The State Fair has packed up, the pumpkins are still out, and Dallas finally has weather that makes you want to leave the house. This weekend, October 23 through 25, brings Rachmaninoff at the Meyerson, a folk hero at the Majestic, a Texas songwriter in one of the city’s oldest dance halls, and three very good meals in between. Here’s how to spend it.
Continue readingFiled under Steven Doyle
Somewhere around Sunday afternoon, Big Tex is going to say goodbye for another year, and the whole city will feel it a little. This is the last weekend of the State Fair, the first weekend that actually feels like fall, and one of those rare stretches on the North Texas calendar where every corner of the Metroplex has something worth leaving the house for. Here’s how to spend it, and where to eat and drink along the way.
Continue readingFiled under Steven Doyle
North Texas doesn’t do quiet weekends in late September, and this one might be the busiest of the fall. The State Fair opens Friday. There’s a German festival in McKinney, a Broadway legend at the Meyerson, a honky-tonk headliner at Billy Bob’s, a baseball team that dances between pitches and the Indigo Girls downtown on Sunday night. Here’s how to pace yourself, where to eat and a few tips that’ll save you money and aggravation.
Continue readingFiled under Steven Doyle
The tuba gets there first. Somewhere under a striped tent on Marktplatz, an oompah band finds its footing, and the sound rolls down Main Street past the limestone storefronts. By the time you reach the gate, the air smells like grilled sausage, and a few hundred strangers are getting ready to do the chicken dance together without a trace of embarrassment.
That is Oktoberfest in Fredericksburg, and this year it runs October 2 through 4.
Continue readingFiled under Steven Doyle
Oktoberfest is underway in Munich, a good excuse to point out that Dallas has had its own German kitchen for 65 years. It is in Snider Plaza, and it is called Kuby’s Sausage House.
By Dallas standards, 1961 is ancient. By the family’s standards, it is recent. In 1728, Friedrich Kuby opened a meat market in Kaiserslautern, Germany, and the recipes passed from father to son for generations. “The original one was bombed in ’44,” Karl Kuby Sr. has said. “It was wiped out.”
Continue readingFiled under Steven Doyle
The keg tap swings down on the first ceremonial barrel at Addison Circle Park on September 17, and for four days after that, Addison sounds nothing like Addison. Polka horns replace traffic noise. Lederhosen and dirndls outnumber golf shirts. A crowd that regularly tops 45,000 people by the closing hour files through the gates at 4970 Addison Circle to drink Paulaner out of half-liter steins and watch grown adults hold a full one straight out at arm’s length until their shoulders give out.
Continue readingFiled under Steven Doyle
The Toyota Music Factory announces the Oktoberfest Plaza Celebration, a full day of lively entertainment, festive competitions, and German food and drink, taking place on Saturday, October 4, 2025, from 12:00pm – 1:00am at The Plaza.
Continue readingFiled under Steven Doyle
Dallas may be far from Munich, but on Thursday, September 25, Lochland’s Irish Pub is bringing the heart of Oktoberfest to Lake Highlands with a festive four-course German dinner, each course paired with one of the world’s most celebrated seasonal beers. The event kicks off at 7 p.m. and promises an evening of gemütlichkeit—good cheer, hearty food, and exceptional brews brewed exclusively for the season.
Continue readingFiled under Steven Doyle
