Most bars that call themselves the largest patio bar in Dallas are overstating the case. Happiest Hour is not. The numbers are what they are: 12,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor space spread across four full-service bars, a rooftop deck with a downtown Dallas skyline view that stops people mid-sentence, and a beverage program running more than 50 beers, wines on tap, and enough signature cocktails to fill a Saturday afternoon without repeating yourself. It sits at 2616 Olive Street in the Harwood District, steps from American Airlines Center, and on a Saturday it opens at 11 a.m. — which is the correct time to start if the plan is to make a day of it.
Brunch Me Hard
Weekend brunch runs Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the menu is more serious than the room’s energy might suggest. The kitchen cooks exclusively with tallow rendered in-house from Harwood’s own Premium Beef Program — no seed or nut oils anywhere — which explains why the fried things taste the way they do and why the brisket queso is the first thing reviewers mention when they come back for the second time. The flagship brunch order is the Breakfast Burger: an 8-ounce HWD beef blend patty with a fried egg, hash brown, cheddar, candied bacon, and a hit of maple syrup — the kind of construction that sounds like too much and lands as exactly right.
The Breakfast Tacos — scrambled egg, smoked brisket, cotija, avocado, crema, salsa, and lime — are the lighter option that still earns the meal. The Breakfast Sandwich runs bacon, scrambled eggs, and cheddar on Texas toast with sidewinder fries. The Chicken & Waffle Sliders bring the Southern angle to a menu that is already covering a lot of ground. For something to share before any of that arrives, the Dumpwings — fried dumplings in your choice of hot, BBQ, kung pao, or garlic-parmesan — are the bar snack that tables order and then order again. The Parmesan and truffle fries with truffle ranch are the fries.
The salad range runs from a hearty BLT-style with romaine, avocado, bacon, bleu cheese, and cilantro ranch through a lighter watermelon, pickled strawberry, and manchego situation with clementine vinaigrette — the kind of range that means no one at the table has to compromise. For dessert, and this is worth mentioning, the brownie sundae runs a full pound and a half of brownie under twelve scoops of assorted ice cream, chocolate ganache, marshmallows, gummy bears, and banana caramel sauce. It is not subtle. It is also the right way to close a Saturday afternoon if the afternoon has gone the way it should.
Day Drinkers Anyone?
The drinks are the whole point and the selection earns the name. More than 50 beers on tap and in bottles. Wines poured from the tap. A full cocktail menu. The weekday happy hour runs Monday through Friday 4 to 6 p.m. with half-priced Happytizers and $7 signature cocktails, beer, and wine. But for the weekend day drinking format, arriving Saturday at 11 a.m. and working through brunch into the afternoon without a reservation is exactly how this room is designed to be used.
The rooftop is the reason to pick Happiest Hour over everything else. The view from up there — downtown Dallas in every direction, the AAC below, the Harwood District’s towers framing it — is the version of Dallas that locals forget exists until they’re standing in it with a cold drink. No reservations for weekend brunch, first-come first-served. Arrive by noon on a Saturday and you’ll find a seat. Arrive at 2 p.m. and you’ll wait. Open Saturday 11 a.m. to 2 a.m., Sunday 11 a.m. to midnight. (972) 528-0067.
