Matt Balke grew up in Uvalde, a small ranching town near San Antonio where the Spanish name for the place was once Encina — holm oak. He left for Texas Tech, then changed course and enrolled at the Culinary Institute of America, graduating salutatorian in 2007. None of that is what shaped him most. That came later, working under James Beard Award winner Sharon Hage at York Street in Dallas — the woman Balke credits as his real culinary education. After York Street, his path ran through Bolsa, The Rustic, SMOKE, and back to Bolsa as executive chef until its closure in early 2020.
His partner Corey McCombs, whose front-of-house résumé runs through Stephan Pyles, FT33, Flora Street, and SMOKE, had been beside him for years. When Bolsa shut down, they took the space and built what they’d always intended.
They named it Encina. It opened in October 2020 at 614 W. Davis Street in Oak Cliff and has been one of the most reliably good restaurants in Dallas ever since.
The room is the old Bolsa footprint — wood, leather, white tablecloths that don’t announce themselves, a double-sided bar that bisects the space and does serious business on weeknights. The patio holds up when the weather does. Nothing strains for effect, and that restraint carries straight through to the plate. Balke cooks from a single ingredient outward, working directly with farmers who bring him product on a regular basis. The menu moves with that. There’s a reason this became, almost immediately, the kind of restaurant where chefs eat on their nights off.
Dinner starts with appetizers worth slowing down for. The wagyu beef cheek pastrami — Granbury Gold pimento cheese, sweet tea gastrique — is one of the better bites in Oak Cliff. The smoked brisket croquettes with green chile, cheddar, romesco, and pickled apples disappear fast. Devils on Horseback — dates, bacon, blue cheese, apple butter — are a reminder that simplicity done right beats complexity every time. The baked brie with fig jam, almonds, and focaccia makes the table slow down before entrees arrive. The mezze platter with hummus, labneh, fried olives, za’atar cucumbers, and fried bread is the right call for a group that wants to graze.
Among entrees, the Berkshire pork chop — poblano cheddar grits, bacon and tomato braised collards — is a serious plate that makes its case without commentary. The lamb stroganoff, built on spaetzle, mushrooms, peas, smoked gouda, and tarragon gremolata, is the most interesting thing on the menu and one of the more underrated dishes in Dallas right now. The Sonoma duck leg confit — roasted beets, orange, fennel, feta — has been a fixture long enough to qualify as essential. Blackened red fish over chile-braised black-eyed peas and crumbled cornbread is as Texas as this menu gets. The goat guisada tacos with fermented fresno chile slaw and Oak Cliff tortillas hold their own against anything else on the list.
Wednesday nights run the cheeseburger and martini special that has become one of the better midweek rituals in the city. The Twig flatbread — marinara, mozzarella, roasted grapes, goat cheese, arugula, balsamic — is the highlight of Thursday’s flatbread and half-priced wine night. Happy hour runs Wednesday through Saturday, 5 to 7 p.m. at the bar.
McCombs runs the cocktail program with the same ingredient-first approach Balke brings to the kitchen. The Destroy My Sweater — bourbon, creole shrub, apple, lemon, ginger, spices — is the most confident thing on the list. The Ghost Face, Aberfeldy 12-year single malt with Gran Classico and seasonal jam, is for people who know what they want. The 50/50 Vesper — Grey Goose, Waterloo Gin, Lillet Blanc — deserves more attention than it gets. The Flower Patch, strawberry and rosemary-infused vodka with Grand Poppy amaro and bubbles, is the lighter option worth having. The wine list punches above the room’s weight — the Ametztoi Txakoli from Spain’s Getariako Txakolina is a sharp by-the-glass pick, and the Alta Mora Nerello Mascalese from Etna is one of the smarter bottle buys on the list.
Brunch is Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The blue corn butterscotch pancakes — salted butter, cajeta, bacon — built the restaurant’s weekend reputation, and that reputation is deserved. They became so popular that Balke eventually started selling the mix at the restaurant, and last summer the Blue Corn Butterscotch Pancake Mix won third place in H-E-B’s Quest for Texas Best competition, earning $10,000 and a spot on shelves at 60 H-E-B locations statewide. It sold out in 56 of them.
The Montreal Long Haul — Sonoma duck leg confit, hash browns, a blue corn butterscotch pancake, scrambled eggs — is the full-commitment version of the same idea. The spiced honey glazed pork belly with cheddar grits and sunny eggs anchors the savory side. At the bar, the Clarified Bloody Mary Martini — horseradish-infused vodka, verjus, fire water tincture — is the most serious brunch drink on the menu, and the Cactus Jack, tequila with Aperol, sweet peppers, dill, lime, and tajin, is better than most places manage.
Dinner runs Wednesday and Thursday 5 to 9 p.m., Friday and Saturday until 9:30 p.m. Closed Monday and Tuesday. Reservations recommended on weekends. encinadallas.com. (945) 306-3067.
