After a challenging year for small businesses, let’s have a drink at the top 21 bars and restaurants that opened in Dallas in 2021.
“You win, you lose,” as the old adage goes. This year in news about food and drink, Dallas has lost a lot with the ongoing pandemic affecting local businesses, causing many closures. But as the year draws to a close, let’s focus on the positives — while the establishments were closing, many opened their doors — which is a feat worth applauding at times like these.
Without any particular order, we highlight 21 places that caught our attention (and taste buds) last year. So if you haven’t found them yet, add them quickly to your list; you need to make sure you have time to see the establishments listed in 2022.
Spider Murphy’s
Photo via Spider Murphy’s website.
This Irish pub is less beer-driven, which may sound blasphemous to some, but we’re interested in it. The pub offers cocktails such as an old-fashioned mezcal and an espresso martini, and serves higher versions of bar food such as burgers, nachos and even weekend brunch options. Dublin-based owner Feargal McKinney opened the set in March and later completed a trifle of Irish pubs on Henderson Avenue: McKinney also owns The Old Monk and Skellig, McKinney.
Charlie’s Star Lounge
This dive bar was brought to you by our friends behind The Nines. In a place formerly known as The Star Lounge on the edge of Deep Ellum, Charlie’s Star Lounge opened in April and retained the retro vibe of its predecessor: it was only slightly cleaned. With DJs, arcade games and extended beverage offerings, it’s a place where you can really relax.
Cheap steaks
Photo via the Cheapsteaks Facebook page.
Another set of Deep Ellum, this long-awaited casual meat restaurant opened in August in the space that was formally Stonedeck Pizza. Here you can get cheap steaks (duh) from Israeli Fearon cuisine, cocktails (Smoke, Hotel St Germain, The Porch and Neighborhood Services) and live music.
Blackbird Society Speakeasy
This is a 2 in 1. Neon Kitten is a dim sum lounge that opened in October and offers sushi, dumplings and other Asian dishes. There is also a cocktail menu, and one of them is served in a Hello Kitty-shaped glass. If you want more exclusive drinks and Japanese liqueurs, turn your attention to the back of the restaurant, where its clandestine bar, only for reservations, the Blackbird Society, resides.
Atlas
Photo via the Atlas menu.
Inspired by his travels, Krio owner Dan Bui opened this cocktail bar at Bishop Arts that serves mundane food and drink. Here you can find bruschetta, gyros and pho on the same menu, as well as liqueurs from Singapore, France and Kenya, among many others. It also has a high library aesthetic, so you can get drunk and feel smart. And if you want to book a private section, you can get there through a secret shelf.
South table of roots
This Farmers Branch restaurant was named one of the top 40 new Esquire restaurants in the United States. Chef Tiffany Derry’s South Comfort Room was the only Dallas restaurant on the list. We have previously quoted Esquire as calling Roots “strong evidence that the black cuisine of the southern Creole coast … is both the country’s greatest culinary heritage and its way forward.”
Electric shuffle
Photo via the Electric Shuffle website.
Originally based in London, this Deep Ellum location is the first in the country and is making the yew table great. The trendy place, which serves food and drink, contains 17 yew configurations. You can get Caught in The Rain (tequila with jalapeño, coconut, pineapple, lime, simple syrup infusion) or Live Lav Love: vodka, lavender, lemon, plain syrup and egg white.
Villa Azure
In November, this nightclub and restaurant opened its Dallas location at Hotel W. By day, it’s a French-Mediterranean restaurant where you can enjoy first-class seafood. At night, it becomes a high-end nightclub with crazy entertainment like stilts and contortionists.
Beckley 1115
Photo via the Beckley 1115 website.
In Oak Cliff, you have this restaurant / wine bar that opened in October and offers comfortable and stylish food for any meal of the day. They also have a burger of the month, which benefits different non-profit organizations. And, of course, wine.
Casablanca
Led by Executive Chef Nick Hurry, Bishop Arts Lounge offers tropical-inspired cocktails and shared dishes. This is another restaurant that has a clandestine bar, well, a “singeasy” one. Inside are the Casanova karaoke rooms – six rooms with an application-based database for choosing songs and adjustable lighting.
Social green light
Photo via Green Light Social Dallas on Facebook.
We’re a little ahead of ourselves, as the second location for this Austin venue isn’t open yet, but it will arrive on December 31st, just in time to put it on this list. It’s right next to your favorite places: Bottled Blonde, Vice Park, Citizen, The Sporting Club and Blum.
Thunderbird Cakes
In the fall, Cane Rosso’s newest Jay Jerrier concept opened in East Dallas. It specializes in rectangular and thick Detroit-style pizza. You can also find beer and wine à la carte, as well as pinot freezio, a special frozen mix of pinot grigio and cucumber lemonade.
Pharmacists
Photo by @smariefoodtography on Instagram.
This “cutting-edge cocktail bar” in Lower Greenville opened in July and offers some things we bet you’ve never drunk, such as a $ 500 gold-plated drink and others that “numb your tongue.” , have a pop tentacle or [are] made with pasta sauce. “They make drinks with scientific tools and techniques such as liquid nitrogen, centrifuges and pyrolysis. The food is just as crazy.
Harper’s
Located at The Epic in Deep Ellum, Harper’s offers global cuisine and high-end cocktails. Here, you can get steak, seafood and a Trip “N” Grass cocktail that includes some CBD oil. The site is the latest Milkshake Concepts neighborhood company that also brought you Vidorra, Stirr, Serious Pizza, Sky Rocket Burger and Dirty Bones.
Carter
Photo via @postinowinecafe on Instagram.
Postino, the first North Texas location for this Phoenix-based winery, opened in April in a building shared with Merit Coffee. As in Deep Ellum, the bar pays homage to the local music scene with concert posters and ticket tickets on the walls.
Soul
The Franco-Indian restaurant opened in the spring at the site that was formally Hattie’s in the Bishop’s Arts District. The menu includes lamb vindaloo and various brunch options. On the back: a champagne bar called Elephant Bar that serves cocktails with a touch of Franco-Indian.
Sidesaddle Saloon
Photo via @sidesaddlesaloon on Instagram.
In Fort Worth, located on the Mule Alley complex, there is a cocktail and tapas bar in Texas that pays homage to the vintage cowgirls of the Old West. What are Texas tapas you may be wondering? Chive cookies with bacon cheddar, candied duck tacos and homemade beef tenderloin, to name a few. Yeehaw.
Sant Tacos
After BBBop Seoul Kitchen left Lower Greenville and became a ghost kitchen, Saint Tacos slipped back in the spring. The menu includes breakfast tacos, street tacos, Tex-Mex favorites and chicken wings. There are no margins here, but you can get horchata and a hibiscus file.
We
Photo via Muchacho’s Facebook page.
If you want daisies, head to Southlake for this Tex-Mex restaurant by chef Omar Flores, nominated by James Beard. Drink and food menus are stacked. Another Flores restaurant, Whistle Britches, also opened its third location this year. Probably because he got Guy Fieri’s Flavortown seal of approval at Money Drive-Ins and Dives in 2018.
The Rabbit Hole Bar & Grill
This cozy place took over the former Eastbound & Down space on Ross Avenue. A perfect place to hang out with neighbors, the site is home to a dog park, a campfire and a patio and offers over 20 draft beers.
Hot chicken
Photo by Cody Farmer.
Finally, an ode to the hot chicken craze that hit Dallas. Linked above is our ranking of four different sites from early last year. In June, Lucky’s Hot Chicken announced five new locations: Oak Lawn, Richardson, Pleasant Grove, Framers Branch and Grand Prairie. Head to East Dallas and Highland Park locations that are already open if you haven’t already.
