BEST BURGER

1. Burger House - Located just west of SMU, the Burger House has the best hangover cure and their seasoned fries are the best in Dallas.  Make sure to bring cash when you go.
2. Jakes
3. Nick and Sam’s Grill
4. Angry Dog
5. Village Burger Bar

BEST PUB

1. Londoner - Located in the State & Allen area, the Londoner provides the best atmosphere when you just want to grab one pint.  Whether it is Spring or Winter, the Londoner has a great atmosphere inside by the fire or outside on the patio.
2. Ginger Man
3. Old Monk
4. Dubliner
5. Idle Rich/Blackfriar

BEST CLUB

1. PM Nightlife Lounge – The decor combined with the great music makes PM by far the top lounge in Dallas.  While some clubs touch on the line of trashy, PM provides a very classy feel.
2. Candleroom
3. Sunset Lounge
4. Park
5. Ghost Bar

BEST SPORTS BAR

1. There aren’t any good sports bars in Uptown but here are a few worth listing: Hully & Mo’s, National Sports Lounge, Frankies, The MAT, & Christies

BEST PEOPLE WATCHING SPOT / JUDGING SPOT

1. Blackfriar - On a sunny Spring day at 5:00, there is not a better patio where you can post up and put down some beers.  Watch out because the late afternoon can easily turn into midnight at Blackfriar.
2. Primos
3. Uptown Pub
4. Taco Diner
5. Ritz

  BEST PIZZA

1. Louie’s - This little sketchy building off of Knox/Henderson has the best thin crust pizza in Dallas.  Be sure to bring cash because they do not accept cards.
2. Coal Vines
3. Fireside Pies
4. Kirbys
5. Campisi’s 

BEST MEXICAN FOOD

1. Mannys - The Brisket Quesadillas were just a waiters “favorite” but they became so popular they got moved to the menu.  These brisket quesadillas are the best in Dallas. 
2. Gloria’s
3. Mias
4. Cyclone Anaya’s
5. Taco Diner/Mi Cocina

BEST PLACE TO EAT ON A FRIDAY NIGHT

1. Victor Tangos - Victor Tangos has an energetic crowd that wraps around the bar as people wait to be seated.  The menu is filled with everything from crab sliders to waffles and chicken and is served family style.  However, be prepared to wait. 
2. Sushi Axiom
3. Steel
4. The Porch
5. Mi Cocina

BEST PLACE TO MEET A RANDOM

1. Londoner - Because of the tight setup and friendly patrons, the Londoner’s atmosphere is conducive for talking and meeting other groups of people.  Unlike a club, you can actually hear what people are saying. 
2. Idle Rich/Black Friar
3. Park
4. The Loon
5. Lotus

BEST HANDY WORK

1. Primos - Stop by on a warm Spring day and witness some of the finest craftsmanship in Dallas.  However, do not touch because Cougars tend to bite.
2. Ritz
3. Dragonfly – Hotel ZAZA
4. Ghost Bar
5. Highland Park Village

BEST KEPT SECRET

1. Four Lounge - Four Lounge is the size of a nice walk-in closet and you have probably passed it a million times.  However, right off of Allen and McKinney is ”foot for foot” the best night club in Dallas.  Four Lounge is a small trendy club that can hold a maximum of 50 people but when you are with 10 friends you can take it over. 
2. Eastwind - Chinese Food
3. Tiff’s Treats – Cookies Delivered
4. Kirbys – Restaurant
5. The Slip Inn - Dive Bar

BEST POOL SCENE

1. Hotel ZAZA - We do not have beaches or Mountains in Dallas but we do have some great pools!  On a hot summer day in Dallas there is no better place to be than Hotel ZAZA (if you can get in).  With their own DJ and beautiful “Pool Girls” that bring you frozen tools, popsicle, beach balls and . . . beverages, this Urban Oasis will make you forget that you are in Texas.
2. W Hotel
3. Glass House Apartments
4. Cirque
5. Bryson

BEST PLACE TO LET THE PARENTS PICK UP THE TAB 

1. Fearings (In the Ritz Hotel) - Drive over to the Ritz, grab a cocktail at the Rattlesnake lounge, and then take a seat in the Fearings restaturant.  More than likely Dean Fearning will be in attendance to ask you how you like your meal.  I recommend trying every desert followed by a night cap on the back patio.  Every mom is sure to love this experience. 
2. Abacus
3. Ocean Prime
4. Nick & Sams
5. Five Sixty by Wolfgang Puck

The G-Man is tucked away off of McKinney and provides the best (maybe only) backyard beer garden in Dallas.  They have two large hofbrau house style benches that line the back yard and lead up to a stage area with three smaller benches.  On Saturday nights, the benches are pushed aside for local bands to play (Solent Blue plays on the 3rd Saturday of every month and they rock).  Don’t be shy about getting a spot and feel free to crowd in next to a stranger or the hopefully rabies free dog (G-Man is a very dog friendly pub).  The patio is surrounded by large trees and offers the perfect shade for a happy hour group. 

Inside, a bar lines one wall with over 110 beer taps sticking out.  They only serve beer and wine but their beer selection is the best in town.  Thier all wooden interior provides a very comfortable feel.  They have two dart boards inside (real darts) and an upstairs with sofas and a smaller patio.  If you cannot get a spot out back the front patio also offers a great spot for a little day drinking and people watching. 

If you are real lucky you could one day reach the status of “Regular” and get a stocking in the pub during Christmas time.  However, these are not just given to anyone.  You have to pay your dues and earn your stripes.  So saddle up and start with the taps on the left because if you try every beer in the pub (110) you just might have a shot at a stocking.  

DRESS: Guys: Jeans and T-Shirt, Business Casual, Jeans and Button Down, Girls: Wife Beater, Jean Skirt and Uggs

MUSIC: Jukebox/Live Music (Every Saturday)

MONEY: Reasonable Drink Prices depending on the beer!

HEARD/SEEN at the BAR: A group of New York’s finest  parade through the bar with bag pipes and then get on the stage and begin to sing a drunken Irish song.

PARKING: No Valet

FOOD: Yes, bar food (Great spinach artichoke dip)

BATHROOM SITUATION: 3 stalls in each bathroom (Moves pretty quick)

Ginger Man Pubs
2718 Boll Street, Dallas, TX 75204
(214) 754-8771

www.gingermanpub.com

The run down house that once stood as an eye sore in the cute State and Allen area has now turned into the perfect Uptown neighborhood bar.  The Londoner is tucked away behind the TABC bar just off of Allen and Thomas Street.  This two story pub offers a very comfortable feel, probably too comfortable.  With beer mugs hanging over a  stone fire place and pictures of London’s finest peppered through out the bar, you cannot help but have just ”one beer”.  The English vibe combined with the wooden decor creates a cross between a soccer hooligan’s drinking hole and a Colorado ski lodge.   There are two bars on each level and two dart boards (real darts) on the first level.  However, please do not be that guy that uses both boards for one game because I hate you. 

 The TVs play soccer matches but are usually changed by the American basketball and football fans.  The place rings with jukebox tunes that are free to the public and has a great selection of UK artist.  However, if Journey has not played for 30 minutes do not fear because I can assure you that the drunk girl hovering over the Jukebox will put it on for you.  There are two shaded patios on each level that are filled with happy hour drinkers, dodgeball pre-partiers and neighborhood locals.  The bartenders are very nice and the waitresses are not afraid to let you reverse motor boat (definition below) them.  However, be warned that after five Irish car bombs they are not any more attracted to you than when you hit the game winning bulls-eye in cricket (it took you 10 minutes).

DRESS: Guys: Jeans and T-Shirt, Business Casual, Jeans and Button Down

Girls: Wife Beater, Jean Skirt and Uggs

MUSIC: Jukebox (FREE to the Public)

MONEY: Reasonable drink prices for Dallas but shots are not cheap

HEARD/SEEN at the BAR: The Reverse Motor Boat was invented at the Londoner Pub.  A man sits with his back to a crowded bar as a waitress tries to slide between his chair and another table.  As she slides with her chest facing the back of the man’s head, she stops as the man’s head is strategically positioned in the valley of the twin peaks.  The man then begins to rotate his head back in forth with a smile on his face.  The reverse motor boat was born at the Londoner to the delight of the waitress.

PARKING: No Valet

FOOD: Yes – I recommend the Shepard’s pie and cheese fries

BATHROOM SITUATION: Bathrooms on each level (upstairs is open 99% of the time)

Ste A
2909 Thomas Ave, Dallas, TX 75204
(214) 979-2333

With just one small window in the entire bar (2 ft × 1 ft), the Loon, much like Vegas, allows no natural light to enter and somehow always has you leaving blacked-out, cashless, and promising you will never go back.  With that said, I love this concrete hole in the wall!  

This watering hole has turned trendy out of Uptown’s need for more dive bars.  They are located at the end of a somewhat ghetto strip center in the middle of Uptown.  If there is a homeless man singing on the curb past the subway on McKinney and Lemmon then you have arrived at the Loon.  The single door entrance is at the end of the strip center.  The main bar is situated in the middle of the two rooms where a nice bartender is waiting to completely over-serve you.  There are two fireplaces on each end of the two rooms (divided by the center bar) and an old pool table and jukebox in one corner.  This dive bar offers a vibrant feel as people pack into the multiple leather booths and attempt to speak over the jukebox. They have lots of tables for seating but if it is after 10pm then you have to be quick to get a table or even better a booth (one can dream)! 

The Loon recently upgraded their TVs to flat screens so this serves as an underrated sports bar on a rainy day.  The food is actually very good (surprised?) and I strongly recommend the cheeseburger now that there is no smoking in the Loon (before it was like eating in the middle of that fog thing from LOST).  The crowd is a good mixture of young professionals, older college kids, and Dallas locals that are all brought together by a common bond . . . they know they are about to get extremely intoxicated.

The loon is notorious for serving beer in cans and pouring the stiffest cocktails west of the Mississippi.  Just be prepared to go to the Loon and then all the sudden wake up at a random Post property where you are trying to find your boxers before you wake up a girl that kind of looks like Blossom.  Also, cops that are looking to make their DWI quota for the month will line up behind this place waiting for Loon rookies to jump in a car and turn the key.  I recommend taking a cab home, specifically Karaoke Cab.  So if you just got laid off, want to turn that special someone from a 6 to a 10, or just need a stiff one then there is no better place than the Loon.

DRESS: Guys: Jeans and T-Shirt, Business Casual, Jeans and Button Down, Girls: Wife Beater, Jean Skirt and Uggs

MUSIC: Jukebox

MONEY: Since you need only 2 cocktails to get a solid buzz the drinks are a steal

HEARD/SEEN at the BAR: A twenty something gentleman, who was borderline blacked-out (grayed-out), had an intense make-out session with a girl and then she went to the bathroom.  The guy leans over to his buddy and mumbles “I love that girl, what is her name again?”

PARKING: No Valet 

FOOD: Yes – great greasy bar food

BATHROOM SITUATION: Two sets of bathrooms in each room (genius!)

The Loon

3531 Mckinney Ave
Dallas, TX 75204
(214) 559-3059

Black Friar Pub took a doomed spot that was once only supported by underage SMU frat guys and sorostitutes and turned it into an ideal spot for day drinking on a cool spring day.  Black Friar is located off of McKinney Avenue in the heart of Uptown Dallas and just across the street from it’s older sister, Idle Rich.   It only took five years for the owners of Idle Rich to look across the street and say “Hey maybe a pub just like Idle Rich would work on the other side of the street.” Genius!

They did it and did it right because the patio offers an urban beer garden feel in the middle of Uptown.  With long wooden tables supported by barrels, the large brick patio has a lot of seating and has two large wooden fences on the sides that are decorated with beer signs and greenery.  The patio has a side bar that resembles a shack with two hot girl bartenders that I am pretty sure can kick my ass (I believe it was the tattoo sleeve on each arm that justified it). The place creates a comfortable feel that is conducive for socializing, people watching, flip cup (not quarters because the surface is not flat enough), and meeting new people after a few beers. The inside is small but has a warm feel, similar to Idle Rich but darker (I did not think this was possible).  I have found that the bad lighting works out well for girls trying to hide cankles and guys from out of town looking to meet their one night soul mate.  They have a good beer selection and for the most part the bartenders are friendly.

The downside, unless you like a plethora of d-bags throwing their pelvic area at your girlfriend, is that the guy to girl ratio can be a bit overwhelming on a Friday night.  I got stuck between Cash McMogulson and Hugo from Lost on a Friday and I started having hot flashes. I seriously thought I was at La Boom in Cancun. However, if you are a single girl that does not mind a good dry hump with your Stella then this place is heaven.  Overall, amazing patio but beware of D-bags, myself included.

DRESS: Guys: Jeans and T-Shirt, Business Casual, Jeans and Button Down, Girls: Wife Beater, Jean Skirt and Uggs

MUSIC: Jukebox/House Music

MONEY: Reasonable Drink Prices

HEARD/SEEN at the BAR: There were 12 guys on the patio playing credit card roulette.  They were shaking up the cards in a Beer Pitcher and running around the bar going table to table to draw cards.  I belief a guy named Clark ended up paying the tab . . . Poor Clark.

PARKING: Valet Offered

FOOD: Yes – decent bar food

BATHROOM SITUATION: Two stalls in both the boys and girls bathrooms (aka: Don’t break the seal)

Black Friar Pub

2621 Mckinney Ave
Dallas, TX 75204
(214) 953-0599
http://www.blackfriarpub.com/