The weather has finally turned, the patios are full again, and there’s live music in just about every room in town. Here’s your weekend, November 6 to 8, one day at a time.
Start with dinner at The Charles, the contemporary Italian restaurant at 1632 Market Center Blvd., near Oak Lawn in the Design District. Begin with the Focaccia di Charles with prosciutto and black truffle honey, then go to the wood-fired grill for the Wagyu short rib with brown butter balsamic and sticky shallots. If you’re sharing, add the cappellini with caviar and Meyer lemon, and finish with the affogato semifreddo, finished tableside with flaming espresso. The kitchen serves until 11 p.m., and it’s a short drive from there to Oak Cliff, Lower Greenville or Deep Ellum.
At 8 p.m., Paula Cole plays The Kessler in Oak Cliff on her This Fire: 30 tour, performing the 1996 album in full, including “Where Have All the Cowboys Gone?” and “I Don’t Want to Wait.” Rett Madison opens. Over at the Granada Theater on Lower Greenville, it’s An Evening With Shadowgrass, also at 8. If you’d rather dress up, the Dallas Symphony Orchestra plays Ellington, Strayhorn and Gershwin at the Meyerson at 7:30.
After the show, Deep Ellum is the easy call. Double Wide on Commerce Street has a patio out back and stays open until 2 a.m., and Three Links on Elm Street has the Sparkbird and Wrongbird double bill starting at 7. For something quieter, Craft and Growler in Exposition Park brews its own beer and pours until 10.
In Fort Worth, it’s Texas Country Music Awards weekend in the Stockyards. The free Texas Country Showcase starts at 1 p.m. on the Stockyards Exchange Main Stage, with a free Monty Dawson Band show at 6:30. Later, Giovannie and the Hired Guns play Billy Bob’s Texas at 10 p.m. for the 18-and-up crowd.
Friday is also the calmest night for Panda Fest, which opens at 4 p.m. at Carpenter Park downtown. More on that below.
Ease into the day on a patio Saturday. In Oak Cliff, Ten Bells Tavern on West Eighth Street opens at 10 a.m. on weekends with a big patio and a from-scratch kitchen known for its chicken fried steak. A few doors down, The Wild Detectives, the bookstore that doubles as a bar, also opens at 10 and has a back patio made for a cold beer and a new paperback. Lee Harvey’s in The Cedars opens at 11, and its picnic-table yard is made for a burger and a long afternoon. Double Wide opens at 1, and the beer garden at Rollertown Beerworks in Frisco opens at 11.
If the kids are along, you have options. Panda Fest fills Carpenter Park, 2201 Pacific Ave., from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. with more than 60 vendors serving upward of 150 Asian street foods, from Korean barbecue in a cup to whole grilled squid and wobbly Japanese soufflé pancakes. Every vendor has at least one item under $10, there are kung fu shows and panda photo spots, and kids under 6 get in free. General admission is $14, $2 more on Saturday, on the Panda Fest website. Take a rideshare.
In Fort Worth, the Fall Japanese Festival runs from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden, with last entry at 4. Expect taiko drumming, tea ceremonies, ikebana and food trucks. Tickets are $15 for adults, $13 for seniors and $9 for kids 3 to 15, children 2 and under are free, and so is parking.
From 1 to 4 p.m., Brass & Jazz in the Park brings free, family-friendly New Orleans brass, dance, art activities and a second line to Mattie Nash-Myrtle Davis Park in West Dallas. And for the littlest ones, the Lenny Pearce Toddler Rave takes over The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory in Irving at 5 p.m.
For dinner, head to the Stockyards early and eat at Lonesome Dove Western Bistro, Tim Love’s place at 2406 N. Main St. Order the kangaroo carpaccio nachos with avocado salsa and habanero-fig demi-glace and the elk sausage sliders with seared foie gras and blueberry jam to share, then the roasted garlic-stuffed beef tenderloin, the dish Love has kept on the menu for years. The adventurous can add the rabbit-rattlesnake sausage. Dinner starts at 5, and from there it’s a short walk to the late shows. Make a reservation, because Stockyards weekends fill up fast.
Saturday night belongs to the honky tonks and the small rooms. Sammy Arriaga plays Tannahill’s Music Hall at 9, and Ian Munsick brings his Wyoming country to Billy Bob’s at 10. In Dallas, Low Cut Connie, the piano-pounding Philadelphia rock and roll band, plays the Granada at 8 with Laney Jones and the Spirits opening. The Army, The Navy plays The Kessler, Moon Darling plays Three Links at 7:30, and songwriter Noah Gundersen plays Deep Ellum Art Co at 7:30 for the 21-and-up crowd. The Dallas Symphony repeats its Ellington, Strayhorn and Gershwin program at 7:30.
One warning. Ye plays AT&T Stadium in Arlington at 8 p.m., so if your night takes you anywhere near Arlington, leave early or take the long way.
Families can burn off energy at Cidercade Sunday on Irving Boulevard, which opens at 10 a.m. with hundreds of arcade games, pinball and its own ciders for the grown-ups. It goes 18-and-up after 9 p.m., so go early with the kids. For an easy afternoon beer, Celestial Beerworks in the Medical District opens at noon, is known for its IPAs and fruited sours, and usually has a food truck out back. Panda Fest opens at 10 and wraps at 8 p.m., so Sunday morning is the best time to beat its crowds. The Fall Japanese Festival in Fort Worth runs its second day from 9 to 5.
Bring the family to the Dallas Symphony’s 2 p.m. matinee of Ellington, Strayhorn and Gershwin at the Meyerson if the kids are old enough to sit through a concert.
Then spend the afternoon at Lee Harvey’s, where A Hard Night’s Day, the longtime Dallas Beatles tribute band, plays on Sunday. Check the bar’s social pages for the start time. Close out the weekend at The Kessler, where Andrew McMahon sits down at the piano at 7 p.m. with Ivory Layne opening.
And yes, the big food festivals are on all weekend too. The Greek Food Festival of Dallas runs Friday through Sunday on Hillcrest, and Chefs For Farmers takes over Old City Park on Saturday and Sunday afternoons. Have fun, and pace yourself.
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