life (and air conditioning).
This is Big Dill’s first foray into the Design District, and while the neighborhood doesn’t quite offer the picturesque escape of a five-star resort, the food here is enough to whisk diners and their imaginations away.
Maroma, 1333 Oak Lawn Ave. Ste. 100, Dallas, maroma-restaurant.com
