1st time visiting: Quick Recommendations
Posted by onionflowe@reddit | askdfw | View on Reddit | 6 comments
This is my first time visiting Texas. I’ll be visiting in June to join in on the World Cup festivities and catch a Rangers game. I’ll be staying in the DFW area and renting a car. I’ve been researching what to do and where to eat, drink, and visit, but I’d love some local recommendations for any or all of the following. Thanks in advance!
1) Craft breweries
2) BBQ
3) Tex-Mex restaurants
4) Live country music
5) Dive bars
6) Misc: spots or experiences I should make time for
custardisnotfood@reddit
What town are you staying in? The DFW area is the same size as Connecticut and it sucks to drive across, so the activities people will recommend depend a lot on where within DFW you are
onionflowe@reddit (OP)
I’m staying in Dallas
LebronsHairline@reddit
Dallas is humongous and even driving via highway at 70mph it can take you over an hour to pass through ‘Dallas proper’… if you can give a zip code or whatever the area descriptor the hotel has it will narrow it down greatly
RichardShermanator@reddit
1) Celestial Beerworks and Turning Point for IPAs; Westlake Brewing in Deep Ellum, and you can bring in food; Division Brewing in Arlington, where the World Cup teams / Rangers play - if you like cracker-thin crust pizza, theirs is excellent. I think they have live music sometimes too. Go to Strangeways if you want a craft beer bar
2) It's difficult (not impossible) to go truly wrong here. Given you'll be in Arlington anyway, Smoke 'n Ash is a good bet bc it's truly unlikely you'll be able to get something similar elsewhere. Hurtado BBQ at the Farmers Market is great and prob won't have the Goldees/Cattleack line. Intrinsic Brewing makes good beer and good BBQ
3) tons of good spots, just refer to well)this list (and personally I have some spots on the "did not make the cut" list as well...)
4) Billy Bobs is the only one I can really think of, in Ft Worth
5) just depends on where you're staying
6) Saint Valentine for good cocktails + the oxtail Philly corndog
NintendogsWithGuns@reddit
In my opinion the best breweries in Dallas are Peticolas, Four Corners, Westlake, Celestial Beerworks, and Manhattan Project. If we’re talking Fort Worth the. I’d probably say Rahr & Sons, Martin House, and Panther Island. Out of all those, I like Peticolas and Four Corners the best, but it’s worth noting that Celestial and Martin House are both quite famous throughout the state for their extremely unique beer selections.
The best barbecue spots are Goldee’s, Cattleack, and Dayne’s, full stop. You’re going to wait in a hell of a line for them though, as they’re quite famous and two of them have Michelin awards. Other good ones are Smokey Joe’s, Slow Bone, Sabar, Panther City, Zavala’s, and Smoke n’ Ash. Avoid Places like Pecan Lodge or any spots you see in touristy areas, as they’re tourist traps. If you can’t get to any of these, then just go to Terry Black’s, but it’s extremely touristy and only really famous because it’s high quality considering how much volume they do.
For Tex-Mex, I like Mariano’s Hacienda and Gonzales Restaurant the best. If you want something bougie that the transplants love then go to Las Palmas, but I personally can’t stand them. After that, it’s all just whatever you grew up with. Also, avoid Joe T Garcia’s, it’s a tourist trap and sucks ass.
Country music is not terribly popular in Dallas or any large city in Texas for that matter. The only honkytonk in Dallas worth going to is a gay bar called Round Up Saloon, but they don’t do live music. The Fort Worth Stockyards is where you’re going to see country music. Specifically at Billy Bob’s, but sometimes there’s a band at White Elephant Saloon too.
I’m not telling a World Cup tourist where the good dive bars are. Sorry. You might like Double Wide though, as it’s a big dive-ish bar that’s got a cute theme. That’s all you’re getting though.
Miscellaneous experiences? National Video Game Museum up in Frisco is cool, the Fort Worth Stockyards are a must if you want something stereotypically Texan. Other than that, maybe checkout some of the Freeplay arcades, Cidercade, etc. You pay a cover and then it’s free games all night.
MoreMeLessU@reddit
Charlie’s Star Lounge for dive bars
Tex Mex food is meh, go to Chilangos Tacos for some damn good tacos
Brewery - On Rotation, Manhattan
Take a drive to the Hill Country and go tubing or swimming.
Welcome to Texas!