ALÓ

What a cute suprise next to the freeway, and chain restaurants, lies a place heavy on cute and unique. Not your three course Americana meal. Something different. Tasty food, think snack plates.

Hola Alo, adiós Alo…
Seriously, what does it take to get a menu and water in this place? My hot date (hello, of course!) and I waited 20 minutes at our table, without any acknowledgment from wait staff, before leaving. They weren’t that busy. Really? Who cares what the food is like if they won’t take your order? Booooo.

I tried Alo after a friend suggested this place. I should say I was impressed. Nice and trendy atmosphere. I was sitting at the bar and found the service great. The bar tender tried to answer all my questions and had great suggestions. I started with the Peruvian Cebiche and followed it with Aji De Gallina — Chicken with Basmati Rice and Potatoes. I would definitely recommend the latter. For drinks I was recommended Pisco Sour. I finished off with a Rum infused Chocolate Pecan Tart. So I had a 3 course meal and a drink for over $ 40. Not too pricey… WIll definitely go back here

Holy moly i love this place. Great drinks, especially Mojitos. There’s one Michelada that will burn the heck out of your mouth, i think it’s the Bloody one. Next time I’m going with the Classic.
I know it’s peruvian and fancy, but i would much rather have chips and salsa than those roasted corn bits. Pardon my ignorance. Just being honest (and a tad picky).
I love the bites concept. I like being with a few friends and having each person order a different one so we can try them all. I especially like the Lobster Volcanes, Flautas and the mixed Potato Causas.
My husband like to the the Parrilada, which is a huge plate of meat. I will say the Skirt Steak is especially delicious. Gringas are pretty tasty as well.

I like the concept of Alo but the service was lacking on our second visit.
Twice the waitress came back and said they were out of an item (and it took 5 – 10 mins each time to tell us). Drinks were pretty good but they need to get it together on the food and service side. They have a ways to catch their big sis La Duni.

Had the potato flautas… stircty passable fare! very small portions, even for a Tapas place.
However, the excellent ambience, the friendly servers and the desserts displayed on the big screens which looked extremely appetizing, would make me want to go again, if only for desserts :)

not sure why but this place just didn’t appeal to me as much as the first time around. maybe the dinner prices were a bit higher with the same size portions. it’s the kind of place one should really like, so I was trying to enjoy it. I finally went with some peeps who were okay ordering family style but the menu is a bit overwhelming to read or shall I say, «comprehend» so we just asked the waiter for his recommendations.
i started with a bloody michelada which is usually an indication to me of how good a place will be. this one was lousy. oh-​oh, my whole night is ruined!
the shrimp causes was pretty flavorless. it was basically a piece of shrimp on a teeny mound of mashed taters. and i had to take the shrimp tail off. it seems so simple yet it annoys the hell outta me! the duck flautus were greasy and flavorless as well. not duck greasy but fried greasy. i will say the chicken enchiladas with roasted tomatillo sauce were yummy. the ribeye and mushroom gringas were pretty good as well. all-​n-​all i wasn’t that impressed… especially for the price we had to pay. oh well.

I usually love this place. the atmosphere and décor is modern, bright, and pretty, food is good etc. But this particular visit, I was unimpressed.
Tricia O and I met up here for brunch and the place was almost completely empty. The menu is pretty small, but we figured we could try a couple of different things to share. except that «there are no panqueques. it will take 40 mins» Are you SERIOUS? C’mon.it’s brunch, ppl want the food that is on the menu and you just opened!
So no, panqueques. we just got an omelette and bananas & berries. Everything came out looking beautiful. The fruit was good (but you just rinse it off and dust powered sugar). The omelette was very very small. We split it and fortunately I went to a friends house after and had some snacks geez! Plus it was pretty runny. I was starving so I didn’t feel like complaining. The potatoes on the otherhand were cooked very nicely – crisp, tender, soft, and just enough salt.
I love you Alo, but you are just not made for mornings it seems. I’ll do desayuno elsewhere

Hold on to your hats kids, cuz I’m about to rave. I love this place so much, I want to cry. Kind of like when you meet «the one» and you «just know». Starving and lost, trying to find the Office Max, we happened upon a strip mall with a Mediterranean place, an Asian place and Alo. Too hungry to look further, we settled on Alo. The atmosphere is modern, trendy, and yet, strangely rainforesty. There was an abundance of fresh flowers throughout the place, which was a nice touch. I don’t know anything about the history, but you get the feeling like you’re in a family place. Also loved the jars of candy at the entrance.
Our server was very friendly and helpful. We asked for a bit of assistance with the menu since I was so hungry my eyes just glazed over when I looked at it. His suggestions were spot on and we loved them all. I started with the Sin Nombre Vermouth, which was tangy and not too sweet. Kind of like a caipirinha. Yum.
We ordered the yellowtail cebiche and the tuna Peruvian tiraditos to start. The cebiche was good, but the tiraditos were the real standout. The jalapeño sauce on top was phenomenal. For entrees, we tried the seafood latino rice and the arrachera asada. Again, the latino rice was good, but the asada was amazing. The sauces that came with it were delicious. Everything tasted so fresh and flavorful. We were also impressed with the presentation. Everything was presented perfectly.
We were too full to enjoy the desserts, but I would have loved to have tried them all. I especially loved that they offered ice cream bowls and bags of cookies and candies. Awesome.
The icing on the cake was the bill. For all that we ordered, the bill was only $ 62! A tear of joy.
So I’m in love. I’ll be pining away until we meet again…

I am surprised I haven’t written a review on this yet… this was by far my favorite new restaurant in Dallas last year. Their thing is a blend of Peruvian and Mexican «street» food and the experience is most like a tapas bar… small plates to share, though there are some main entrees. I have liked everything we have gotten, and have been all over the menu now on more than a dozen visits. The cebiches are nice, the causas (get the variety pack :) are fantastic, always love the sweet plantains, and they have good mixed drinks… go during happy hour if possible, because you will want more than 1 and it adds up fast. It is also a good place for a somewhat quick lunch… their salads are delicious, especially the pulled turkey and dried cherries salad — mmmm — a perfect lunch.
The service has been mostly good, but like all the Duni restaurants, service is not their forte, though it is tremendously better here than what I have had at La Duni’s.

My new thing is Peruvian Cuisine. I live in the Bay Area, so I have had many oppurtinuties to experience the great flavors of Peruvian style cooking. While visiting friends in Dallas this past weekend, we tried this place. Stated with both styles of Cebiche. one was tuna which was very good and the other was yellow tail. Both were very tasty. I had the Berros & Calamres salad which I highly recommend. I finished that and loved every bite. I had 2 of the Yawars, a cherry, wine reduction, lime, and pisco barsol. tasty, but strong. The waiter could have been a bit more attentive. Overall, this place is good. I will go back when visiting Dallas.

The look of the restaurant (for a casual place) …5 stars.
The drink (yawar)… 4 stars.
The ceviche (we ordered both)… 5 stars.
The entrée (avocado and chicken and cheese tacos)… 3.5 stars.
The side (sweet plaintains)… 3.5 stars. (would have been 4 if there had been a sauce)
The staff (our waiter)… 3 stars. maybe.

So I’m gonna be a little critical, the meal started at 4 stars with the
pork volcanes, a super high quality ceviche, and a darn good guacamole (as a californian I tend to put a lot of stock in good avocados). If this was all we’d ordered they’d have gotten 4 stars the service was attentive, the ambiance was great, and those dishes were spot on.
However, we had also ordered the following:
Smoked Salmon Potato Causas: good flavor, way too much potato for the salmon crème mixture which was light on the salmon to begin with, esp given that the potato didn’t absorb much of the sauce: 3 stars.
Duck confit flautas: decent flavor, but the duck was super dry, if they had called it duck carnitas flautas I might have been slightly more forgiving, but to have confit on your mind and then hit dry dry duck is a letdown esp at ~$ 3 each flauta: 2 stars
Salchipapas con salsa rosacrema: decent, but the fries were soggy and the rosacrema needed to be a lot spicier, you could barely get the poblano flavor out of it. 3 stars
Overall, I’d definitely go back, the bar looks great and a lot of the food is good, but it’ll take me some time to work through the menu and figure out what to get to make it a 4star experience

For Tapas, it’s alright… If you decided to try this place, expect fusion dishes instead of traditional Spanish tapas food here. The décor is nicely done and the flat screen tv on the wall makes you wanna skip your main course and go straight to the dessert. Although they looked yummy on TV, the dessert was nothing special either.
Overall, it is a nice place to dine and try and good for friends get together or a date. A little too small for party more than 4.

Alo, which is owned by the same patrons of La Duni, is a fantastic Mexican and Peruvian restaurant with a modern, zen atmosphere. The bar is posh with elegant seating and the dining area has a backdrop made of stones and shells. I’ve had brunch and dinner on separate occasions at Alo and both experiences did not dissapoint me. One of my favorite dishes is the chaufa chino latino rice that comes served in a banana leaf with plantains and the Arrachera prime skirt steak asada. Alo also has a great selection of desserts and coffee concoctions. This is an ideal place for a first date, business dinner, birthday celebration or just good olé’ quality time with friends and family.

I have this thing about decisions: I don’t like to make them, especially at a restaurant. There are few things as torturous as trying to decide between the half dozen mouth-​watering items on the menu as the waiter impatiently taps his pen against his notepad and your friends roll their eyes. You reluctantly decide on a dish, second guessing it the second it comes out of your mouth. You end up enjoying the dish you chose, but you never stop wondering what those other 5 or 6 other entrees might have tasted like.
This is one of the many reasons I love tapas, and Alo might just be my favorite tapas joint in Dallas. Dishes I would recommend include: shrimp volcano, sweet plantains, peruvian potato causas (the smoked salmon were to die for), crispy shrimp tacos, and the aji de gallina, which could be my favorite thing on the menu. I will have to go back to try the rest of the dessert offerings, but I will vouch for the pecan pie with vanilla ice cream.
Our service was fantastic — our waiter made a fantastic recommendation when asked and our water glasses were never more than half empty.
The spicy roasted corn nuts that started the meal were excellent and much spicier than I expected them to be.
I may have to head to Alo for brunch one of these days — those sweet potato biscuits with orange butter sound incredible.

We went to Alo for brunch today for our first time. I know that I’ve bashed La Duni before for the service, but we had extremely attentive service — likely because we were the only people in the joint. At 9:30 am on Sunday morning the place was a ghost town. Maybe everyone was still in bed. Or church. Or whatever Dallas folks do on Sunday mornings. Cause it’s not the food that’s keeping them away.
We started with complimentary sweet potato biscuits served with orange butter. Together they were sublime, buttery and sweet. The biscuit had a savory texture on its own without the butter, and was awesome either way. For breakfast I had Gorditas, flour tortilla pockets filled with scrambled eggs, cheese and green onions and served with potatoes (the same awesome ones at La Duni) and beans. My husband had their Iron Skillet Migas, which was the best we’ve had outside of Mexico. Really un-​Texas tasting, which isn’t a compliment or insult: it was just totally authentic.
Service was fine, nothing remarkable, but not nearly as bad as La Duni. We’ll come back for dinner. The décor and textures around the place were really pretty and interesting. A lot of love and work went into the place, you can tell. I hope the lack of patrons early on Sunday morning isn’t an indication of how it normally is there. If so, Alo will be saying goodbye pretty soon.

Ok so I’m the first to give it a 3 star rating. Getting to our reserved table was kind of a bia~ because of their table spacing. Most of the servers were zig zaging and taking turns and what not to just to get by. I felt bad for the obese hispanic lady that was bringing out the food.
For appetizers I got the plantains which were pretty awesome. Soft, sweet, and hot to the core. For my meal I had ordered the chicken enchiladas spicy and it was ok, but would have been better if the chicken strips they put in weren’t so dry and still had tendons attached to them. I tasted some of the grilled skirt steak (i forgot the name of this dish) it tasted if it were marinated with watered down A-​1 sauce. The meat was cooked perfect, but how they prepared it was kinda ehhh~. I also got the try to the yucca. It’s kinda like potato sticks doused in a vegetable sauce which was tasty.
Parking is a bia~ on the weekends.

The La Duni folks seem to have done it again. We ventured over to Alo for lunch yesterday and were greeted by a beautiful space with contemporary design and comfortable seating. The flower arrangements were beautiful enough to make you forget you were at a strip mall on I-​75. The menu is Mexican and Peruvian tapas with a bit of flare… it is much different that the Spanish tapas experience at Hola. After they dropped off a small bowl of homemade corn nuts at our table (so good!), we decided to share one tapa dish, one entrée dish and a couple of sides. It was plenty of food for two people.
First, we went with the chips and salsa. The chips came out warm with three choices for salsa — tomatillo (my fave), red tomato w/​cilantro, and tomatillo, red tomato and negro modela beer. All three were wonderful. We shared the mixed potato causas which is a mashed potato cake mixed with guacamole and topped with either smoked salmon, calamari (the best one), or shrimp. While these were recommended by our server, they were the low point of the meal. They were a bit bland and unexciting. The two big winners were the grilled mushrooms w/​garlic and asparagus and the beef tenderloin tacos. My dining companion’s head nearly exploded after biting into the tacos, they were so delicious… plus, they come with an array of wonderful toppings. I would love to go back for dinner with a bigger group to try more menu items. Service was good, keeping my obscene amount of Diet Cokes coming.

The brand new Alo, from Taco and Dunia Borga of La Duni fame, has opened as a new Latin concept with incredible panache. Taking advantage of the surge in «street food meets upscale contemporary» dining, Alo’s hip «sip.bite.share» mantra NEARLY communicates it all.
Décor features a dimly lit interior with a balmy equatorial-​chic vibe: dark stained contemporary wood panels are softened by the garden-​cool complement of healthy palms and other jungle loving greenery.
For a tapas-​style eatery, Alo is ambitious, creative and rife with generous fresh flavors common to Mexico and Peru, interestingly enough. Portions here make sharing part of the fun, although one could easily dine comfortably with an app, cocktail and dessert with tip for around $ 40 solo.
On the menu, there is a subtle tropical undercurrent to stylishly remixed standards like quesadillas, flautas, tostadas and sopes. But don’t pre-​judge their presence against the well-​worn, lackluster renditions available everywhere else in town! There is a deftness in flavor composition and execution that wholly manages to tittillate and surprise even the most jaded and Latin-​bored eater.
Clearly jonesing for early acclaim, Alo’s plates are presented with precision and speed by a smooth running kitchen complemented by affable (if ordinary/​somewhat green) waitstaff.
At the bar, service is framed by at least one master mixologist from La Duni’s original location, and features lushly balanced cocktails (poquito cari~noso! $$$). Many La Duni favorites resurface here with a twist: from flavored mojitos muddled with Caribbean essences to the new appearance of a headily fragrant lychee and orange martini.
On both visits, all items deserved high marks, save for one garish detail — surprising for the consistent 5-​star performance of Duni’s bakehouse: paltry dry, freezer-​burned banana cake beneath luscious chocolate frosting. This one needs a do-​over, Duni.
Looking forward to a third visit despite this stinging disappointment; I’m personally eager to taste the intriguing new concoctions listed on the menu but apparently not available (yet); I presume due to the need for extended staff training post-​opening.