Monarch Restaurant

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

Where the Wood Fire Meets the Dallas Skyline

Monarch occupies the 49th floor of The National on Elm Street, and the setting alone sets a tone: floor-to-ceiling windows frame the architecturally significant Downtown Dallas skyline from nearly 500 feet up. But the view is only half the story. The restaurant was imagined by Two-Michelin Star Chef Danny Grant as what the team calls "the ultimate expression of luxury dining in Dallas" — a wood-fired, modern Italian restaurant built around handmade pastas, prime steaks, and fresh seafood, with a philosophy that is, in their own words, "light, fresh and technique driven."

The Heart of It: The Wood-Fired Hearth

The open hearth is the soul of Monarch's kitchen. From it come tiger prawns charred to perfection, wood-fired meatballs, and charred Spanish octopus — starters that, as the restaurant puts it, "could steal the show." Housemade pastas and wood-fired steaks and chops round out the main menu, but the crown jewel for the table is the large-format section: a whole live Alaskan King Crab and a 50 oz porterhouse charred in coals with lemon, arugula, olive oil, and sea salt. These are dishes that reward a group willing to commit.

The modern Italian identity extends into the wood-fired pizza program, featured during Golden Hour — the early-evening aperitivo window in the bar and lounge, running Sunday through Friday from 5:00 to 6:30 pm. Margherita with mozzarella di bufala, a wagyu Italian sausage Fire Pie, and a Squash Blossom with prosciutto and béchamel give a sense of the range and care applied even to the more casual side of the menu.

A Wine Program Worth the Recognition

The wine list earned Monarch a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence, and the depth of that cellar is evident throughout the menu. By-the-glass options span Italian Sangiovese from Chianti Classico and Brunello di Montalcino to Burgundy, Napa Cabernet, and a well-chosen selection of Champagnes. The dessert wine list alone — including Château d'Yquem and Quintarelli's Amabile del Cere — signals that the kitchen and the cellar are working in concert.

Atmosphere and Occasion

Monarch is designed for celebration, and the experience reflects that deliberately. The dress code is firmly cocktail or business casual — no athletic wear, no baseball caps — and the team enforces it to preserve what they describe as an "elevated environment." Window booths, which put guests closest to the skyline, can be reserved with a per-person food and beverage deposit applied to the final bill. For larger gatherings, private and group dining options are available for parties of ten or more.

The lounge and bar open daily at 5:00 pm, and the cocktail program — from a tableside Tiramisu to a Freezer Door Martini finished with king caviar blue cheese olive — matches the ambition of the kitchen. This is modern Italian dining taken seriously, fifty floors above Dallas.