In Dallas, four things remain supreme. A strong cocktail (a cold beer will suffice), good, hearty food, a passion for sports, and parking. The Loon Bar and Grill in Dallas has a rare combination of all four.

Remember, Dallas is a city with valet parking at shopping malls, hospitals, sporting venues, and airports. Does one really have to valet at North Park Mall – with its 3,000 parking spaces – to get a smoothie at the food court?

Despite now stiff competition, The Loon is a survivor. Located in a non-descript shopping mall that is older than 90% of the area residents, The Loon has been on the corner of Lemmon and McKinney before uptown became “Uptown”. And on most occasions, one can park for free and avoid the $5 valet many bars attach when you are stopping in for a $4 beer.

Proprietor Cliff Gonzalez has long believed in the area way before it became a destination, let alone fashionable. McKinney Avenue, despite its proximity to downtown, was a dustbowl. He was involved in the late Montezuma’s and the once venerable Primo’s (before an ownership change stripped it of its pizzazz). The area was growing up around him, with a plethora of high rise living spaces, self contain mini-towns (see West Village), and a revolving door of concept restaurants.

Gonzalez opened The Loon in the space once occupied by Joe Miller’s, a hangout for the newspaper crowd back when the Dallas Morning News and the Dallas Times Herald battled it out for supremacy in the print medium. Joe died, leaving the bar to the family uninterested in running it. The Loon emerged, and is twice the bar Joe Miller’s was, literally.

After a successful decade, the Loon doubled in size when acquiring the property next door. A large, rectangular bar is now the prominent feature, where back in the old days the fireplace took precedence.

The Loon could loosely be classified as a sports bar, with numerous TV’s and some sports memorabilia on the walls. But the greatest honor The Loon received in local sports lore occurred on June 13, 2011 when the first place in Dallas the world champion Dallas Mavericks and owner Mark Cuban took the Larry O’Brien trophy was The Loon. My guess is the tab was not as large as the $110,000 tab ($90K plus a $20K tip) Cuban picked up at the victory party in Miami the night before.

Open at 11:00, the bar is full of regulars. Cliff holds court at a table near the one pool table, while the other daily visitors sit at the bar as if it were assigned seating. The bar inventory blocks the sightlines from one side to the other, and that’s the way the patrons like it. And you can always identify the people who have never been to The Loon before when they ask for a draft beer. Beer is available in bottles and cans only.

At night, the bar becomes decidedly younger and more crowded. Food is available from open to close. The menu has traditional burgers and sandwiches, pastas, and pizzas, although the pork sandwich was the item that got the Loon noticed years ago. Today, in addition to the menu, a chalkboard features an ever-changing four items that can include roasted chicken, scallops, tilapia, cioppino, pork chops, and osso bucco. They never disappoint. Most dishes are served with a side or in the case of the cioppino, garlic bread.

The Loon also possesses a fifth quality rarely found in Dallas: loyalty. As places come and go, changing names and concepts and moving the valet parking stands, The Loon has sat as a tried and true watering hole with consistently good food while it customers – old and new – remain loyal. –D.M.

This is no bar for rookies. Louie’s is a place where the pros drink, especially when they come in to exchange hot political views. Experienced candidates only.

This is a watering hole. Where the drinks are a strong as the opinions. A throwback to old bars where newspapermen hung out after putting the paper to bed, this place has a Chicago style but could easily be at home in New York or San Francisco. But lo and behold, this joint is in a predominately but ever-changing Hispanic neighborhood in Dallas, TX.

Dark on the inside with televised sports always on (after the 5:00 local news); Louie’s is a great place to get the pulse on politics, sports, the neighborhood, and any issues of the day. It is such an institution that they built a school next door without any concern about the possible negative influence to the children.

An even bigger surprise than the zoning exemption is the food. As good as bar grub gets (the thin crust pizza is renowned around town and available for takeout), with appetizers like Clams Casino and crab claws and entrees sole and salmon that are hard to believe.

The character laden staff flanked by kingpin owner Louie Canelakes – with Mother “Mrs. C” and Brother Chris turning out the wonderful kitchen items – is friendly and direct as one would expect in a house of pros. Characters man the other side of the bar as well, from the mid-week old time regulars to the yuppie and increasingly family-oriented weekend crowd.

This is a rare mix of a place you can go alone or with a group and be equally entertained and satisfied. Every city needs a joint like Louie’s, and damn few cities have one. D.M.

Lakewood is an upscale neighborhood in East Dallas. It would be fitting then that the neighborhood would play host to Dallas’ only “upscale dive.”

Lakewood Landing boasts “An Upscale Dive” on its matchbook and on the partially cracked outside sign. The bar truly lives up to that claim. For over thirty years, the personality of the bar was the woman behind it. Lucille – who passed away years ago – was the woman with the beehive hairdo and the grit that made the place legendary. A friendly, knowledgeable staff keeps the spirit of Lucille alive.

The building is nondescript, looking like a 1960’s dentist office or insurance office more than a bar. Inside, the furniture is a bit worn, as expected in a “dive.” A shrine to Lucille graces the middle of the bar.

Televisions are scattered about the bar with local sports always on the tube. The burgers are famous around town, as are the freshly made onion rings that are a meal onto itself.

Enter from the side parking lot and you will find the bar on the right, a friendly game of billiards on the left, and a jukebox filled with tunes from the 70’s on front and center. Large booths and smaller tables make up the rest of the bar which opens at 3:00 daily.

Lakewood Landing is a beer and a shot place, with good food and fun clientele that would make Lucille proud. D.M.

“When every night the set that’s smart is intruding in nudist parties in studios. Anything goes.” Cole Porter may have never been to the Grapevine Bar. But he understood.

The Grapevine Bar on Maple Avenue, one block north of Oak Lawn Avenue in Dallas, is one-of-a-kind. Situated in a very transitional area of Dallas, where Hispanic meets Gay meets Yuppie, anything goes at the Grapevine.
Housed in the old Herrera’s Cafe adobe style building ” the restaurant has moved into a very non-descript space across the street – the Grapevine is an amusement park ride of fantasy and debauchery.

A recent visit touted Suckfest #9 – drinks from 1 PM and 2 AM offered at one dollar and all of the Crawfish one could eat for free. It may not have been what one would think given the dynamics of the place.
On any given day, walk into a very small bar with couches flanking the standing area. The shots flow and a great group of bottled beer fly over the bar or from the wait station.

The middle room is devoted to a pool table almost too big for the room. Couches are squeezed in there as well. Continue back and a covered patio waits that suddenly is uncovered to reveal – I will give you three guesses a regulation basketball court.
Hence, that encapsulates the oddity of the place and the crowd. A bevy of beautiful women may mingle, straight couples are making a final public stop, two guys may be making out, lipstick lesbians may be romancing, and an office party of attorneys and associates may be sitting at a folding table. And anybody may be shooting hoops.

The Grapevine normally opens in the late afternoon and remains open until whenever. It is a fun and intriguing late night spot. The parking lot is normally full early so street parking or scamming a place in the office building across Shelby Avenue is necessary.

The juke box and the place – for that matter – are right out of Pulp Fiction. It is a classic final evening destination. One is usually too spent to go somewhere else after the Grapevine, usually because one doesn’t want to leave but has to.

The sign on the bathroom door states “one person at a time.” That is evidence that at the Grapevine Bar, anything goes.” D.M.

Belt Line Road in Far North Dallas/Addison tends to be a conurbation (I just got a word-of-the-day calendar) of chain restaurants and humorless, bland places of libation. One place stands apart despite the strip mall locale: Cafe Gecko.

Owner Dennis Dial has created an oasis in an otherwise sterile environment. He is the consummate bar owner, who is as handy with a wrench as he is with martini shaker. He has done most of the work inside himself. Messages like the “kitchen is open and close” and “we don’t make any of the beer we sell” reflect the owner’s personality and refusal to conform to typical North Dallas standards.

The place is always hopping, because of an outstanding (and often very attractive) wait staff, pros behind the bar and an abundance of parking outside. A place in Dallas without valet parking is a rare find.

The bar itself is a classic wooden structure picked up from the popular 80’s Oak Lawn establishment called the Wine Press (where now one of Dallas’ best restaurants Al Beirnat’s resides). The kitchen cranks out excellent fare at reasonable prices with fish tacos and orange chicken particular favorites. Lunch is as busy as dinner.

The place has an excellent middle age crowd, especially popular with the North Dallas cell phone and beeper carriers. Solo men and women are treated warmly, so there should be no hesitation to venture in alone. Happy hour on weekdays is from 3 to 7.

Dennis’ wife Kelly updated the place a few years ago with colors reflective of the Caribbean motif. The beer list is extensive with all of the top brands. A Red Stripe matches perfectly with the jerk chicken tacos. A simple ring toss game in the back is the only bar game, and while the TV’s are tuned to sports the sound is replaced by music to make the place more friendly to women.

Cafe Gecko is a break from the Far North Dallas routine. It is a bar that would fit right in any urban neighborhood. D. M.

Sometimes things just work out. When Eddie Cervantes opened Primo’s in Uptown Dallas well over a decade ago, there was no up in Uptown. A blighted area with great potential, most all traffic and dollars were heading to Far North Dallas. But Primo’s was an immediate hit, and his perseverance paid off. The area is now thriving and Primo’s is in a primo location.

Known for its fine Mexican food – it is the Mansion at Turtle Creek Chef Dean Fearing’s favorite restaurant – Primo’s really is known as the favorite watering hole of the upwardly mobile. Serving the best Margarita in town, which is no small achievement in Dallas, Primo’s is always crowded and it should be. It is consistently one of the best bars in Dallas.

From the early arriving lunch crowd until last call, Primo’s packs them in. You can set your watch by the time some regulars arrive, and they seem to chart their territory. Most veterans drink bar right near the restrooms. Those that visit not as frequently tend to gravitate bar left, where getting a drink can be a challenge. But the bar and wait staff, usually donned in t-shirts and shorts, are very friendly and super attentive. I have never seen an incident at Primo’s, and I have worn out the front and back door of the place.

There is always the birthday party or bachelorette party that will take over tables in the front or the room in the back. The patio facing bustling Mckinney Avenue is a choice seat on warm days and nights.

Tuesday night is always packed because of drink specials which tend to attract a large number of female clientele. But striking up a friendly conversation with a stranger or a friend is very easy at Primo’s, especially in the space challenged bar area.

Warm chips and excellent salsa begin every meal or are available at the bar for munching. The menu is extremely reasonable in price, although opt for two of the most expensive items on the menu “the shrimp or chicken mesquite” which are still under $15 and just outstanding.

No draft beer but a fine selection of bottled beer especially Mexican beer is available and very cold. Parking was more of an adventure until a valet lot went up across the street, but beware of parking in other establishment’s areas. They don’t seem to have much respect for the pioneer.

Mavericks drink there. Stars drink there. And those are just the sports teams. Local Mavericks and movie stars go there too. All to an unassuming place that picked the right time and the right place to open when Dallas needed a place like Primo’s so desperately.” D. M.

Back in the Vietnam era, the gap between the younger generation and older generation was at its height. How ironic that Milo Butterfinger’s – where a portion the Oliver Stone Vietnam era motion picture Born on the Fourth of July was filmed – is one of the few bars where very young and very old frolic in alcohol bliss.

Milo’s, has the locals call it, changes dramatically throughout the day. Almost always crowded, day times are for the more senior crowd, happy hour is a mixed bag, evenings are for all ages but the time when most of the legal aged SMU students frequent, and late night is for the hospitality industry and for those who live in the nearby cluster of apartments just stopping in to have one more.

A doorman ID’s anyone that doesn’t look of age. Drinks are cheap, with pitchers of beer being big players. The service staff is a fun group of characters. Sports are always on the numerous TV’s and pool games are always going on in the back. A dart tournament is part of Tuesday nights. I wonder if the participants take DART, the Dallas Area Rapid Transit train that stops nearby?

The walls are filled with sports memoribilia, except Texas-OU weekend when they change out the normal with things that reflect the history of the rivalry. A bartender that had a cup of coffee with the Dallas Blackhawks – the farm team of the Chicago parent many years ago – is enshrined. His career ended to a bout of mononucleous. His nickname is “Mono.”

The street is full of other bar options, mainly SMU bars, and parking can be diificult at night. The food is serviceable, served very late and extremely inexpensive. The patty melt is a favorite, and the fryer seems to be working overtime on most nights pushing out items for the college kids that will have more sense when they reach grandpa’s age. Maybe thay can stop into Milo’s during the day to get a lesson. – D.M.

There is a gem of a little bar with the controversial name in a transitional part of a city trying to forget one of the most significant historical events of the 20th century. Once you get past all of that, you’ll be glad that you tracked down Lee Harvey’s.

When I told my devout Irish Catholic mother that I was moving to Dallas from the West Coast, she cried “how could you move to the city that killed our President?” Such is the stigma that Dallas has lived with for more than four decades. Dallas tried to ignore the topic for years, until finally the city faced facts and put an appropriate and educational museum dedicated to the events of November 22, 1963 on the sixth floor of the Texas Book Depository Building where Lee Harvey Oswald allegedly fired the shots that killed President John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

Today the Sixth Floor Museum is one of Dallas’ most visited attractions. Not too far down the road is another place that while very difficult to find and requiring a bit of nerve to get to, is fast becoming a hot property. And the owner claims that the bar is not named after Dallas’ Public Enemy #1.

When you go underneath the Dallas Convention Center and venture into South Dallas, it can be like entering Toon-Town in Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Gone instantly is the flash and sizzle of Uptown and Far North Dallas. Reality sets in.

Homeless and druggies roam the streets. A mission serves food to the hungry. Urban decay is abundant and all in the shadow of the skyscrapers of downtown Dallas. Luckily, some people are starting to make a difference.

Money and energy are going into South Dallas, and in time it will be one of the more desirable parts of town. South side is developing. Land is being acquired for more entertainment and residential areas. And hats off to those urban pioneers, like Seth Smith the owner of Lee Harvey’s.

A converted house with a chain-link fence around a large front yard full of picnic tables, Lee Harvey’s is an unusual sight in this rather unsightly neighborhood. So hard to find for the first timer, key fobs with directions to the bar are available from the bartenders so one wont get lost the second time around.

Open at 5 pm everyday but Sunday, this watering hole is in a time warp. And that is a good thing.

Point-of-sale from the 1960’s featuring Schlitz and Budweiser and Miller High Life grace the walls. Pabst Blue Ribbon is a popular beer here. Great classic R&B and rock and roll tunes are mixed in with current hits on the jukebox. At any given time the Cartoon Network will be on the TV showing Hanna Barbera cartoons from the ‘60’s. This place is retro cool without trying to be.

A menu written in colored pen on a white erasable board alerts patrons on what is available from the small kitchen that is open every night. Burgers and terrific Panini sandwiches are specialties of the house, and a nice list of appetizers can satisfy a craving for the munchies.

The crowd is very eclectic and gets significantly younger and trendier as the night goes on. Being honest and understated is bringing out the creative and the club crawler, making this a very happening weekend destination. The bar is laid back but just as colorful during the week.

The yard is never better utilized than on Sunday, when the bar opens at 1 pm. Sunday at Lee Harvey’s is Dog Day Afternoon, when dogs are allowed to roam around the yard while dog owners roam around the bar. This place is a hot spot. And a hot spot for Spot.

In Dallas, the name Lee Harvey brings back memories of the city’s most dubious distinction. The name Lee Harvey’s is bringing Dallas a whole new distinction: a place that might be the coolest spot in the city because of people willing to take a chance.” D.M.

Usually places on this web site involve establishments that serve alcoholic beverages. But there is a place in Dallas so unique “liquor or not” that it can’t be overlooked although it is so easy to overlook.

Fifteen or so years ago, the Dallas Morning News rated Roses as serving the best hamburger in Dallas. That is a major claim in a town full of ground beef joints. Not foreign to the all beef patty and having never been to Roses, I wanted to do my own appraisal. But as the article reported, part of the charm of the place is finding it so no address or phone number were listed. That challenge turned me into a lunchtime sleuth.

A search of the phone book was futile. Asking around brought me blank stares or “I know something you don’t know” twinkles. A colleague in my office joined the search. One morning, she ran into my office simply stating “I found it!”

It appears that she was driving down lower upper Greenville and eyed this old red house that had been there for years. Above the locked screen door were the reflective letters that one buys at the hardware store stating modestly: R-O-S-E-S.

Let\’s take a quick diversion to explain lower upper Greenville. As confusing as that bit of direction may sound, people in Dallas know exactly where that is. Mockingbird Lane divides Greenville Avenue, a bustling street of distinctive bars, restaurants, stores and personalities. Above Mockingbird Lane is commercial, apartment heavy upper Greenville; below it is small, single family home-filled lower Greenville.

Anyway, Roses was found but the role of sleuth continued. How do you get into the place? And what do you do when you get in?

My accomplice and I waited out back until we found two well-rounded guys with short sleeve dress shirts and ties heading toward Roses’ backdoor. We followed them in where more hand-applied lettering simply stated “Welcome.”

The first stop is the cooler. Reach in and pull out a bottle of pop served in classic returnable bottles if the manufacturer still offers them. Grab chips if you like and have a seat, but just to mark your territory. You must go back and order directly from Rose. She writes down your order on a small piece of paper and hands it to her son (or at least that what we call him) the griller.

Return to your seat until your name is called where you go back to the kitchen and fetch your hamburger or cheeseburger – those are the only things on the menu at Roses – plated by wax paper. The burgers are fresh and hot and taste as good as any in town.

Upon completion, everyone busses their paper, puts the returnable bottles in the proper container and then goes back to pay Rose. She then adds up your total on an 8 ½ X 11 piece of paper that serves as her calculator and ledger. Burgers are $4.25, one dollar more for cheese. Cash only, or as the handmade sign near the kitchen says, “American Money.”

You\’ll smell like the delicious burger you just had for a couple of hours, as the ceiling is low at Roses and the ventilation was pre-Dallas air conditioning. But forget about the smell, it is finding the place and enjoying the whole experience at Roses that will make you yell \”Eureka!\”
– D. M.

UPDATE: Unfortunately, Rose Stivers passed away on December 1, 2003 just two days shy of her 89th birthday. Lunch in Dallas will never quite be the same without her.

Out of the glitz and glamour that is the Dallas bar scene is a classy, stoic gem called the Library Bar. Located in the Melrose Hotel, trendy seems to have passed this bar by. And unlike most hotel bars, one is more likely to meet a local than a flange salesman from Omaha.

Home of the big martini glass and overstuffed chairs, the Library Bar is the quintessential date place. The room is big and dark and comfortable but the bar itself is very small – maybe six stools – so it is a place better to be with someone. And the romantic elements like the decor and the piano lend itself to being accompanied by a member of the opposite sex.

Lounge music from a pianist/singer begins at Happy Hour and goes until closing. Sometimes the room fills with sound, so conversations must sometimes cease. That again may make it a quintessential date place.

Crowds form at night and a line may surface on weekends. The all-female staff is relaxed and is as sophisticated as the room. Valet parking is available at the front of the hotel.

The hotel is a Dallas landmark offering large, older rooms at a reasonable price. Located at the busy intersection of Oak Lawn and Cedar Springs in the heart of Dallas’ gay district, this bar’s clientele is decidedly straight. Other options are within walking distance outside of the hotel.