McKinney’s historic square is about 30 miles north of Dallas and worth every one of them. The buildings date to the 1800s, the shops are locally owned, and on a good weekend the whole thing hums in a way that’s hard to manufacture and easy to enjoy. Two days here goes fast.
The historic downtown square is the whole point of the trip — more than 120 shops and two dozen-plus restaurants packed into a walkable stretch of 19th-century buildings. Come on a Friday. Stay through Sunday. You won’t run out of things to do.
The city itself is older than most people realize. McKinney became the seat of Collin County in 1848, named for Collin McKinney — a signer of the Texas Declaration of Independence who helped survey and establish counties across the northern part of the state. The square’s layout dates to 1849, when landowner William Davis donated 120 acres for the townsite. The first building in town was literally dragged to the northwest corner of that square by twelve yoke of oxen.
Cotton and grain built the economy through the late 1800s, the railroad arrived in 1872 and turned McKinney into the commercial hub of the county, and the downtown filled in from there — brick by brick, block by block — with the buildings you’re still walking past today. The whole district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, and unlike a lot of historic downtowns, it never really hollowed out. It just kept going.
WHERE TO STAY
The obvious answer — and the right one — is The Grand Hotel at 107 N. Kentucky Street. The building went up in 1885, right in the middle of the cotton boom that was making McKinney one of the busiest commercial towns in North Texas, and the rooms feel like it means something that you’re staying there. Frette Italian sheets, soaking tubs in the suites, a fireplace in the Presidential Suite, views of the square from the upper floors. Rick’s Chophouse is on the first floor. Room service runs until 9:30 most nights. It’s 44 rooms, boutique through and through, and the kind of place where the front desk staff actually remembers your name by day two. If you can swing a suite with a wet bar and a view of Kentucky Street, do it. Weekend on the square starts before you even leave the building.
If you’d rather something quieter and a little more personal, Red Gate Inn at 811 N. Church Street is a short walk from the square and a completely different experience. It’s a restored historic home on more than an acre of landscaped grounds — adults only, intimate, run by owners who greet you like they’ve been waiting for you specifically. Breakfast is made to order every morning. There’s a pool. Rooms have bathrobes and walk-in showers. It books up on weekends, so plan ahead.
For something in between — more space, more flexibility, a kitchenette if you want it — The Bingham Estate is an 1883 home fully restored and now renting as a private four-suite property steps from Chestnut Square. It has a pool, a garden, and the kind of bones that make you wish you owned it. Available on Booking.com.
WHERE TO EAT AND DRINK
Start Saturday morning at Patina Green Home and Market, 116 N. Tennessee Street. It’s open Tuesday through Saturday, lunch from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and the menu changes every single day depending on what chef Robert Lyford sourced that morning. He’s been texting farmers across Texas for over a decade, and it shows. The sandwiches are pressed and impeccable — the kind of thing you think about on the drive home. Everything in the building is local, organic, or both. The retail side sells antiques, home goods, and found objects. It doubles as one of the better gift shops on the square.
Saturday night belongs to Harvest at the Masonic, 215 N. Kentucky Street. This one carries a Michelin Guide recommendation, which McKinney seems to wear lightly, but it’s well earned. The building is the old Masonic Lodge, built in 1911 when McKinney’s fraternal organizations were as central to civic life as any courthouse or church. It sat in rough shape for years before restaurateur Rick Wells put more than a million dollars into restoring it, and the result is three floors of completely different spaces — warm and familiar on the first, sage-green velvet chairs and intimate lighting on the second in what they call Chef Dre’s Dining Room, and a full bar with live music Tuesday through Saturday and the highest viewpoint in downtown McKinney on the third.
Executive Chef Andrea Shackelford keeps a menu that’s seasonal and serious without being fussy. Local farmers provide almost everything. The wine list runs more than 200 bottles, all American producers. Make a reservation.
Rick’s Chophouse, also at 107 N. Kentucky Street inside The Grand Hotel, is the spot for a long Saturday lunch or a dress-up Sunday dinner. The room is candlelit, white tablecloths, fresh flowers at every table — the whole romantic-occasion setup. The steaks are the reason to go: filet mignon, prime rib, grass-fed ribeye, New York strip, and if you’ve never had elk before, now’s your chance. The pork belly appetizer with spicy blueberry gastrique is one of the better bites on the square. Sunday brunch buffet runs from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and the bar program is genuinely good. A baby grand plays Thursday through Saturday nights.
Cadillac Pizza Pub at 112 S. Kentucky Street is the casual Friday night option, and it earns that slot. Wood-fired pizza made with Texas-grown vegetables, dough and sauce prepared fresh every day, live music most nights, cold beer, and a patio that’s exactly where you want to be when the weather cooperates. The fig and goat cheese pizza has been mentioned by regulars for years. The fig isn’t fussy — it works. Build your own if you want to, but trust the menu. Closed Mondays.
Square Burger at 115 N. Kentucky Street has been a square staple for years, and we covered it last week here at CraveDFW. Chef Craig Brundege sources his beef from Genesis grass-fed stock supplied by Local Yocal Farm to Market, which is also on the square. The High Society Burger and the lamb burger are the ones to order. Big windows, full bar, outdoor seating, and the kind of burger that justifies the drive on its own. Closed Tuesdays.
For something entirely different, find Room One Eleven at 111 E. Virginia Street. The entrance is through a vintage Coca-Cola vending machine hidden inside Layered, a brunch café during the day. Get the nightly password from their Instagram stories. Push through the machine, walk the illuminated hallway, and land in a prohibition-era speakeasy with silent films projected on the walls, dim lighting, and cocktails that take their craft seriously. The Old Fashioned is brûléed bitters over a house-selected single-barrel bourbon. The espresso martini has its own following. It’s the kind of place that turns a good trip into a great story. Open Thursday through Sunday.
End it all at Miruku Creamery, 207 N. Kentucky Street. This small family-run shop makes everything in-house — ice cream, toppings, cotton candy — using organic milk and locally sourced ingredients. The flavors are Japanese-American in spirit: think sea salt caramel, matcha, seasonal specials that rotate monthly. The Miruku Milk is a vanilla so clean it almost recalibrates your expectations. Get the cotton candy wrap if they have it. Closed Tuesdays.
WHAT TO SHOP
Wishful Thinking at 108 W. Virginia Street is one of the square’s most enduring stops. Owner Patty Streber is a trained silversmith from Rochester, New York, who’s been making jewelry on this square since 2010 and has moved through four locations along the way. She hand-forges everything — rings, earrings, necklaces, bracelets — using techniques that predate whatever trend is currently dominating jewelry Instagram. Every piece is signed and made to last. Open daily 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. (Fridays until 5 p.m.).
Across the square, Patina Green pulls double duty as one of the better home goods stores downtown. The retail side carries one-of-a-kind antiques, vintage finds, architectural salvage, and handmade objects that Kaci Lyford sources on road trips across Texas. Nothing in the shop looks like it came from a catalog.
Cynthia Elliott Boutique at 107 E. Virginia Street is the square’s long-running designer clothing stop — Southwest boho, European high street, occasion dressing, over 100 brands in a space run by someone who actually knows her customers. Around the corner, Sharla’s at 109 E. Virginia Street is the place to go for luxury skincare, candles, silk scarves, and accessories sourced from European markets and makers you won’t find at the mall. Owner Sharla Bush has been on the square since 2004 and the shop smells incredible from the sidewalk.
For antiques and oddities, Miss Henny Penny’s Groovy Coop at 109 S. Tennessee Street is exactly what it sounds like — vintage records, old video games, novelty collectibles, retro clothing, and the particular pleasure of digging through things nobody else thought to keep. Owner Katie Scott is a former schoolteacher who’s been on the square since 2015. If you have someone on your list who is impossible to shop for, start here.
McKinney Art Gallery at 118 E. Louisiana Street is worth a walk-through even if you’re not buying. It’s a co-op of more than 50 local artists — painters, potters, jewelers, sculptors, mixed media — staffed by the artists themselves. Wishful Thinking’s Patty Streber has shown work here too, which tells you something about the connections running through this square.
Parking is free in the garages off the square, and there’s a downtown shuttle that runs on busy weekends. The square allows carry-out alcohol, which means a frozen drink from Miruku or wherever else you pick something up can travel with you on your walk. Plan to be on foot once you’re parked. The whole thing is built for exactly that.
