Cocktails, wine bars and dives: drinking in Dallas for grown-ups.
Cocktail bars, wine bars, dive bars and gastropubs: drinking in Dallas for grown-ups.
Deep Ellum anchor occupying a former meatpacking plant, known for the Bonnie & Clyde bourbon cocktail and boilermakers alongside Hungarian comfort food.
Order: Bonnie & Clyde cocktail; slivovitz boilermaker
Tip: No reservations, walk-in only. Live shows in the back room most weekends, free entry.
Bohemian agave-spirit bar from the Armoury D.E. team, inspired by Budapest ruin pubs but stocked with mezcal, brandy, and cane spirits from Latin America and the Caribbean.
Order: Mezcal-based house cocktails; Oaxacan-influenced small plates
Tip: 21+ after 9pm. Street parking or paid lots. Walk-ins only, no reservations.
NYC-born mezcal speakeasy that arrived in Deep Ellum in May 2025, stocking an encyclopedic agave spirit list inside a dramatic subterranean room beneath Palma restaurant.
Order: Ghost Donkey house margarita; mezcal neat from the single-village list
Tip: Entered through Palma restaurant at street level. Reservations not required but the room fills by 8pm on weekends.
Dallas's most acclaimed cocktail destination: a subterranean lounge beneath The Joule hotel with live DJs, bold creative cocktails, and a World's 50 Best Bars listing.
Order: Seasonal tasting menu cocktail; house-infused spirit expressions
Tip: Reservations strongly recommended for Fri-Sat. Hotel guests can sometimes walk in earlier.
Elegant Uptown cocktail lounge serving classics and champagne cocktails since 2014, with an all-day Monday happy hour and a 5-8pm Tuesday through Saturday deal on $6 cocktails.
Order: Mai Tai; champagne cocktail of the night
Tip: Happy hour runs all day Mondays and anytime it rains. Corner booth seats fill first on weekend nights.
Lower Greenville avant-garde cocktail bar from the Rye team, known for ingredients like French onion soup reduction in cocktails alongside premium wine and playful margarita riffs.
Order: Savory French onion cocktail; seasonal margarita variation
Tip: Walk-in only. Good natural wine selection if you want a break from cocktails.
Austin-style beer garden and burger joint at the trailhead of the Katy Trail in Uptown, with a massive outdoor patio that draws cyclists, dog walkers, and happy-hour crowds.
Order: Texas craft beers on draft; Katy Trail burger
Tip: Dog-friendly on the patio. Arrives packed by 6pm on weekdays. First-come patio seating only.
Deep Ellum sports bar with a full kitchen until 2am, sliders, street tacos, and an unpretentious crowd that lands here after concerts at nearby venues.
Order: Street tacos; sliders; weekend brunch double-stacked burger
Tip: Happy hour Monday through Friday 5-8pm. One of the few Deep Ellum spots with late-night food and big-screen sports simultaneously.
Knox-Henderson institution open since 1998, serving classic British pub food alongside 20 rotating taps in a warm, wood-paneled space with a devoted neighborhood following.
Order: Fish and chips; Sunday Roast on Sundays; draft bitter
Tip: One of the few Dallas bars open every day for lunch. Quieter before 6pm, packed by 8pm on weekends.
Deep Ellum institution with 100 beers on tap, a warm patio, and weekly events. One of the best places in the city to work through Texas craft brews in one sitting.
Order: Rotating Texas craft IPA; loaded nachos
Tip: Check the tap list on their social media before coming. Patio is heated in winter.
Newer Deep Ellum bar with Detroit-style pan pizza and natural wine served late, a rare combination of quality late-night food in one of the city's most energetic blocks.
Order: Detroit-style pepperoni pizza; glass of natural wine
Tip: Kitchen stays open until close. Table space is limited; bar seats are fair game.
Deep Ellum halal late-night staple serving New York-style rice bowls and gyros with 36-hour marinated chicken. Open until 4am on weekend nights, it fills a gap no other spot covers.
Order: Mixed rice bowl with white sauce; lamb gyro
Tip: The 2am-4am window on Fridays and Saturdays draws the post-concert crowd. Cash and card both accepted.
Deep Ellum fried chicken bar celebrating its 10th year in 2025, serving crispy Nashville-style chicken until 2am every night. One of the few spots with consistent late-night kitchen hours.
Order: Nashville hot chicken sandwich; waffle fries with house sauce
Tip: No reservations. Lines form after 11pm on weekends. The back bar area is quieter if you just want a drink.
Texas's only Master of Wine, Dilek Caner, runs this Bishop Arts wine bar, shop, and classroom. About 300 labels and rare producer events.
Order: Blind tasting flight; any producer-led evening pairing
Tip: The full-service bar service is Saturdays only. Retail shop and class bookings available weekdays by appointment.
Dallas's first exclusively natural wine bar and bottle shop, run by Genevieve Weaver and Jessica Martinez. A patio wine-dow for walk-up pours and a bring-your-own-food policy make it a neighborhood hang.
Order: Orange wine by the glass; sparkling natural pet-nat
Tip: Bring food from a nearby Bishop Arts restaurant; they encourage it. The patio ring-for-wine window is worth seeking out.
Approachable Bishop Arts wine shop and bar carrying Australian, French, Argentinian, and South African labels. An excellent stop before or after dinner at Lucia down the block.
Order: Wine club selection of the month; shared charcuterie with whatever's open by the glass
Tip: Monthly wine club subscriptions available. Patio seating gets taken fast on nice evenings.
Dallas's most beloved 24-hour diner, a Deep Ellum institution since 1991, famous for bottomless coffee, crepes, breakfast tacos, and being the place everyone lands at 3am.
Order: Unlimited coffee bar refills; migas breakfast tacos; sweet crepes
Tip: Cash or card both work at 3am. The parking lot on Elm gets chaotic after midnight; walk if you can.
Packed Knox-Henderson Spanish bar anchoring the neighborhood's evening scene with 400 selections of wine, small plates of jammon and pintxos, and a marble bar that stays lively late.
Order: Pan con tomate; jammon iberico board; glass of Txakolina
Tip: Walk-ins wait at the bar, which is often the better seat. Reservations go fast on weekends.
Dallas's largest brewery campus with a 70,000 sq ft two-story facility, outdoor biergarten, and weekend brunch, anchoring the Design District's craft beer scene since 2013.
Order: Mosaic IPA; seasonal German-style lager on the biergarten
Tip: Dog-friendly biergarten. Weekday lunch is rarely crowded; Sunday brunch draws a queue by 11:30am.
Dallas's first Mexican wine and cocktail lounge, from the owners of Vinito shop. Valle brings the Mexico City bar scene to Bishop Arts with 100-plus Mexican wine labels and agave-forward cocktails.
Order: Mexican tempranillo by the glass; mezcal negroni with Mexican vermouth
Tip: Paired well with a meal at Lucia two doors away. The bottle list is the most comprehensive Mexican wine selection in the city.