48 Hours of Drinking in Dallas

Apothecary is the Bishop Arts speakeasy hidden behind an unmarked door at the back of a coffee shop — push through, into a dim 50-seat room with shelves of drie Drop bags. Find a hotel-adjacent bar within a five-minute walk. Order something simple to anchor yourself to the city.

Five Sixty by Wolfgang Puck draws a steady local crowd in Reunion Tower. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. The polished room you'd take a first date to. Sit at the bar. Talk to the bartender. Stay one drink — you're scouting, not committing.

Bottled Blonde draws a steady local crowd in Uptown. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Walk into the city's drinking quarter (the heart of the night, not the tourist version). Two drinks, two rooms. Pace yourself — Saturday is the long day.

Armoury D.E. draws a steady local crowd in Deep Ellum. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Sunset. Find a rooftop. Order whatever the house specials around sundown. Take photos but don't lose 90 minutes to your phone.

Atlas is the Deep Ellum cocktail bar from Brian Hayes that's repeatedly placed in Texas's best-bar lists — a long-format menu of around forty drinks across regi Eat somewhere with serious bartending built in. The right room is one you order both your dinner and your nightcap from.

Atwater Alley draws a steady local crowd in Henderson Avenue. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. The bar that made you book the trip. The pre-research one. Reservation-only ideally. Stay until last call.

Balcony Club draws a steady local crowd in East Dallas. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Mary, Mimosa, or whatever low-ABV house play the room runs. Eat. Pay. Walk.

Bar Charles draws a steady local crowd in Henderson Avenue. Booking is recommended on weekends. Walk-ins are usually possible early in the evening. Find the hotel bar at your departure airport equivalent — somewhere quiet, low-volume, well-staffed. End the trip on a martini and a clean conversation.