To say Dallas is excited about Neighborhood Sushi would be an understatement.
From Austin-based MML Hospitality, Neighborhood Sushi opened on June 30 at the Shops of Highland Park, marking the restaurant’s first expansion beyond Austin. Since debuting in 2020, the polished neighborhood sushi spot has built a cult following for its seasonal sushi and approachable take on Japanese dining. Dallas diners wasted no time embracing the concept.
By 8 a.m. on a Thursday, OpenTable showed the restaurant had already been booked more than 200 times that day, only a handful of dinner reservations remained. DiningOut stopped by for a first look.
First thing’s first: There’s no obvious front entrance. Walk around the back of the shopping strip and you’ll see a nearly incognito back stoop with a sleek black door and minimalist wooden framed sign. Its playful first impression nods to alleyway entrances in Tokyo’s izakayas, and adds an “if you know, you know” allure neighboring one of Dallas’ most affluent communities.
Neighborhood Sushi isn’t trying to dethrone Dallas’ omakase heavyweights. Instead, it focuses on pristine seafood, thoughtful cooking, and a polished ambiance that’s elevated, not pretentious.
A narrow, dark plaster hallway opens into a warm dining room wrapped in maple wood, cane paneling, shibori-dyed norin curtains, and Japanese tile. The dining room’s pièce de résistance is a 12-seat table situated beneath a skylight. Natural light pours in spotlighting a centerpiece airy tablescape of greenery.
Open daily from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., the menu spans everything from shareables, such as the tongue-tingling grilled edamame sprinkled with sansho, ponzu, and sea salt, to tempura, yakitori, nigiri, sashimi, rolls, and hand rolls.
Standouts include the Birds Nest Salad, an eyecatching dish that surrounds a silky raw quail egg with ribbons of cabbage and crisp potato. It’s light and crunchy. The egg drop soup and miso soup are soothing.
Seafood may be the main character, but the vegetable nigiri steals the show. The sweet corn nigiri snaps with flavor from togarashi butter, serrano, and cilantro. The sweet and sour eggplant is an early Dallas favorite: garlicky and spicy. Executive chef In Chun’s shrimp-stuffed basil leaf tempura is light, their crisp shells envelope sweet shrimp and fragrant basil. Tempura is served with tentsuyu, a traditional Japanese dipping sauce, and aioli. For volume, order the mixed vegetable platter.
Neighborhood Sushi Dallas flaunts an extended yakitori program. King Trumpet mushrooms with crispy garlic, chives and vegetarian tare come two skewers to an order. The Mishima Reserve Wagyu with kizami chimichurri is a carnivorous delight. Don’t dismiss the asparagus. The lemon-miso aioli brightens the earthy, tender bites.
Neighborhood Sushi can be as approachable or as indulgent as you make it. Individual nigiri ranges from $5 to $17, while specialities and hand rolls elevate the bill. Lunch and happy hour are lighter on the wallet.
Lunch combos arrive with iced green or black tea and soup or small salad. The $19 Light Lunch features three pieces of nigiri. The $35 Chirashi, Japanese for scattered sushi, includes chef-selected sashimi over rice. Happy hour, offered Monday through Friday from 3 to 5 p.m., boasts beer, sake, and specialty cocktails for $10, while tempura and yaki are half off.
The menu rounds out with desserts. The Kakigori, a mound of mango sherbert piled high with shaved ice, is not to be missed. Prickly pear, pineapple, and coconut creams accompany the gigantic snow cone for a build-your-own flavor indulgence. As the creams melt into the shaved ice, it transforms into a rainbow of color where every bite tastes different than the last.
Chun compiles a daily Neighborhood Specials menu with everything from specialty fish collar, to featured cocktails and sorbet. Daily specials range from bluefin tuna gunkan to fish collars and pork belly yakitori, giving diners a reason to return.
Neighborhood Sushi is only the beginning of MML Hospitality in Dallas. The chef-founded hospitality group is also bringing Clark’s Oyster Bar to the city this fall. If Neighborhood Sushi is any indication, Dallas diners won’t wait long to snag those reservations either.
Neighborhood Sushi, 4216 Oak Lawn Ave., Dallas, neighborhoodsushi.com
