A Taste of Addison: Pane Vino & Top Brass
Two restaurants, one night in Addison. One was packed and earned it. The other was empty and had no business being so.
Pane Vino Osteria
Pane Vino is the kind of neighborhood Italian spot that makes you wish every suburb had one. The room is warm and genuinely busy — brick walls, a long bar, open kitchen in the back — and the energy is right. Parking is easy. Prices are fair for what you’re getting. The hospitality is the real thing: attentive, friendly, the kind of front-of-house that makes the meal feel taken care of before the food even arrives.
Start with the shaved ribeye crostini. Three pieces on a wood board, the beef tender and rich, the bread soft enough that the whole bite holds together without fighting you. It’s the right opener — satisfying without being heavy.
The entrées both center on a theme that works: light protein, heavier risotto underneath, the contrast doing real work on the plate. The sole parmesan is a bold dish — a mild white fish that could easily get lost under a preparation like this, but doesn’t. The crust adds texture and the risotto anchors it with enough weight to make the whole plate feel complete. The U10 scallops follow the same logic: large, properly seared, arranged around a risotto that carries the richness while the scallops stay clean. Both dishes are better than they’d be at a restaurant twice the price.
Save room for the blueberry bread pudding. It arrives with a scoop of cream and a light dusting of spice — unassuming plating, genuinely delicious. A proper close.
Pane Vino verdict: Charming, consistent, fairly priced. The crostini and both risotto entrées are the reasons to go. One of the better Italian options in the Addison corridor.
Top Brass American Bistro
Top Brass lives inside Hotel Dax, and on a Friday night the dining room had zero other guests. Not a slow night — zero. The room itself is a real investment: the buildout is thoughtful, the decor is considered, the space feels like someone spent serious money getting it right. Which makes the empty tables land harder.
Self-parking is easy off the hotel lot — no friction getting in. The service is warm and attentive, probably because we had the full staff’s attention.
The frozen bellini is the standout order: cold, bright, properly fruit-forward, the kind of cocktail that works as well in a hotel bar as anywhere else. Order it. The Manhattan, unfortunately, doesn’t hold up — unbalanced, not properly built — skip it and stay on the bellini.
The deviled eggs are the kitchen’s best argument for a second visit. Topped with salsa macha, miso-garlic, and crispy chicken skin — they’re genuinely superb. Creative without being gimmicky, each component adding something real. The best deviled eggs we’ve had in recent memory.
Top Brass verdict: The room is beautiful and the deviled eggs are excellent. The empty dining room on a Friday night is a bad sign for a restaurant’s future — whether that’s a visibility problem or something else is hard to say from one visit. Worth knowing about if you’re nearby; worth hoping they figure it out.
