A hundred degrees in Dallas calls for one of two things: air conditioning or a drink cold enough to make you forget the heat for a few minutes. The bars that understand this are not the ones handing you a sugary frozen drink out of a machine. They’re the ones that have thought about what summer actually tastes like — citrus, herbs, smoke, stone fruit, something bright — and built their menus around it. Here’s where to find them.
Continue readingFiled under Steven Doyle
Alberto Lombardi has spent decades building some of the most reliable dining rooms in Dallas-Fort Worth — Bistro 31, Toulouse, Taverna, Lombardi Cucina Italiana. His newest concept is a sports bar, which sounds like a left turn until you spend five minutes in it. Victory Tap Sports Lounge opened Saturday at 5973 W. Parker Road in Plano, and it brings the same hospitality standards as everything else the group has built — just with 32 televisions, two video walls, and a Formula 1 racing simulator in the mix.
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Most bars at Mockingbird Station are built for convenience — you go because it’s there and the evening is already in motion. The People’s Last Stand is a different proposition. The craft cocktail bar at 5319 East Mockingbird Lane, Suite 210 opened in 2010 with a single guiding principle — provide Dallas with a place for cocktail enthusiasts who care about what’s actually in the glass — and fifteen years later that principle is still running the operation.
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Bill Katz flew Blackhawk helicopters for the U.S. Army for twenty years. His wife Johnnie spent twenty years in banking. They spent nine of those years overseas — Europe, Asia, moving every few years the way military families do. When Bill retired in 2001 they settled in the Dallas area, got regular jobs, and then Johnnie decided she wanted something of her own. In December 2003 they bought a sports bar on McKinney Avenue called Frankie’s. Within four years they had tripled the sales and turned it into the top sports bar in DFW.
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A note before we go further. The French Room itself — the grand gilded dining room that earned its reputation over generations — remains closed for dinner. It still hosts afternoon tea and the occasional holiday service, but if you are picturing a full evening inside that baroque space, set the expectation aside for now.
What is open, and what Dallas should be paying attention to, is the French Room Bar next door. This is a separate, smaller room inside The Adolphus, and it is where the serious eating and drinking is happening right now.
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The Cottage sits on Northwest Highway in that stretch near Bachman Lake where the signs have been peeling for decades and nobody minds. It is a dive bar in the real sense of the word. Pool table, live blues a few nights a week, bikes lined up out front, a patio where people actually talk to each other. You do not go for atmosphere curated by a consultant. You go because it is what it is.
What surprises people is the burger.
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If you’re looking for quiet and candlelit, keep driving. Revel Patio Grill is built for movement, noise, and groups that plan to stay awhile. Located in Frisco, it operates less like a traditional restaurant and more like a social hub where food, sports, and live entertainment intersect.
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Inside the iconic Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, The Mansion Bar in Dallas distinguishes itself not just with serious cocktails, but with a bar menu that carries real culinary weight.
The foundation is balance and structure. The charcuterie and cheese selection isn’t a perfunctory board — it’s composed with intent. Expect supple cured meats with proper fat distribution, aged cheeses brought to temperature for full expression, toasted nuts for texture, and preserves that introduce acidity to cut richness. It’s engineered to work with wine and spirits, not merely accompany them.
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