Restaurant Ava in Rockwall gets A++ from Dish on Dallas

by Katie & Emily Garrett of The Dish On Dallas

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Katie & Emily liked dessert the best.

ROCKWALL — We were very glad to end a recent run of less than stellar venues when we ate at Restaurant Ava in Rockwall. We cannot say enough good things about this little gem. We first read about it in our D Magazine Bible when they called Restaurant Ava's desserts one of the best things in the city. We can't back down from a tasting challenge like that.

Located in the old town square of Rockwall, the restaurant maintained its charm with exposed brick and wood floors. We sat at the chef’s table in the back where you can see the kitchen and cooks preparing all of the food -- very cool.

We started off by ordering a bottle of wine, a great idea because on Tuesdays, they are half off. Then, we ordered fried okra to start us off. It was beyond delish. This home-grown heirloom okra was sliced super thin, thinner than a pickle slice, and then breaded with an authentic cornmeal coating. The servings were generous, but we still enjoyed two rounds!

They also bring out mini cornbread muffins, which are to die for. Fresh baked, warm, and served with your own container of butter, you can't go wrong here.

Emily and I ordered the sweet corn tortelloni. They split it up on two plates for us -- love it when restaurants do that for you. The little pasta shells were stuffed full of a sweet corn mixture and served on a bed of vegetables. Topped with a light cream sauce and served up hot, this dish is worth going back for.

Jason enjoyed the Ava Burger (photo at top) and a Caesar salad and we all enjoyed his french fries. Mom got the lobster salad which looked fresh and delicious with fresh mango slices and almond slivers.

Everything that we had was absolutely wonderful, but the BEST part of the dinner was the dessert. We talked to the owner a bit about the restaurant and his recent debut in D Magazine and following that, he brought us a lovely sampling of his dessert menu.

We sampled pineapple sorbet, peach sorbet, and peanut butter ice cream. We had a pineapple upside down cake with cream cheese ice cream. We even had a chocolate tart with salted caramel ice cream. I couldn't pick a favorite among all of these treats -- each one was spectacular.

We will definitely return here and recommend this place to anyone. Why not venture out of Dallas every once in a while? It's less congested, more authentic, and the air is cleaner.

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