Categories: Food & Wine

Three Best Bars in Dallas, Texas

Dallas is home to a dizzying array of bars, watering holes, taverns, clubs, and other nightspots. The choice can be bewildering . And anyone who’s ever chosen the “wrong” bar for an evening’s entertainment knows what a disaster bad music, overpriced or poorly mixed drinks, and a host of other barroom evils can be. It’s enough to make you decide to curl up with Letterman and your cat on a Friday night rather than venture out. But if you do want to head out for a drink and some socializing in Big D this weekend, try one of these three — or perhaps all three! — local spots.

Trinity Hall, located in Dallas’s Mockingbird Station, serves up the city’s Best Pint of Guinness in a traditional-feeling pub atmosphere. Offering an array of beers and ales, whiskeys, mixed drinks, and nonalcoholic libations, Trinity Hall is an excellent place to have a quiet after-work pint or grab a snack and a drink on the way to film at the neighboring Angelika Film Center. Their menu serves up everything from pub snacks — the loaded potato skins are outstanding with a pint of Woodchuck Pear Cider — to heartier entrees like shepherd’s pie. Choose to sit at the bar and chat, or find a quiet corner to enjoy your drink and your date.

Soccer (or should that be “football”?) fans flock to Trinity Hall to watch games from Europe and the United States. Things can get pretty rowdy during championship matches or World Cup play, so be prepared to adjourn to the outside patio with your Black and Tan to escape the chaos. A complete listing of upcoming games can be found on the pub’s website.

Lovers of Irish and Celtic music will find something to sing (and dance) about at Trinity Hall as well. Live music ranging from traditional Irish music to singalongs and ballads. The Trinity Hall Session players entertain the crowd with jigs and reels each Sunday, and on the first Sunday of the month, Ceili dancers add to the fun. The first Saturday of every month is an open session, where local musicians can come to jam and share. For a complete lineup of musical acts and events, check the Music page at the Trinity Hall website.

Trinity Hall is located at 5321 E. Mockingbird Lane in Dallas. It is conveniently located off the DART light rail line. They have also recently opened an Allen location, at 305 Central Expressway N.

If you’re feeling less like a jig and a pint of Harp and more like some rock and roll and a Jack and Coke, check out The Cavern at 1914 Lower Greenville. A homage to Liverpool’s club of the same name, The Cavern is dark, divey, and delicious. The downstairs bar area offers live music, pool tables, and a friendly and efficient bar staff. Table seating is limited, so come early on band nights if you want to sit. The upstairs lounge offers cushy couches and a laid-back atmosphere in which to enjoy a drink, chat up that cutie at the next sofa, or sing karaoke.

The Cavern’s bar specials are hard to beat, and the drinks are well mixed. Whether it’s a cold one from their beer menu or a mixed cocktail, you’ll be getting excellent service and excellent value. They’ll also hold partial bottles of wine for you if you choose to pop next door to Daddy Jack’s Supper Club for a bite to eat before the band.

The Cavern offers live music, DJs, or karaoke every night of the week, often with no cover. Performers range from local acts to national artists such as Dawes, and from the Sinatra sounds of Dallas favorite Ricki Derek to experimental artist Bitch. Every Monday is Cool Out Monday in the upstairs lounge, with free cover and $2 wells and drafts. Wednesdays are WTF!? Wednesdays, with no cover and $2 wells and domestics.

If techno and electronica is more your thing, head down to the Cedar Springs neighborhood and visit The Lounge upstairs in Station 4 . The Lounge is a quiet spot to take a break from the thumping music and gyrating dancers downstairs. Pull up a stool and have one of the bartenders make you something fruity and adventurous! Whether it’s a Lindsay Lohan (a Red-headed Slut with a shot of Coke), a Starburst shot (Red Bull with cherry liquor, served in a tall glass), or one of Bartender Ben’s many exotic concoctions, you’re sure to leave The Lounge just a little happier than you came in!

The Lounge also offers a full array of mixed drinks — their vodka selection is truly impressive — and beers. If you don’t know what to try, ask the staff to mix you up something original. A recent cold Dallas night found them serving hot apple cider with Buttershots to shivering Dallasites.

Hang out on The Lounge’s comfy couches (ideal for talking or making out), shoot a few games of pool, or step across the hall to The Rose Room for some of Dallas’s best drag. No matter where you end up sipping your drink, be sure to catch the staff’s nightly floor show on the main dance floor at midnight!