Dallas on a good weekend is one of the better cities in America to be in with no particular agenda. The food is serious, the weather in late May still has a few comfortable hours on either end of the day, and there is always more happening than most people realize. Here is a weekend that actually delivers — restaurants at different price points, a brunch spot worth planning your Saturday morning around, good drinks, and things worth doing while you’re out.
FRIDAY NIGHT
Start at Si Tapas at 2207 Allen Street in Uptown for a long, unhurried evening of Spanish small plates. Si Tapas has been in this neighborhood since 2009 and operates on the Spanish premise that dinner is supposed to take a while. Thirty-plus hot and cold tapas, a serious sherry and wine list chosen by province, a cozy patio, and happy hour running Monday through Thursday 4 to 7 p.m. with $2 tapas and drink specials. The seared tuna with four styles of ground pepper, the croquetas, and the oxtail stew are the ones to build around. Order too much. That’s the point. Open daily 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. (11 p.m. Friday and Saturday). Phone: (214) 720-0324.
After dinner, walk two blocks to Parliament at 2418 Allen Street — an elegant cocktail lounge in Uptown opened by barman Lucky Campbell in 2014, with wood-paneled walls, Prohibition-era vibes, and a drinks list that runs from Old Fashioneds to the house Parliament Royale with gin, yuzu, apple, bitters, and Champagne. No reservations — walk in. Note they add 20% gratuity to all checks. Open daily 5 p.m. to 2 a.m.
SATURDAY MORNING
Garden Cafe at 5310 Junius Street in East Dallas has been here since 2002 and is the brunch Dallas keeps almost discovering. The building sits on a working garden — herbs and vegetables grown on site, picked before service, which is why things taste the way they do here. The patio is surrounded by that garden, shaded, genuinely beautiful in the morning. The Country Boy Benedict arrives drenched in pepper gravy over a biscuit. The sweet potato pancakes and buttermilk table pancakes are worth building a morning around. Everything is under $16. Reservations available through gardencafe.net. Open Thursday through Saturday 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. (kitchen closes 3 to 5 p.m.), Sunday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Closed Monday through Wednesday. Phone: (214) 887-8330. Our review here.
SATURDAY AFTERNOON
Before the evening gets started, swing through Peticolas Brewing Company at 1301 Pace Street in the Design District. Family-owned since 2011, one of the first craft breweries to open in Dallas, and Grand National Champion at the U.S. Open Beer Championship in 2018. The tri-level taproom has 18 beers on tap — one nitro, one traditional cask ale — concrete and galvanized metal bar tops, games on every floor (ping pong, shuffleboard, foosball, ring toss), and rotating food trucks outside when the weather holds. Open Saturday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. With the World Cup two weeks out, Peticolas has brewed Dallas’s best soccer beers — the place to watch a match. Phone: (469) 270-7850.
This Saturday, Carne Asada Fest runs noon to 11 p.m. at Lofty Spaces, 816 Montgomery Street — an indoor-outdoor, all-ages celebration of Dallas’s Latino culture with street tacos from local vendors, live music, mariachi, a mercado, art, and activations. Free parking. Kids 6 and under free. Four complimentary drinks included with admission. Tickets at Eventbrite.
Also this weekend: the Dallas Symphony plays Dvořák & Korngold through Sunday at Meyerson Symphony Center, and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade screens outdoors at the Nasher Sculpture Center tonight at dusk — one of the better ways to spend a May evening in the Arts District.
SATURDAY NIGHT DRINKS
The Grapevine Bar at 2213 Butler Street has been a Dallas institution since 1996 — first on Maple Avenue for nearly three decades, now a mile away in the Medical District with most of the same staff. Rooftop deck, basketball court, pool table, patio, jukebox, and the famous Tangaritas — frozen margaritas spiked with Everclear and Tang that have been ending nights and starting stories since before most of Dallas’s current bar scene existed. The crowd runs from prom queens to drag queens, as the regulars like to say, and the drinks are exactly as strong as advertised. Open Monday through Saturday 3 p.m. to 2 a.m., Sunday 1 p.m. to 2 a.m. Phone: (214) 522-8466.
SATURDAY DINNER
Written by the Seasons at 380 Melba Street in Bishop Arts is the Michelin-recommended seasonal restaurant from Scott Gottlich where the menu changes with what’s available and the cocktail list follows the same logic. The focaccia starts the table. The room earns a reservation. Check out our review here. Open Friday and Saturday 5 to 11 p.m. Phone: (469) 580-1185.
SUNDAY
The Above Wines EXPO runs Sunday from 3:30 p.m. at Winfrey Point on White Rock Lake — an outdoor wine event at one of Dallas’s most scenic locations. A good reason to spend a Sunday afternoon outside before dinner.
For something casual Sunday afternoon, head to Café Izmir at 3711 Greenville Avenue on Lower Greenville — open since 1996, built around Mama Nazy’s Persian, Greek, Turkish, and Lebanese recipes, and still making the hummus that people drive across the city for. The room is small, the patio is enclosed, and the whole concept is built around sharing. Get the hummus, the dolmas, the lamb kubideh, and the chicken in saffron wine sauce. Everything under $25. Check out our review here. Open daily 4:30 to 10 p.m. Reservations on OpenTable. Phone: (214) 826-7788.
For Sunday dinner proper, Zon Zon at 5455 Belt Line Road, Suite 130 in North Dallas is the Mediterranean concept from Yaser Khalaf and his son Mak — the family behind Darna and Baboush — named after Mak’s sister Zaina. Open kitchen, warm contemporary room, 735-square-foot patio, the full shareable format. The crispy cauliflower with saffron labneh, the baba ghanoush, the chicken kebabs, and the ZZ’s baklava with goat cheese, burnt pineapple and vanilla gelato are the ones people keep ordering. Check out our review here. Open Sunday 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Phone: (214) 838-1388.
For Sunday dinner on the higher end, Pangea at 1910 Pacific Avenue downtown is Southern Sunday dinner run through refined French technique from chef Kevin Ashade, who beat Bobby Flay on national television and has been building a devoted following since. The braised lamb shank and coq au vin are the ones to order. Warm, personal, and completely unlike anything else downtown. Open Sunday 4 to 10 p.m.
That’s a Dallas weekend. Nothing on this list requires a car after you park once in each neighborhood, and every price point from $15 to splurge is covered.
