Seeking Suggestions for Attractions & Food

Hi Everyone,

We will be visiting the Dallas / Ft Worth area for a few days in Mid April and would appreciate a few suggestions for the following:

Attractions - We love to experience new places, can we get a few suggestions of obscure attractions to see (maybe even a couple hour long hike)?

Food - We love to enjoy the best local places and avoid all the flashy tourist traps. Where is your favorite place to eat in Dallas?

Thank you all in advance.
Brot's Avatar
  • Brot
  • 03-21-2014, 08:13 AM
JFK assassination or Bonnie & Clyde tours which granted are kind of touristy but cool if you are a history buff.
Satamo's Avatar
If your looking for great Tex-Mex you can go to Mia's Tex-Mex on Lemmon Ave. The Margaritas are good. You can also try Mi Cocina they have many locations. If you go to Mi Cocina try the Mombo Taxi frozen margarita with sangria.
The CBD Provision Company in the Jouele Hotel(downtown Dallas) is very new and very good. The hotel also has an art gallery of sorts consisting of cermaics from the original building as well as an art book store. Also, he Arboretum near White Rock lake is very nice.
Roothead's Avatar
Hope you enjoy your trip to DFW. A great source of cool places to take in and grab a meal can be found using apps such as Urban Spoon and Yelp. As is usual, these crowd sourced reviews and assessments reflect the fact that "We all like different things"
Juan Pablo de Marco's Avatar
sorry you got tips that include touristy spots and chain restaurants...but you must go to the Truck Yard:

http://texastruckyard.com/

they have a bar in a treehouse!

pick up a free copy of the Dallas Observer (or go to dallasobserver.com ) for cool events going on in the area...a weekly paper. and go to Fuel City for some of the best mexican-style street tacos you will ever taste. and Velvet Tacos for the most unbelievable gourmet tacos in the universe. a visit to Klyde Warren Park in downtown area is cool too. White Rock Lake for a nice walk...and in April, Dallas Blooms should be going on at the Dallas Arboretum.

http://www.dallasarboretum.org/

for burgers...Twisted Root, and Motor and Maple, and Liberty Burger

bbq... Slow Bone, and Lockhart Smokehouse.

cool neighborhood dive bar... Lakewood Landing
http://www.lakewood-landing.com/

some good hiking in the area...but not in dallas proper. google dallas hiking for some nice trails.

and deep ellum for live music. highly recommended.

have fun.
Juan - I'm a local and appreciate the tips - think everyone's always looking for a good place to eat or something fun to do.
check out thrillist.com
bigphd's Avatar
Food- Hard 8 in Coppell
Pappasito's anywhere, I like the one in Richardson off 75
La Hacienda Ranch off 35E in Lewisville
Hucks Catfish in Denison

To do:

Stockyards in Fort Worth, do the Cowboy stadium tour (its cool and I am a bears fan), and the aquarium downtown is neat but a bit pricey
TinMan's Avatar
There are a few 'touristy' eating establishments that really are worth checking out, particularly since you don't want to leave town without some tex-mex and barbecue.

If it's a nice evening, go to the FW Stockyards and eat on the patio at the famous Joe T Garcia's. Bring cash...that's all they take. And don't forget to try the margaritas.

Sticking with the FW theme, Angelo's is old-style barbecue that still holds up despite a lot of newer "favorites" that you'll undoubtedly hear about (and worthy of a visit as well). The ice-cold draft beer is served at the perfect temperature (just above freezing, IIRC) in frosty glasses.

Hell, I could come up with so many Fort Worth places to try that you might never make it to the eastern side of the metroplex!

Hope you guys have a great visit. It's a good time of year to be in North Texas.
Juan Pablo de Marco's Avatar
the ice-cold draft beer is served at the perfect temperature (just above freezing, IIRC) in frosty glasses. Originally Posted by TinMan
good beer, really good beer, does not need to be, and should not ever be served ice-cold. and not in a 'frosty' glass. that is reserved for nasty swill. and for wankers.

want some good beer? go to the Flying Saucer Ale Emporium (one in addison...the original in downtown fort worth). or even better...the Gingerman. an incredible place in uptown dallas. 5 stars maybe 6 for the Gingerman.

http://dallas.gingermanpub.com/


btw...this thread will surely be moved soon to the sandbox.
TinMan's Avatar
good beer, really good beer, does not need to be, and should not ever be served ice-cold. and not in a 'frosty' glass. that is reserved for nasty swill. and for wankers.

want some good beer? go to the Flying Saucer Ale Emporium. or even better...the Gingerman. an incredible place in uptown dallas.

http://dallas.gingermanpub.com/ Originally Posted by Juan Pablo de Marco
We're talking Budweiser here. It's drinkable when it's cold. And American. We're in Texas, dammit.

And isn't the Gingerman for sorority girls?
If your looking for great Tex-Mex you can go to Mia's Tex-Mex on Lemmon Ave. The Margaritas are good. You can also try Mi Cocina they have many locations. If you go to Mi Cocina try the Mombo Taxi frozen margarita with sangria. Originally Posted by Satamo
+1 on all that ^^^.

Mia's is an institution (lots of Dallas Cowboys memorabilia there -- the place has the distinction of being both the favorite restaurant of Coach Tom Landry and his wife, Alicia, AND of being the place where Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson met on the night Jones hired Johnson as the new coach).

As for Mi Cocina, it was founded by the son of the owners of Mia's. But the two are not alike. Not at all.

As for things to do, yeah, The Sixth Floor Museum is a must-see for anybody even remotely interested in the Kennedy Assassination. Superb exhibit, with the sniper's nest completely recreated. It'll give you chills.

Head over to the west side of the metroplex and take a tour of Cowboys (now AT&T) Stadium. Doesn't cost much, and the tour is pretty cool, especially if it's your first time in the building. Bring your camera.

Then keep coming west and spend the day in the Fort Worth Stockyards and the evening in Sundance Square (downtown). It's one of the better "downtown" experiences you'll find anywhere, and it's light years better than Dallas' downtown experience. Tons of restaurants, a piano bar, western themed bars, comedy clubs, etc. Eat at Reata, if you can.http://www.reata.net/ I highly recommend the rooftop if the weather is cooperative. Fort Worth also has 3 world class art museum located about 5 minutes west of downtown: The Kimbell (a traditional, non-themed art museum located in unique building that is pretty much a work of art itself), The Amon Carter Museum of Western Art (the collections are what you would expect to find given the name -- lot of Remingtons and Russells there), and the Modern Art Museum (the name says it all). Finally, check and see what's going on at Bass Hall (also downtown right by Sundance Square). It's a world class concert hall built with an art deco motif. You won't find anything like it outside of NYC or maybe Chicago. Great acoustics and just a beautiful venue. If you're real lucky, a big name "modern" artist may be playing there. If not, an evening at the symphony can be enjoyable, and the local theater groups regularly put on plays there.

Enjoy your stay!
Juan Pablo de Marco's Avatar
We're talking Budweiser here. It's drinkable when it's cold. And American. We're in Texas, dammit.

And isn't the Gingerman for sorority girls? Originally Posted by TinMan
what is wrong with sorority girls? other than the fact that none of them have any interest in me. but i can bore them with my in depth knowledge of great beers. they never get tired of that, right?
If your into art, check the link below!

http://www.artonthegreene.com/

Cedar Hill State Park has a couple of nice hiking trails...I love hiking!