The Best Places to Eat in Dallas, by the Record
-
Rank 197. Barbara's Pavillion
Dive Bar
Oak Cliff locals have been calling it "Barb's" for decades, which tells you everything about what kind of place this is. A low-key dive bar with a retro-cool vibe, it runs karaoke on Thursdays and Sundays and burlesque on the third Wednesday of every month, so there's always a reason the room is full. Between sets, the jukebox swings from disco to hip-hop without apology. Your bartender probably drinks here on their nights off.
- D Magazine 2025 · Best Hole-in-the-Wall Gay Bar · Best of Big D
- Dallas Observer The Ultimate Dallas Bar Guide
-
-
-
-
-
-
Rank 197. Coupes
Champagne Wine Bar
A U-shaped bar, gold touches, and pink drapery tucked inside a Highland Park strip mall, which is either charming or deeply on-brand depending on your feelings about Highland Park. Coupes is a Champagne and wine bar with a serious poured-glass selection covering French bottles, Crémant, Blanc de Noirs, and Texas pours alongside cocktails for anyone not yet ready to commit to bubbles entirely.
-
-
Rank 197. Dallasite Billiards
Dive Bar
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Rank 197. Lee Harvey's
Dive Bar
Wood-paneled walls and old neon beer signs set the tone at Lee Harvey's, a classic Dallas dive bar that's been knocking the edge off long weeks for as long as anyone can remember. The patio is roomy enough to bring the dog, and the onion rings with chipotle aioli are the kind of thing you eat standing up and then immediately order again. Cold beer, no pretense, no dress code.
-
-
-
Rank 197. Mike’s Gemini Twin
Dive Bar
The stripper pole is decorative, full stop. That's the first thing to know about this Cedars bar, the second being that management wears suits while you eat a roller-grill hot dog next to a cigarette machine. It's dark and a little flirty, with pool and darts keeping things grounded. The dirty martini, made with fresh-pressed olive juice and an anchovy-stuffed olive, does a lot of heavy lifting for a place that also sells boxed candy.
- Dallas Observer 2025 · Best Bar With a Stripper Pole · Best of Dallas
- Dallas Observer The Ultimate Dallas Bar Guide
- Dallas Observer 2024 · Best Hot Dog · Best of Dallas
-
Pool tables in the back, a fireplace den up front, and a patio pulling double duty as meeting spot for both SMU students and regulars who've been coming since the place was one of Dallas' oldest bars. Under new ownership with a fresh look, Milo Butterfingers is a sports bar and neighborhood hangout that hasn't lost its original ease. Homestyle daily specials run cheap, and the booths are big enough that nobody has to go home.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Perched above the old Lakewood Theater, this dimly lit jazz bar has the kind of second-floor intimacy that makes the rest of Dallas feel very far away. The dance floor leaves just enough room for cheek-to-cheek, which is either charming or a fire hazard depending on your mood. Bring someone you want to know better, because the room will do the rest of the work. D Magazine named it the city's top jazz bar in 2025.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Rank 238. The Old Monk
Beer Bar
Pendant lights salvaged from a European monastery hang over the bar, which tells you everything about how seriously this place takes atmosphere. An old-school beer bar and pub on Henderson Avenue, The Old Monk pours drafts from around the world alongside a rotating cast of locals, with fish and chips that regulars treat as a birthright. Weekday happy hour runs until seven and has a reputation for extending the evening considerably past anyone's original plan.
- D Magazine 2024 · Best Bar for Beer · Best of Big D
- Dallas Observer The Ultimate Dallas Bar Guide
- Dallas Observer 2025 · Best Fish and Chips · Best of Dallas
-
Rank 239. Bar Colette
Cocktail Bar
Some of the cocktails here took days to develop, which you can either find charming or slightly alarming depending on your relationship with drinks. Bar Colette is a reservation-only cocktail bar in Uptown Dallas where reinterpreted classics share the menu with exotic spirits, global wines, and sashimi. A James Beard nominee for Best New Bar, it draws the kind of crowd that dresses like they Googled the place first, which, honestly, they probably did.
- James Beard Awards 2025 · Nominee · Best New Bar
- Dallas Observer 2024 · Best Cocktail Bar · Best of Dallas
- Dallas Observer The Ultimate Dallas Bar Guide
-
- Dallas Observer 2025 · Best Italian Market · Best of Dallas
- D Magazine 2025 · Best Downtown Market · Best of Big D
-
- D Magazine 2025 · Best Smashburger · Best of Big D
- Dallas Observer 2025 · Best Grilled Cheese · Best of Dallas
-
Rank 240. Katy Trail Ice House
Texas Beer Bar
A sprawling patio bar right off the Katy Trail, the kind of place cyclists arrive at with good intentions and leave an hour later than planned. Nearly thirty Texas beers on draft and a solid lineup of Texas whiskeys keep things local, while the kitchen handles dark-beer venison chili for anyone who needs ballast. The patio is large and loud in the best communal way. Exactly what Dallas was missing before it existed.
- Dallas Observer The Ultimate Dallas Bar Guide
- Dallas Observer 2025 · Best Spot on the Katy Trail · Best of Dallas
- D Magazine 2025 · Best Bar Patio · Best of Big D
-
- D Magazine 2025 · Best Donuts · Best of Big D
- Dallas Observer 2025 · Best Doughnuts · Best of Dallas
-
-
- Dallas Observer 2025 · Best Liquor Store · Best of Dallas
- Dallas Observer 2023 · Best Liquor Store · Best of Dallas
- D Magazine 2025 · Best Place to Buy Booze · Best of Big D
-
- D Magazine 2025 · Best Inedible Menu Item: The Teddy Bears · Best of Big D
- Dallas Observer 2025 · Best Espresso Martini · Best of Dallas
-
- Dallas Observer 2023 · Best Café · Best of Dallas
- D Magazine 2024 · Best Coffeehouse · Best of Big D
-
- Dallas Observer 2024 · Best Local Brewery · Best of Dallas
- D Magazine 2023 · Best Brewery · Best of Big D
-
- D Magazine 2024 · Best Neighborhood Market · Best of Big D
- Dallas Observer 2025 · Best Italian Market · Best of Dallas
-
- D Magazine The Best New Restaurants in Dallas
- Dallas Observer 2024 · Best Indonesian · Best of Dallas
-
- D Magazine The Best New Restaurants in Dallas
- Phoenix New Times 2024 · Best Chopped Cheese · Best of Phoenix
-
- D Magazine 2024 · Best Spicy Cocktails · Best of Big D
- Dallas Observer 2024 · Best Indian · Best of Dallas
-
A sign above the bathroom explicitly bans cocaine, which tells you most of what you need to know about The Grapevine's charms. This sprawling neighborhood bar and kitchen moved from its beloved pink adobe on Maple Avenue a couple years back, and the regulars followed, along with most of the staff. Strong drinks, plenty of outdoor space, boudin balls from the new kitchen, basketball on screens, and karaoke when the mood strikes.
- D Magazine 2024 · BEst Bar Resurrection · Best of Big D
- Dallas Observer The Ultimate Dallas Bar Guide
- Dallas Observer 2024 · Best Come Back · Best of Dallas
-
- Dallas Observer 2024 · Best Chinese · Best of Dallas
- D Magazine 2025 · Best Dumplings · Best of Big D
- D Magazine 2024 · Best Dumplings · Best of Big D
-
- Dallas Observer 2024 · Best Chinese · Best of Dallas
- D Magazine 2025 · Best Dumplings · Best of Big D
- D Magazine 2024 · Best Dumplings · Best of Big D
-
- Dallas Observer 2024 · Best Diner · Best of Dallas
- Dallas Observer 2025 · Best Chicken-Fried Steak · Best of Dallas
-
- Dallas Observer 2023 · Best Chocolate · Best of Dallas
- D Magazine 2024 · Best Chocolatier · Best of Big D
- D Magazine 2023 · Best Chocolatier · Best of Big D
-
- Dallas Observer 2023 · Best Chinese · Best of Dallas
- D Magazine 2023 · Best Dumplings · Best of Big D
- D Magazine 2025 · Best Late-Night Eats · Best of Big D
-
- D Magazine 2023 · Best Place to Skip a Speakeasy · Best of Big D
- Dallas Observer 2025 · Best Speakeasy · Best of Dallas
-
- Dallas Observer 2024 · Best Place to Have Coffee and Not Work · Best of Dallas
- Dallas Observer 2023 · Best Coffee Shop · Best of Dallas
-
- Dallas Observer 2023 · Best Coffee Shop · Best of Dallas
- Dallas Observer 2024 · Best Place to Have Coffee and Not Work · Best of Dallas
-
- Dallas Observer 2023 · Best Coffee Shop · Best of Dallas
- Dallas Observer 2024 · Best Place to Have Coffee and Not Work · Best of Dallas
-
- Dallas Observer 2023 · Best Coffee Shop · Best of Dallas
- Dallas Observer 2024 · Best Place to Have Coffee and Not Work · Best of Dallas
-
- Dallas Observer 2023 · Best Fried Chicken · Best of Dallas
- Dallas Observer 2025 · Best Fried Chicken · Best of Dallas
- D Magazine 2023 · Best Fried Chicken · Best of Big D
-
- Dallas Observer 2023 · Best Diner · Best of Dallas
- Dallas Observer 2024 · Best Restaurant Doing Good · Best of Dallas
-
-
- D Magazine 2023 · Best Cheese Shop · Best of Big D
- D Magazine 2025 · Best Cheese Shop · Best of Big D
- D Magazine 2024 · Best Cheese Shop · Best of Big D
-
The weathered wood and dim light on Gaston Avenue look exactly right for a place where the blues actually shows up. The Goat is a bar and music venue where talented blues acts take the stage most nights and weekends, with karaoke folded in when the mood shifts. D Magazine gave it Best Place to Get a Beer Before 8 AM, which tells you something about the hours and the regulars.
- D Magazine 2024 · Best Place to Get a Beer Before 8 AM · Best of Big D
- Dallas Observer The Ultimate Dallas Bar Guide
- D Magazine 2025 · Best Karaoke · Best of Big D
-
Rank 256. Three Links
Beer Bar
- Dallas Observer The Ultimate Dallas Bar Guide
- Dallas Observer 2025 · Best Bathroom · Best of Dallas
- D Magazine 2023 · Best Live Music Venue · Best of Big D
-
-
The Venn diagram of bar and restaurant has Angry Dog planted right in the overlap, and nobody seems to mind. Cold beer, a game on, chili cheese dogs, burgers, and salads that have no business being this good for a place that smells like fried onions. Close enough to the American Airlines Center and Deep Ellum that it fills up fast on event nights, but regular enough that it works on a Tuesday with nothing going on.
-
-
-
-
-
-
Rank 270. Brick & Bones
Cocktail Bar
The fried chicken gets a 24-hour brine before it hits the fryer, which tells you something about the kitchen's priorities at this Deep Ellum cocktail bar. Six house cocktails are priced like they want you to order a second round, and the vibe is the kind of loose, unhurried thing that feels increasingly rare on Commerce Street. The Dallas Observer handed it Best Fried Chicken in 2024, so the secret is somewhat out, but the room still has its own quiet momentum.
- Dallas Observer The Ultimate Dallas Bar Guide
- Dallas Observer 2024 · Best Fried Chicken · Best of Dallas
- Dallas Observer 2025 · Best Late-Night Grub · Best of Dallas
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Rank 270. Christies
Cocktail Bar
Sangria in towers and a drink menu that lists "mimosas" as the soup of the day sets the tone fast at this sports bar on Greenville Ave. Every seat inside, on the patio, or up on the rooftop faces a TV, which makes the place essentially one large, well-lubricated viewing party. Best for a sunny afternoon when the patio fills up and someone's local team is on.
- Dallas Observer 2024 · Best Sports Bar · Best of Dallas
- Dallas Observer The Ultimate Dallas Bar Guide
-