Crown Block — Restaurant in Dallas

When Crown Block was recognized in the Michelin Guide in November of 2024, I decided it would be the perfect place to take my wife for a fine dining experience on her birthday. Two steaks, sides, and a sushi starter for two people ended up being just under $300 with gratuity - that’s without drinks, dessert, or appetizers. There are a few things I’d like to say about the quality, the experience, and why I think Crown Block won’t get a Michelin Star without some changes. If you want to read a detailed account from someone who didn’t remember to wear a tie, read on.

We booked a 5pm reservation and arrived early. We relaxed in the lobby with some sparkling tequila water. They had copies of the menu to view while we waited. We were called over in short order - by a Podium Elevator Ambassador (no joke).

Our table had a lovely sunset view, and our waiter greeted us right away. He was engaging, and started asking about food preferences and explaining the menu and drink options in detail. I enjoy this level of attention from a waiter, but my wife found it uncomfortable. He picked up on her body language after a couple of minutes and gave her some space to read the menu.

We started with two sushi rolls: salmon and yellowtail. For our main courses my wife had the split-bone cowgirl ribeye, and I had the Kansas City striploin. Ethan suggested a flight of sides, which gives you a choice of three sides in “portions designed to share." We tried mushrooms, carrots, and triple cooked fries.

The dinner roll arrived. Singular. It was tasty, but I couldn’t help wondering why they wouldn’t provide two rolls with two people at the table.

After our piece of bread, our sushi came and it was fantastic. Crown and Block is known for steak, but their sushi is very good as well.

A short time after sushi, steaks and sides arrived. Both of our steaks were great, and cooked just as we had requested. The mushrooms were good, the carrots were okay, and the fries were really good. As our waiter had said, the portions on the sides were definitely enough to share - we had leftovers.

We skipped dessert, and wanted to order drinks and relax, but our waiter directed us to the bar instead. It felt a little rushed at the end, but I understood that he wanted to open up the table for the next guest.

When the check arrived, an 18% gratuity had been added. I’m not sure why, but this bothered me. For a party of two with a dinner over $200, it really seemed odd that they felt the need to add a tip. The tip suggestions were for 18, 20, and 22% - in addition to the 18% that had already been added. If you weren’t paying attention you might be tipping 40% of your bill!

For my wife’s part, she loved it. She thought it was an awesome birthday meal, she loved the view, and a great time. Since we didn’t order cake or anything, Ethan brought a little plate out with two cookies and two balls that had a squishy chocolate filling - maybe cake-pops - with “happy birthday” written on the plate in syrup. It made my wife happy, and made for some nice pictures before we headed to the bar.

In my opinion Crown and Block could easily achieve perfection with a few changes. Generosity on the little things, like a piece of bread for each person. Remove automatic gratuity - it seems so petty for an establishment of this caliber. And most of all, be bold and daring with some of the menu choices. But that’s just my opinion. Given the location and the target audience, perhaps a conservative, traditional menu is what they’re going for.

Clean unisex restrooms with changing tables, no military discounts!

Overall, Crown and Block is worthy of the Michelin Guide’s recognition. It’s an experience, and if you’re okay with the price, I’d definitely recommend giving it a try for a very special occasion like an anniversary or a proposal. Book your reservation in advance, especially for...

You pay an up charge for the view. This was our first time dining there last Friday, so admittedly, we had high expectations. We were going for a very special occasion and were celebrating which was made known to the restaurant. We were given a ranch water tasting for the ride up the elevator, which was pretty cool because we could see the reflection of the hall in the building next to us going up. We were met with another hostess at the top and seated at a table near the window- yay! Unfortunately, our view was of the jail and bail bonds as opposed to the city, but still cool to eat up that high - level with the helicopter tours.

As this is a fine dining experience, we expected to have a bit more time to make our selections, however, while browsing the drink menu we were asked 3 times if we were ready. We finally selected a moderately priced bottle of wine, as the whiskey and wine were marked up, in most cases, 200-300% in comparison to other restaurants! Then we were advised that they take the full order at once and handle the rest so we could relax. It seemed more as though so we could be rushed through the meal.

The bread service was delicious with a bit of melted cheese on top and served with whipped butter and pimento cheese. I would’ve loved to have more but enjoyed the bite sized portion. We ordered the lobster bisque and bursts to share. The bisque was split for us, which was nice. The bisque was a bit thin for my taste and was served with the fresh meat setting on top. For me the soup was a bit thin for a bisque but the flavor was good. There was a decent amount of lobster for the price point. The buratta was also delicious, however the pear buratta on the online menu had been replaced with a fig buratta - again delicious - but I was really looking forward to the pear one.

We both ordered the Akaushi Wagyu Striploin for our entree with an add on lobster tail which was served with a single fingerling type potato. The lobster tail was hard to eat as it wasn’t easily removed from the shell and they were very small for the price. The striploins were cooked correctly and good. We also had the trio of sides with mushrooms, onion rings, and creamed corn. The bread in on the onion rings was very thick and we couldn’t tell the batter was made of pretzels, but the jalapeño creamed corn was delicious.

After we ate, we were given a single dessert menu - we chose the creme brûlée donut holes which sounded delicious. They were served underneath a full State Fair sized serving of cotton candy. As in you couldn’t even see the donut holes. The dessert was a bit disappointing. Ultimately, we were given just over an hour to enjoy a $500 meal, which was a bit frustrating, and not the fine dining experience timing we’d hoped for.

The ambiance. The vireo was nice ( despite it being the jail) it was cool just to be up that high. But the range of guests and attire was also surprising. The dress code was posted at the first hostess stand but there was a range of dress not always in complaisance with the posted list. There were also a surprising number of kids. When we walked around after our meal, we were grateful we arrived when we did as many tables were too close together and did not give a romantic vibe at all.

Overall, we would go back for a celebration particularly for the novelty of the experience with other guests who had never experienced it. However, we would better know what to expect and would make our food selections more carefully. The food was good but it wasn’t great and for $500, we were really hoping...

I was very excited about our dinner at Crown Block as I had not dined at Reunion Tower for years. This was to be a very special occasion for my family and especially for my daughters. I checked the menu beforehand so I knew to expect a very pricey meal, but I also expected the food to be exceptional in taste and presentation.

The first “let down” was that I didn’t know beforehand that the restaurant no longer revolved. That is what, in the past, and above all other things, made dining here a real experience to remember! We asked our waiter why the new owners decided to discontinue this feature and was told that they wanted diners’ initial view to be of downtown. Whether this is in fact the reason or not, the host/hostess stand does face downtown, ensuring that initial view for everyone whether the restaurant revolved or not. But, once you are seated at your table, only a select few tables will have that “special” view while dining. In the past, everyone had a chance to view 360 degrees around the tower during their meal. But, the restaurant no longer revolves, so enough about that.

The food, again quite pricey; with ratings of three to four dollar signs depending on where you searched online, was actually hit or miss. We ordered a few non-alcoholic cocktails, a variety of appetizers to share, meals and sides for the five of us and shared a couple of desserts and our bill was just under a thousand dollars (no wine, no alcohol, shared apps and desserts). BTW, an 18% gratuity is added automatically and bump that up to 20% for groups of 6 or more. But, if you make reservations, they will comp your valet parking - but let you know that the valets work for tips.

Back to the food: The non-alcoholic drinks were very good, but everyone agreed the French Kiss was the best (like a really good lemonade!) The Iced Seafood Tower for three was ample, but should have included a whole lobster tail instead of half, and the oysters were the smallest, most bland I’ve ever had. The Ossetra caviar was questionable only because I’m used to caviar having a “popping” sensation, while this was slimy and bland. The lobster bisque was the worst I’ve ever had (and I’ve had canned!) The waiter did me a solid by letting me know the redfish dish was on the small side and “kind of dry” then telling me the branzino was “1000 percent” better. It was great! The lamb was also great! The salmon was really good. The petit filet was reportedly so-so and had an odd smoky flavor from the bacon wrap. My Maine lobster tail “enhancement” was overcooked and dry. The mashed potato side was a hit, while the Brussel Sprouts were not. And so on…

For dessert we shared the crème brûlée donut holes (5 pieces buried under a humorous mountain of cotton candy!) and a piece of Society Party Cake, which was a hit but everyone agreed, peppercorns do NOT belong here!

Our longest wait was for our coffee after dinner (maybe 10 minutes?) but overall service was great!

When I first sat down, I commented that I wanted to return and try the $80/person brunch, but after this meal I have to say I will not be back any time soon. Maybe someone can figure out how to make the restaurant revolve again. Then at least...