They came, they ate, they got the meat sweats… but all was worth it in the end for the more than 1,200 attendees of Dallas’ inaugural RARE Steak championship, held on Thursday, May 15 at Levy Plaza in Irving.
The one-of-a-kind food festival, sponsored by Buckhead Meat & Seafood and Grubbs Family of Dealerships, and benefiting Irving Cares, gave its attendees a chance to sample unlimited steak dishes from some of the most celebrated chefs in the city, all in one place.
For Dallasites, this was the city’s first taste of DiningOut’s popular food festivals, which also include Top Taco and Chicken Fight. Dallas is the second Texas city to host RARE, after Houston, which hosted back to back festivals in 2023 and 2024; and only the third U.S. city after Denver, where the festival originated.
With the serene environs of Lake Carolyn in Las Colinas as a backdrop, the stage was set for the evening. More than 25 restaurant vendors and wine, beer, and spirits sponsors lined the park, with a live music stage, a cigar lounge, and countless photo ops peppered throughout. Seven-piece band Extended Play kept the energy up for the entirety of the event, as guests roamed the grounds with a brilliant pink sunset illuminating the sky as a backdrop.
Despite RARE being new in Dallas, the participating restaurants were among the best and the brightest in the city, including hot spots like STK, Komodo, Uchiko, Loro, LRH Restaurant & Bar, and Soy Cowboy.
The competition consisted of two categories, “Best Traditional” and “Best Creative” in the steak division; and a separate title for “Best Cocktail”, among participating beverage professionals. The VIP section, coined Surf, served as its own dedicated seafood competition with restaurants Little Daisy, Kona Grill, Kessaku, and Monarch battling it out for best bite. Guests were given the opportunity to cast their votes for People’s Choice, while a panel made up of local hospitality professionals and VIPs were responsible for Judge’s Choice.
In the Traditional category, STK took home top honors for People’s Choice for their angus beef filet atop crispy potato gratin with onion and jalapeno jam; with Villa Brazil winning Judge’s Choice for their bacon-wrapped tenderloin. In the Creative category, it was a double whammy for Uchiko who won both People’s Choice and Judge’s Choice for their smoked NY strip with jeow som tomato relish.
In the VIP Surf category, Monarch won People’s Choice for their grilled red snapper with chili and tomato vinaigrette, while Little Daisy won Judge’s Choice for their seafood gumbo with blackened snapper, shrimp, and blue crab. And in the cocktail category, STK won People’s Choice for its Still G.I.N. cocktail, and Reigncane Vodka won Judge’s Choice.
If the success of the inaugural event was any indication, RARE will become a fixture among Dallas food festivals in the years to come. RARE’s introduction to the city coincides with the launch of DiningOut Dallas, a new digital food publication and extension of Dever’s DiningOut Magazine. DiningOut Magazine has served as the voice of Colorado’s independent restaurant community since 1998, and DiningOut Dallas will follow a similar formula. The platform joins DiningOut Houston, which launched in the fall of 2024, with both sites paying tribute to their respective city’s dynamic culinary community by way of guides, news, profiles, and long-form features.
For those who can’t get enough red meat, DiningOut Events is hosting RARE in Denver on Thursday, September 18 and in Houston on Thursday, October 23.
