Summer is in full effect, meaning it’s time for a fresh update of the Eater Dallas Cocktail Heatmap. These buzzy DFW cocktail bars offer the perfect answer to the question, “Where should I drink tonight?” This map has been completely revamped with all new locations for the season. Whether in search of a complex sip mixed by one of Dallas’s finest bartenders or something impossibly drinkable, this guide to the city’s hottest cocktail bars will help you get it done when it’s time to wet your whistle.
Stewart’s
Chef Tim Love makes a splash for summer with what he calls “a country club for the people.” We call it a cocktail bar with croquet. Whichever description you prefer, Love was influenced by British clubs from the previous century, where folks could get a nice Pimm’s Cup and have a civilized afternoon of games and day drinking. The bar food is fancy, including a Silver Fin (Royal Ossetra caviar served with six chilled Grey Goose shots), caviar bumps, Texas blue crab cakes, a lobster roll, and zucchini carpaccio. Guests can order pretty much whatever they want to drink, but the highlight of Stewart’s is unquestionably the martini cart, from which bartenders make the tableside martini of your dreams using “a bespoke blend of dry vermouths and a selection of six custom bitters,” according to a press release. Finish with two olives or a twist, it’s all up to you.
Goodsurf Beach Club
This Deep Ellum surf club has upped its game this summer, with a new menu from Dallas chef Nick Badovinus and cocktail offerings to match. Go here for frozen margaritas with a swirl of blackberry, blood orange, or hibiscus; margaritas on tap in classic, spicy (jalapeño and spicy bitters), or pina, which uses caramelized pineapple; and killer spins on classic cocktails like a cucumber mojito, prickly pear paloma, or blackberry mule. The bar also serves up a longer list than most places of low- and no-proof drinks, plus it carries THC-infused seltzer waters for the Cali sober crowd (hilariously, provided by the Dallas-based company Cali Sober). The restaurant has been redesigned, featuring a new patio with a shade cover, where guests can enjoy drinks while watching the surf pool, pickleball courts, or simply taking in the crowd.
Ghost Donkey
Right next door to Palma in Deep Ellum, and from the same hospitality group, is a new mezcal and tequila bar. It offers curated flights and a long menu of mezcals and tequilas — and the words “Casa Migos” are nowhere to be found, so we don’t hate it. There are also creative cocktails, like the Pistelero (Espolòn blanco tequila, ancho reyes verde, roasted poblano, and pineapple sherbet) and the Highland Picnic (Koch elemental mezcal, terralta reposado tequila, yuzu, agave, and egg white). The menu rounds out with zero-proof options and frozen cocktails, along with a short list of bar bites that includes chips and salsa, tacos, and quesadillas. Happy hour looks extremely limited, and you won’t be able to try any of those cool-sounding cocktails during it, but it runs Monday to Sunday (check the website for more specific hours). Don’t do a double-take when you enter — yes, that is a life-sized stuffed donkey.
Flamant
This isn’t just a bar; rather, it’s a restaurant that has 18 dedicated bar seats and an outdoor patio facing a man-made river (and Hilton hotel) where sipping on the drink of the summer, the Porto Tonico — a simple white port from Portugal with tonic water — reigns. It’s the perfect complement to Flamant’s menu of Portuguese and Spanish-inspired dishes, all cooked over an open-flame grill. The team here was awarded the initial Texas Michelin nod for Outstanding Cocktail Program at their Dallas restaurant Rye, and they brought some of that magic to Flamant in Plano. Try the Black Sangria, a dangerously good mix of Flamant brandy, black currant, pomegranate, balsamic vinegar, and Lambrusco. Also outstanding is the Rhu-Barbra Streisand (yes, they reused the name from Apothecary, but it’s a different drink), a take on a Pisco Sour with pisco, lime, Disaronno, rhubarb, violets, and egg white. Those who are feeling brave can order the Octopus’ Garden, made with cream sherry, Bacardi rum, and squid ink mojito that can be ordered with or without a charred octopus tentacle.
Gas Monkey Icehouse
An old-school Dallas favorite for folks who like beer and live music has returned (kind of) at the Grandscape in The Colony. Owner Richard Rawlings, who revived the Gas Monkey brand, has opened a spot with a massive outside courtyard where folks can come for pizza, smash burgers, chicken wings, beers, and to see Rawlings, who is the star of the Discovery Channel’s Fast N’ Loud, filming for his YouTube channel. There will, of course, also be live music and other entertainment. It offers lunch, dinner, and weekend brunch services. As far as cocktails, options lean classic with a paloma, espresso martini, cosmo, and Old Fashioned on the menu alongside a few specialties of the house, like the Green-Go (Jameson, peach liquor, and a house sour topped with Sprite) and the Shandy Dandy (Deep Eddy lemon vodka, Leineinkugel shandy, and fresh lemonade). The beer list has 28 options on tap.
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Source: dallas.eater.com