Maybe we went on an off night, but I had high expectations for R+D and they were not met. Menu is eclectic - sushi, burgers, salads and only a handful of entrees ranging from $18-40. So we got a little of each. App and sushi were OK, not stellar. My wife ordered the meatloaf which was pretty tasty courtesy of the apricot glaze. I got the salmon which was a nice cut and cooked just right but had been rolled in tablespoon of salt. I could only eat half of it before my taste buds couldn't take anymore. Server seemed a bit clueless - had to keep asking for water, hostess actually brought entrees (and cleared the sushi plates...) and when I commented on the salmon she asked if I wanted to box it up and take it home (?!) They were very nice and took it off of the bill though which I appreciated. The best part was the dessert (sundae). I would have that again in a heartbeat - but then again I could make that at home easily. Not sure I will be back. With so many other good restaurants in greater Dallas and the local area, I'll try a lot more places before I head back to give R+D another shot. read more

The crowd was a mixture of business lunches and highland park moms. Great lunch spot! Not too loud, great service and not to mention the pork sandwich that you must eat with a fork. I don't recommend this sandwich if you are on a business lunch! Arrive before noon for a guaranteed spot for a small party. The deviled eggs put a pitch fork of flavor in my mouth! R+D is owned by Hillstone so expect to get high quality food! read more

I have always loved Houston's, so when I found out that they had a sister restaurant I already had a good idea about what I was going to find there and that I was going to love it. They didn't let me down - R+D has really great food to go along with a great atmosphere. It doesn't have that formal feel that most Houston's have and although their menu is on the small side, everything is unique and tasty. I almost always order the newporter salad and eat the entire thing. I love when I order something with items in it that I don't particularly like but the overall effect ends up greatly surprising me (in a good way). Thus is the case with this salad. I am not a big fan of cashews, walnuts or chopped eggs in my salads, but I can't imagine them not being in this dish. It creates the perfect balance of flavors and the nuts add a great texture and crunch. The roasted chicken is soo good and better than anything you would expect to come in a salad and adds to the overall deliciousness. I also tried the duo dip which was guacamole and chilled queso served with some crunch tortilla chips. Both were great but I preferred the guacamole- you could tell that it was really fresh and healthy. The service was really good (surprising since we sat outside and the patio tables usually are ignored) and we weren't left looking around for someone to wait on us for an extended period of time. Our server was also really nice and didn't judge us for cleaning our plates within a matter of minutes (you think I'm joking, but more than one server has commented on my eating ability-not always a pleasant thing to hear). Anyway, point of my story: it's amazing- go there. Do it. read more

R+D is ok. I like the atmosphere, clean, bustling, kind of reminds me of a house in Denver. Don't ask. The menu is limited and a bit shuffled. They have burgers and sandwiches but they also have some sushi options. We had to try the sushi and while they weren't bad, I don't think I'll be having it again. My fish entree was decent and the drinks were ok. If you look at the location, this restaurant isn't too pricey but I'm indifferent about the food. Maybe I'll try again another day. read more

I took my lady here for her birthday. The ambiance was very nice and the waitstaff was nice. I found the menu to be a bit limited, but the sushi (which was what we ordered) was very good. I ordered an old fashioned which was pretty good but I found the menu to be limited. It's also located in a nice location. read more

I met some friends from out of town here. Not a large menu. Food was pretty good. Drinks were even better. But, the restaurant really wasn't what I was expecting. Parking is a huge challenge. Loud. Dessert menu pretty lame read more

Outside of understating our wait for a table, the food was utterly disappointing. Their famous pastor pork sandwiches had awkward combinations of flavor and the use of mayo particularly felt out of place. I also tried their meat loaf, and sushi appetizers, which were hugely overpriced and again fell flat in taste. I loved the original idea for this restaurant was an actual research and development arm of Hillstone/Houston's, but it's fallen into being an overpiced Chili's....I fully accept I'm in the minority on this one. read more

Have not been here in a while, now I remember why. Our waiter was so pushy and tried to rush us throughout the meal. we felt like we couldn't enjoy our meal. Food was good, but waiter was pushy and forgetful. read more

You really can't go wrong here.... it has it all; awesome food, great service and a beautiful atmosphere. All of the food is delicious. We enjoyed several versions of the sushi, the pine room salad, cheeseburger, Dip Duo, deviled eggs and more... all yummy! And their Maitre D' Melanie Kelly is the best ! She is so professional, friendly, and helpful. read more

This is a date night favorite. The best thing on the menu is probably the sushi. The seared tuna and the spicy tuna "Osaka style" are both amazing as an appetizer or entree. The other dinner items we have tried are good, so are the other appetizers, but nothing amazing. The cheeseburger is a solid choice, the fries are also great (salty and crispy). The wines are limited, but they have several options in each price point. Solid dining option. read more

While we love this restaurant (and eat there almost weekly), they are making a serious faux pas as it relates to the "Quick Guide" on gratuity (tip) at the bottom of every bill. The restaurant calculates the tip amount with sales tax INCLUDED! While it may not be illegal, it is certainly unethical. The gratuity should be calculated on the food and drink portion only! I ask that R&D reconsider their gratuity guid policy. Why pay a tip on the TAX? Please make that change, It's the right thing to do. read more

Not sure what the fuss is. Food was so-so. Including the famous deviled eggs. Drinks were ok, but spendy. Service was excellent. Atmosphere and people-watching was probably the best thing about this place. Lotsa trying to be different like everybody else. It was like a high school for rich adults. Plenty of makeup, jewelry, fake tans.... Almost everyone who walked in, knew someone else sitting at the bar. Probably a really fun hang-out for regulars. read more

The blonde hostess was INCREDIBLY RUDE. We went in with 6 people to eat together, and she asked us TWICE if we wanted to split up, although the restaurant was EMPTY. Obviously we declined... TWICE. She then told us the booths only sat 5, when there weren't even 6-person tables. Incredibly rude and disrespectful to the guests. Would give 0 stars. read more

I love Sashimi/Sushi and he does not, so we decided to give R + D a shot we ordered a bottle of wine and the Chicken Meatballs. The meatballs were excellent we could have ordered more of those. He got a cheeseburger and french fries he seemed to really like them both (he ate it all so....) I got the Sashimi and Kale. Everything was pretty good. The restaurant itself is pretty nice in a non fancy kind of way with attentive service. There's a very interesting fish pond outside that I found so cool and calming. Overall very nice place. read more

I will give it 2 stars as the deviled eggs WERE good - but the service is the worst I have had in years (and that is saying a lot). I didn't mind the 30 minute wait to be seated as that is expected at 12:30pm on a weekday. What I DID mind was the 20 minute wait for someone to take our drinks order and then the next 20 to take our order. We then waited another 20-30 to get our food. When we left it was almost 3pm and the place had pretty much emptied out. We watched table after table get their drinks & food millennia before we did. We had to flag down a different waiter just for water. And sadly - the food was 'eh' for the price. Will not be visiting again and would not advise going here for lunch if you need to take a lunch under 3 hours. read more

R&D's is one of my go-to places for lunch. As long as you get there a little early the wait is minimal. The staff makes you feel special whether you come in once a month or several times a week. Melanie always greets you with a smile and a compliment. Great food, great service and always dependable. read more

Really dissatisfied with the food and drink tonight. Eaten there many, many times and had we not been in a hurry to go see the movie we'd have sent all 3 Newporter salads, the mushroom meatloaf and the Makers and coke back. The chicken in the salads was bouncy fatty leg meat, the meat loaf was undercooked, and the drink was weak. read more

Absolutely wonderful experience, both from the atmosphere, the service, and the cuisine. While it can be difficult to get a seat at a table, I recommend sitting at the bar--you can speak with the bartenders, and the seats are much more available. While it is a bit pricey, I have been there about five times for special occasions and dates, and it is always a great treat. The burger is one of the best I've had in Dallas. The sushi is excellent as well. What has worked well for us is just ordering drinks and then sharing appetizers,such as the tabbouleh, if we don't want a full meal, but still go someplace classy for a night out. Chase at the bar is excellent. The biggest downside is that they don't take Discovercard or Amex. read more

Went to R+D for lunch today. Overall, a solid dining experience. I will be back. Ambiance: Pretty slick and modern spot - swanky enough to take the better half for dinner for the next special occasion that I forgot or screw up. Nice koi pond, cool benches, great lights, etc. Food: Deviled egg app was average - something in it was too sweet for my taste. Had the carnitas sandwich as my entree and it was awesome. The menu says the sandwich has BBQ sauce on it, so I automatically thought it was going to be drenched in it. Me no likey too much sauce - I was going to ask the waiter to put it on the side - but I f'd up and forgot. I was going to punch myself in the face for the egregious error of forgetting, especially on a $14+ sandwich, but props to the chef for barely saucing the pork. I like to taste the flavor of the meat, not the sauce. For those that like their sauce, a side of it comes with your sandwich. So, it's a win win for all alike. Note that the BBQ sauce tasted more mexican than like true bbq sauce (it's carnitas, after all). No sides are included with the sandwiches, they're a la carte. Ordered fries - menu said they were hand cut, but I couldn't really tell. They were good, nothing special. Banana cream pie was really good - not too sweet, nice crust and great sauce. I don't really like sweets but I liked this. Service: Every person we encountered was friendly and quick. All the servers worked together to get you extra drinks or bus the tables. Our server was friendly but not obnoxious. He asked before he filled up and messed up your tea to sugar ratio. He even took my lemon after I squeezed it into my ice tea...before it even had time to hit the table. A little weird, but they're on their game. Price: I thought the price of the sandwiches/burgers at lunch was a little expensive, especially with no sides. I didn't try any of the sushi rolls, but prices looked about average for a sushi restaurant. Daily Entrees seemed about average for this type of restaurant. Overall, a little higher priced than your average lunch spot - but then again it's a much higher quality product and in a much better atmosphere. read more

Alright, R+D. You have managed to get another 5-star Yelp review out of this girl. Hubby and I took a "Date Day" on Friday. Of course, this meant having a totally epic lunch. I wanted to take the opportunity to try a place that I know we wouldn't otherwise try being that we don't work anywhere NEAR University Park. Good ol' Yelp...I logged in earlier in the week and had R+D as a recommendation. It was...like...WAITING for me. Not being one to mess with fate, we made our way over Friday in time to be the first patrons through the door at 11a. The decor is AWESOME. It's almost like anywhere you sit, you almost feel like you're on a covered patio. I love the split ceiling! We decided to sit at the bar while we waited for the masses to pour in. It took a few minutes for the bartender to make her way over. Hubby ordered a vodka/OJ while I had a round of water since I couldn't make up my mind. As other Yelpers have pointed out, these glasses are tiny! However, they were also chilled and filled constantly, so I didn't mind at all. I watched the bartender prepare my husband's drink. Hello, fresh-squeezed OJ! Anywhere that squeezes their own citrus gets automatic brownie points with me. I decided on a Bloody Mary; the bartender said it would be a couple of minutes because the kitchen was still preparing the cocktail sauce. Whaaa? Fresh cocktail sauce, too?? In a Bloody Mary?? Yelp, you serendipitous devil, you! The Bloody Mary was EXCELLENT. Fresh, tangy...I added a few good splashes of hot sauce with a few grinds of the pepper mill, and it was perfection in a glass. Oh, yeah. FOOD. Small menu, but definitely something to please every taste. We immediately ordered the deviled eggs based on the reviews. The plate came quickly with four glorious egg halves piled high with that wonderfully creamy yolk mixture. I love my mother-in-law and her deviled eggs, but this...I mean, WOW. For our meals, hubs got the Rainbow Roll and I went with the Mediterranean Tuna Salad. Hubs said the sushi was amazing - everything was well-seasoned and fresh. The crab filling was extremely generous, and he almost couldn't get to that last bit. He also ordered a local beer from the Lakewood Brewery with his entree; the bartender said the brewery does weekend tours, and Hubs is definitely a fan of the brew. My tuna salad was RIDICULOUS. The seared tuna was seasoned to perfection and cooked beautifully. The greens were fresh and crispy, and I discovered that golden beets are practically my kindred spirit. And the goat cheese...oh my gravy, the goat cheese...I have been on the hunt for a decent goat cheese since eating at Leilani's in Hawaii. FOUND IT! Delightfully tangy and creamy, the goat cheese on this salad was the icing on the cake. However, the cherry on top was the bonus deviled egg that came with the salad. Oh. Em. Gee. Just as we were finishing up and discussing if I still had the strength to walk over to Sprinkles after such a feast, one of the other bartenders replaced our napkins and gave us each a new fork. Hubs and I looked at each other with that, "Did YOU order something else?" look. A few seconds later, our bartender placed the most amazing banana cream pie in front of us with a smile and her compliments since it was our first visit to R+D. Fresh bananas lightly drizzled with caramel and toffee bark lined the outer portion of the plate; a wedge of pie sat in the middle under a generous dollop of house-made cream. The entire experience was decadent without being too sweet, a PERFECT ending. Though we were the first people in the door, the place filled up within an hour. I would be interested to go back during dinner service to observe the evening vibe. Regardless, it's pretty safe to say that I will definitely find a way to go back, day or night! read more

Took my mom for Mother's Day, there was a long wait. The hostess was very rude to both my sister and I. She told me the wait was 15 minutes longer than she had told my sister it was 15 minutes earlier and made a rude comment about my sister already asking about the wait. I have dark hair/skin and wonder if we were racially profiled or something, it felt that way. We left and won't be going back. read more

Atmosphere, service, food are all fantastic. Portions are modest but quality and flavors are huge. You can dress it up or down here bit the vibe is pretty chill. Like everyone else, I very much enjoyed the eggs and ahi tuna salad. read more

If you love l coconut, like myself, they have an absolutely amazing coconut shrimp roll. I was not sure what to expect but I am now a fan. My servers, Chris and Joseph were fantastic. I like sweeter wines and they recommended the McPherson Vermentino - perfect. Will be back! read more

Great place. I love the laid back but nice atmosphere as well as the fact that you can call ahead to get on the list. The food is great and love that you can get deviled eggs here. I actually prefer this place to Houston's but they are essentially the same place with a different menu. read more

This is by far my favorite place to eat/drink in dallas. The cheeseburger is perfect. You cant go wrong with anything on the menu and the cocktails are simple and fun. The banana cream pie is incredible, if you have any room left, which we never do. read more

This is what an upscale restaurant is supposed to be. Every single item on the refreshingly minimal menu is perfect (my go-to dish is the seared tuna roll, which, in my opinion, is the best roll in the city). The space is hypnotic, the vibe is great, the scenery is amazing, and the army of well-starched, highly professional wait staff rarely miss a beat. R+D is consistently great. read more

Service has really gone down. Twice they brought the wrong order to our table ( after we had eaten), waitress can't be found, they picked up our plates and we can't seam to get anyone to bring us our check. The Manager Francis retired and this place is going down hill FAST. Our twice a week visit to this restaurant is now down to zero times a week :-( read more

These folks try to do too much with their food. Perhaps my palate is just not sophisticated enough, or perhaps I care more about taste than what's "cool" and "foodie forward" at the moment. Either way, this place was not for me. read more

Food was amazing and staff was top notch. Always a great experience!!! Thank you for always providing the best service and keeping me coming back!! read more

We are regulars at R+D Kitchen. We like it. We like the ambience and the food. All the salads are great as is everything else we have tried. I do have a few complaints: 1. the menu needs to change occasionally and 2. needs to be longer. 3. The price points are a bit high for what you get. 4. We don't like having our order taken before our drink order is filled. It always feels like we are being rushed. read more

I went here for the first time at lunch. I loved the design and atmosphere of R+D. The guacamole and deviled eggs were really good. You can taste the freshness of the ingredients. We ordered the cheeseburger and it was okay, but not as good as the appetizers. The negative part of the experience came from our server. It seemed that as soon as we expressed that we were going to share an entree he wrote us off. He set down our appetizer plates very loudly and didn't apologize; he just smirked and he walked off. From this point forward, he acted like we were an inconvenience to him. All the other servers we interacted with that filled up water, etc. were great. Maybe this guy was having a bad day, but it did not make an ideal first impression of R+D. read more

Got sushi and pasta. Sushi was good, pasta portion was pretty big, but it was average...the price was around 30-35, which is not worth it. Atmosphere was nice and cozy tho. I also had lemon drop martini and it was delicious. I think drink is better than food actually. I would definitely come back here for drinks. read more

R+D Kitchen - New American Near Me - Dallas, Texas

Fantastic mix of sushi & American fare, wine & beer and great service. While I go to R+D Kitchen regularly (once every month or two...), this review was not spurred on by their food and drink... Rather, it was their above-and-beyond service last time out that has me submitting a review. For a bit of background, we live less than a mile from the restaurant, eat here as a family (two elementary school aged kids) and typically dine on the early-ish side (6pm or so.) We have always received excellent service from our waitstaff. And we love the Osaka style tuna starter! Last week started no different... but through the course of the meal we found ourselves being swarmed by a very loud party at the bar. This was obviously no fault of the restaurant and we did not complain, but it was apparent to the staff that this group was inconveniencing a few tables. After finishing our meal, we were ready to flee the scene -- but instead of our waiter returning with the bill and my card, the manager came over and explained that this was not up to their standard of service, apologized and adjusted the check to our surprise. It was refreshing to see a restaurant go out of its way to correct something that didn't *need* to be corrected and we will keep coming back for a long time... read more

I've been to R&D several times now, and it's time to give this place the rating it deserves. The service is absolutely stellar - I can't think of a better experience to be honest. The food is to die for, and the drinks are on point. There's usually a long wait...but its understandable because everything is so excellent. One of my favs. read more

I love this place, the atmosphere, super clean, friendly service! the deviled eggs are incredible yummy and the banana cream pie is from heaven! Great service too! I wish we had on in Austin!!! We can't wait to go back, best meal in Dallas ever! read more

Delicious banana cream pie, but it's very unfortunate that all the red wine is chilled. I really don't know where people get the idea that red wine should be chilled. In all my trips to Italy, France, and Napa Valley, I never had a cold red. Evidently however, some people like it. Fine. Just please offer the standard room temperature red as well, which R & D does not. Furthermore, my meatloaf was tepid, which made the cold wine even more unbearable. And on top of that, we were charged double for one drink and wouldn't have noticed it had I not reviewed the check. I definitely won't be back when I'm in the mood for a red with dinner, which is nearly every time so... read more

Worst service. Served my friend one drink and accused her of being over served....and still charged her for what she didn't drink. Very rude the moment we walked in. Very judgmental.. read more

This place was great: from the waiting staff to the ambiance to the food, it left me with a smile and satisfaction all day. My boyfriend had the french dip and I had the Steak Thai Salad - it was sooooo good. The best french dip my boyfriend has ever had, and my steak was perfectly seared; the whole salad was delicious. read more

We always sit at the bar! It's a perfect large oval shaped bar with natural light coming in...so many delicious options. Their sushi rolls are yum. Veggie burger is equally as yum.you won't be disappointed and it's great for lunch or dinner. It's always busy so be prepared to wait just a bit for seating. read more

This is a restaurant that is on my list to visit every time I come home to Dallas. The food is excellent and the service is above par. The only downfall is that now the secret is out there can be a long wait! They have two sushi rolls that are not on the menu that are outstanding. The Thai Tuna roll is a must whether it be for an appetizer or for you meal. The burgers are great and so are the steak and the fish! You can not go wrong by coming to this restaurant. read more