Where to eat in Dallas after midnight, and the classic 2am move.
Where to eat in Dallas after midnight. kitchens that keep going, post-bar staples and the classic 2am move.
Cafe Brazil on Elm Street in Deep Ellum is Dallas's 24-hour breakfast-all-day institution: migas, French toast, egg sandwiches, and strong coffee served at 3am with the same quality as at 9am.
Try: French toast, migas, breakfast all day
Tip: The kitchen never closes. Migas are the institutional 2am order. Bring cash as a backup; the card reader can be slow late at night. The front window booths fill fast after the bars close.
Velvet Taco in Deep Ellum stays open until 5am on Friday and Saturday, making it the latest operating taco kitchen in Dallas. The weekly rotating taco special and the Nashville Hot Chicken taco are the 3am staples.
Try: Non-traditional tacos, rotating weekly special
Tip: The line moves fast even at 4am. The Nashville Hot Chicken taco and the WTF (weekly special) are the essential orders. Take-out is quicker than sit-down at peak post-bar hours.
Serious Pizza on Elm Street serves New York-style pizza by the slice from a 30-inch pie until 3am Thursday through Saturday. The plain cheese and the pepperoni are the 2am standards.
Try: 30-inch New York-style pizza by the slice
Tip: A single slice from a 30-inch pie is the best size-to-price ratio in Deep Ellum. The plain cheese on a fresh-out-of-the-oven pie is the order. Walk in; no reservations.
Plomo Quesadilla Bar on McMillan Avenue is open until 4am Friday and Saturday, filling the gap between the bar crowd and the breakfast crowd with made-to-order quesadillas in a scratch kitchen.
Try: Scratch-kitchen quesadillas with Oaxacan cheese
Tip: The mushroom and Oaxacan cheese quesadilla with habanero salsa is the call. The best window is 1-3am when the crowd has cleared. Every quesadilla is made individually, not pre-pressed.
Big Guy's Chicken and Rice on Elm Street is the post-bar halal institution in Deep Ellum: Zabihah-certified chicken over saffron rice with white garlic sauce, open until 4am Friday and Saturday. The best street-cart-style food in Dallas.
Try: Halal chicken over rice with white sauce and hot sauce
Tip: The standard order is the large chicken-over-rice with both white sauce and hot sauce. The line moves fast. Arrive before 3am on Saturday if you want the full rice portion still available.
DaLat on North Fitzhugh serves authentic Vietnamese pho and banh mi until 2am Friday and Saturday with a full bar running Vietnamese-fruit cocktails. The best late-night pho in Dallas.
Try: Pho, banh mi, Vietnamese-fruit cocktails
Tip: The pho is the 1am call. The bar's Vietnamese-fruit cocktail menu is the best in East Dallas. Walk in; no reservations. The kitchen matches bar hours exactly.
Saint Valentine on Bryan Street is the most sophisticated late-night option in East Dallas: a craft cocktail bar from two veteran Dallas bartenders open until 2am most nights, serving goose fat-washed Martinis, miso garlic noodles, and caviar-topped hash browns.
Try: Caviar hash browns, miso garlic noodles, craft cocktails
Tip: The goose fat-washed Martini with enoki vermouth is the cocktail to order. The miso noodles are the best late-night food on the menu. Happy hour ends at 7pm; full cocktail menu runs until close.
Armoury D.E. in the former meatpacking plant on Elm Street serves food until 2am: Hungarian comfort plates, charcuterie, and the Bonnie and Clyde bourbon cocktail alongside slivovitz boilermakers in a live-music venue with no reservations.
Try: Bonnie and Clyde cocktail; Hungarian comfort bites; boilermakers
Tip: Walk-in only. The back room has live music most weekend nights at no cover. The slivovitz boilermaker is the institutional late drink. Food runs until close, unlike most bars which cut the kitchen at midnight.
Fito's Taco de Trompo on Gaston Avenue is a late-night trompo taco stand where a rotating vertical spit of marinated pork produces $2.30 tacos until the meat runs out around 3am on weekends. Cash only, outdoor seating.
Try: Trompo (spit-carved pork) tacos, $2.30 each
Tip: Cash only; ATM not nearby. Get there before 1am if you want the full trompo still going. Order the trompo with al pastor sauce, onion, and cilantro on a doubled corn tortilla.
Midnight Rambler in the subterranean level of The Joule Hotel is one of the World's 50 Best Bars and stays open until 2am daily. The cocktail programme is the most sophisticated in Dallas and bar snacks run until close.
Try: Craft cocktails; small bar plates; charcuterie
Tip: Walk-in only; no reservations. Rotating seasonal cocktail list. Charcuterie and cheese plates run until close. Dress up slightly.