Under direction of chef Chad Starling, Dallas Chop House has transformed itself into one of city’s best meateries

Dallas Chop House chefs A.J. Joglekar and Chad Starling with their 459-day dry-aged prime beef rib-eye

Dallas Chop House’s 459-day dry-aged prime beef rib-eye

Crazy good prime rib-eye at Dallas Chop House

Copper River salmon at Dallas Chop House

Crawfish maque choux at Dallas Chop House

Dallas Chop House roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon, Medjool dates, lemon

If the 459-day dry aged prime rib-eye at Dallas Chop House is all gone by the time you get there,  you’ll still find a lot to like at the downtown Dallas steak house.

Chad Starling, the chef at Chop House for just seven months, has transformed the steakhouse into a local heavyweight that I would now rank among the city’s best meateries. Starling doesn’t cut any corners, and he unpacks a suitcase full of talent in the kitchen of the once-staid downtown restaurant. His prime steaks, sourced from Chicago’s Meats by Linz, are even better than those from Allen Bros. He overnights big eye tuna from Honolulu Fish Company, flies in wild Copper River salmon from Alaska, and uses local produce for his seasonal menu of sides. (Roasted Brussels sprouts with bacon, caramelized onions, Medjool dates and lemon zest may be on their way out, which is a shame, but his crawfish maque choux — a tousle of corn, red bell and poblano peppers, and crawfish — more than ably substitutes.)

Meals begin with complementary hot popovers as big as your head, progress to apps like spicy chipotle-spiked crab cakes and tender sous-vide pork cheeks amped up with tangy pickled ramps and a schmear of saffron-carrot puree, then run through steaks and seafood.

Skip dessert. Ask for another popover instead. Dallas Chop House, 1717 Main St #100, Dallas, (214) 736-7300.