Wyl Lima grew up in Keene, Texas, which is not a place most people have heard of. It’s a small town built around Southwestern Adventist University, a school that draws students from over a hundred countries. Lima was born in Angola, moved to Texas at ten, and spent his formative years eating food that had nothing to do with what was on most Dallas menus — flavors from Africa, the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, South America, all of it cycling through a neighborhood that looked nothing like it from the outside.
He went to Chicago to learn technique. Michelin-starred Temporis, where he worked as chef de cuisine, gave him the structure. What he’d grown up eating gave him the instinct. When he came back to Dallas, first at Sister and then at The Charlotte, those two things finally got to work together in the same kitchen.
The restaurant is named after his mother. Charlotte was the woman in the neighborhood who fed everyone and made everyone feel at home without making a production of it. That’s the entire operating philosophy of the place, stated plainly. The room on 2822 North Henderson Avenue is bright and welcoming, mint tones and warm wood, upstairs and downstairs seating, and a protected patio that functions as one of the better outdoor spots on that stretch of Henderson. There are also life-size teddy bears seated around the dining room. People ask to sit next to them. Lima went out and bought more. The bears came from a London restaurant concept and have become the most photographed thing on Henderson Avenue, which says something about what this place understands about making people feel loose and happy.
Brunch runs Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Lima’s approach is the same one he brings to every meal here — Southern as a starting point, global as the destination. The breakfast Benedict is built on a toasted English muffin with poached egg and a brown butter hollandaise that is richer and more interesting than the standard version, available with crab cake, smoked salmon, or bacon. The cinnamon roll pancakes come topped with whipped mascarpone and a cinnamon finish that earns the name. The chilaquiles go with salsa verde, queso fresco, and a heat level that wakes you up. The croissant breakfast sandwich stacks beef breakfast sausage, crispy bacon, egg, American cheese, and Cajun remoulade on a properly buttery croissant. The French toast bites are the move if you want something simple done right.
The brunch drinks are as considered as the food. The espresso martini is made with freshly brewed espresso and has become a table standard. The Hugo Spritz — elderflower, prosecco, mint, lime — is the patio order. The Carajillo, espresso and Licor 43, is what you order when you need brunch to go longer than planned. A Kir Royale and a Ranch Water round out a list that covers every kind of Saturday morning.
The dinner menu the brunch grows out of is worth knowing too. The suya-spiced ribeye skewers pull directly from West African street food and have become something people mention by name when they talk about the place. The Cajun charbroiled oysters are the right starter. The crispy duck with harissa lands somewhere between Southern and North African and doesn’t need to resolve that tension. The crab cakes — crisply fried outside, precisely built inside, served with arugula, pea shoots, and radish — are among the better ones in Dallas.
Lima is now opening two more concepts in Bishop Arts: Ateliê, a café-bistro, and Origen, a seven-course tasting menu where each dish is built in response to a rotating art exhibition in the space. He co-founded both with his cousin Vivaldo Gouveia. Their mothers, both Angolan immigrants, are the reason either restaurant exists.
The Charlotte is open daily. Brunch Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Reservations at thecharlotterestaurant.com.
