Home to cocktail bars and lively parks, the Cowboys, BBQ, renowned museums and cowboy hats, Dallas presents its vibrant spirit to all who visit. If you’re searching for some of the city’s best restaurants and places to visit, look no further.
Though Austin may draw more of the creative, lounge-at-a-café types, Dallas rivals Texas’ capital in terms of its coffee houses. Before your evening adventures, spend some time at Sip and Stir Coffee House, an Uptown café run by a married couple. With floral artwork, hanging plants, tiled floors and cushioned couches, Sip and Stir blends an overflowing garden with a modern kitchen.
Some of its best signature drink options include a coconut pie latte, butter beer latte and vanilla lavender latte. And toast lovers rejoice. The menu offers the upscale version of your favorite breakfast staple with options such as apple peanut butter toast, almond butter banana toast and the classic avocado toast (which can be topped with a house-made cilantro chutney, pickled onions and pumpkin seeds).
On November 22, 1963 the 35th president of the United States was tragically assassinated while his motorcade drove through Dealey Plaza. Now, the Sixth Floor Museum chronicles the assassination timeline and legacy of JFK, from the location where Lee Harvey Oswald took the fatal shot.
According to the Sixth Floor Museum website, the museum holds over “90,000 items related to the assassination of President Kennedy and its local and global aftermath, the legacy of the Kennedy presidency, and the turbulent culture of the 1960s.” Some of the museum features include recreated crime scene spaces, newspaper clippings from the days leading up to the assassination and 1960s radio broadcasts.
Searching for your next happy hour destination? Head to Sky Blossom, a Downtown Dallas rooftop restaurant with a collection of colorful cocktails. From the roof’s countertop seating, catch the views of neighboring skyscrapers, balcony gardens and even the Giant Eyeball (a somewhat-of-an-eyesore statue but a charming one nonetheless).
Sky Blossom is a fusion restaurant with a focus on Vietnamese cuisine. If you go for happy hour, try the shishito peppers and veggie spring rolls (served with a peanut sauce) for a discounted price. The beef short rib pho and char-grilled pork chop are two popular dinner options.
Try to book an evening reservation to see the sun slip past the Dallas skyline. And make sure to take a picture of the lavender Midnight Unicorn drink–a vodka and ginger beer cocktail served with an Airhead Xtremes strip.
Located in Downtown Dallas’ Arts District, find the Dallas Museum of Art–a respite from the city’s heat. According to the museum’s website, the Dallas Museum of Art is among the 10 largest art museums in the United States and its global collection “encompasses more than 24,000 works and spans 5,000 years of history.” Established in 1903, the museum holds paintings such as Jackson Pollock’s “Cathedral” and Piet Mondrian’s “Place de la Concorde.”
Until November 13, 2022, the museum has an exhibit entitled “Guadalupe Rosales: Drifting on a Memory,” a collaboration between LA-based artist Guadalupe Rosales and Dallas-based artist Lokey Calderon. The exhibition centers around lowriders, cars with customized, detailed designs with LA-origins; across the U.S., the cars symbolize Mexican American culture and identity. With the use of sound and vivid designs stretching against the 153-foot walls, Rosales “activates memories and invites viewers to collectively share in the experience.”
For 66 acres of grounds bursting with azaleas, tulips and surging waterfalls, travel to the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Garden, one of the top botanical gardens in the United States.
In A Woman’s Garden, see the infinity pool surrounded by lawns and bronze statues. The Pecan Grove offers cherry blossom trees in the spring and hosts the Autumn at the Arboretum festival in the fall. A hundred pumpkins and gourds spill across stone tiles, past orange flowers. For cobbled arches, fountains and space to sit on the grass and take in the view, visit the DeGolyer Gardens.
The Dallas Arboretum also offers cooking classes that feature recipes using seasonal ingredients and such as squash salsa and pumpkin seed rice in the fall.
Dallas holds countless Tex-Mex restaurants, so it can be difficult narrowing down the number of quality options. One local favorite though, is Mia’s Tex-Mex Restaurant, an establishment with 4.5 stars and over 1,700 reviews on Google Reviews.
About a six minute drive from Uptown, Mia’s Tex-Mex Restaurant has pink, red and orange walls decorated with papel picado and mantels featuring rooster statues. Enjoy the mango and strawberry or frozen margarita on the patio. Try some restaurant specials like Mama’s Ribeye con Hongos or Mama’s Lemon Chicken. Other favorites include Butch’s Original Brisket Tacos, the chimichangas and the vegetable fajitas.
Built on an old railroad line, Katy Trail stretches 3.5 miles across the Uptown and Oak Lawn areas of Dallas. Bike along the path as you pass sculptures by Hadi Fallahpisheh, fountains and rows of trees. Katy Trail is an ideal place to enjoy views of Dallas and possibly stop for dinner as you make your way up the trail.
Dallas is a top barbecue destination, and Off the Bone Barbeque is one of the best restaurants the city offers. Located in Dallas’ Cedars neighborhood, the restaurant has thousands of five star Google Reviews and has been featured in travel sites such as Tripadvisor and Dallas Eater.
Acclaimed chef Dwight Harvey is the genius behind Off the Bone Barbeque’s baby back ribs, smoked brisket and chicken, sausage and pulled pork. The menu also includes homemade sides such as Rose’s Gourmet Coleslaw and Southern Potato Salad.
On its website, Off the Bone Barbeque notes that “one you experience [its] barbecue,” you will be able to understand its tag line “‘It’s as good as it looks!'”
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