This Week's Hot Headlines

New downtown speakeasy sneaks into this week's 5 hottest Dallas headlines

Dr. Larry Gentilello's lawsuits against UT Southwestern Medical School and Parkland Memorial Hospital preceded the numerous state and federal investigations that have found fault with the storied insitutions.

Photo by Conner Howell

Editor's note: A lot happened this week, so here's your chance to get caught up. Read on for the week's most popular headlines. Looking for the best St. Patrick's Day festivities? Find that list here.

1. Downtown Dallas boutique hotel reveals speakeasy bar with secret entry. Pssst, a downtown Dallas hotel has a secret. Sova, a boutique hotel with mini-rooms that opened in 2021, has debuted a new bar that embraces one of the buzziest trends in bars right now: the speakeasy. Called Room 520, it's a secret bar tucked between hotel rooms, open limited hours with a small menu of specialty cocktails boasting Japanese flavors.

2. 2 Dallas companies clock in as the top employers in Texas, says Forbes. Dallas reigns as the capital of Texas when it comes to the best big and small employers, according to Forbes magazine. New rankings from Forbes put University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas at No. 9 among the country’s best large employers in the country and Dallas-based life insurance platform Bestow at No. 16 among the country’s best startup employers.

3. Yellowstone's Kevin Costner and his Modern West band saddle up to play Grapevine gala. A Dallas-area nonprofit has wrangled the biggest star from the hottest show on TV as its headlining act: Kevin Costner and his country rock Modern West band will be the featured entertainers at Emily's Place 20th anniversary gala. The event will take place Saturday, April 23 at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine.

4. Dallas mansion in Lakewood with colorful vintage bathrooms up for sale. A historic Dallas home is for sale, built in 1929 with only two owners and blessedly few updates. Located in Lakewood just west of White Rock Lake, it's a French Eclectic mansion on a 1.07-acre lot, known as one of the most well-known historic estates in Texas. The property is at 7030 Tokalon Dr. and is listed by Dave Perry-Miller Real Estate agent Rob Elmore for $2.5 million.

5. 3 Dallas bars where Troy Aikman will personally pour you a beer. Does beer taste better when it's been poured by a celebrity? Local beer drinkers got to find out on March 9-10 when ex-Dallas Cowboy Troy Aikman hit six bars across Dallas-Fort Worth in a cross-town guest-bartending wave. Aikman was not pouring just any beer: He poured Eight Elite Lager, the new light lager for health-minded drinkers, which he co-founded and launched in February.

John Dutton can sing and play guitar, too.

Getty Images

John Dutton can sing and play guitar, too.

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Coworking News

Dallas' Longhorn Ballroom unveils new renovated coworking studio space

Longhorn Ballroom

Dallas' famed Longhorn Ballroom music venue has unveiled a newly renovated multi-use building — located across the courtyard from the Ballroom at 200 Corinth St. — that's open for creative types in the fields of entertainment, restaurant, and the arts.

The Longhorn Ballroom was built in 1950 for country music legend Bob Wills and this Texas Playboys and was originally named Bob Wills’ Ranch House. It was managed for a time by Jack Ruby, then Dewey Groom who renamed it the Longhorn Ballroom and built it into one of the greatest venues of its day, hosting Willie Nelson, Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard, Charley Pride, Pasty Cline, B.B. King, Ray Charles, Nat King Cole, James Brown, Al Green, Johnny Rodriguez, Freddy Fender and Selena.

This newly renovated building was originally constructed in 1950 as part of the Ranch House, where it served as a motel for touring musicians and according to a release, is rumored to have sheltered Wills' horse "Punkin."

You could office here. Longhorn Ballroom coworking space.Longhorn Ballroom

The two-story 26,000-square-foot building offers co-working spaces for entertainment professionals, attorneys, and managers, along with a limited number of residential live-work studios for artists.

There are also several small restaurant spaces available for "culinary creatives."

The largest available area — a former recording studio — could be transformed into a space for audio, film, or post-production work.

"As an entertainment attorney, there’s no better place for my practice than the Oficina co-work space at the Longhorn," says Decker Sachse, a current tenant. "It’s a great location with easy access and my clients love the vibe."

In the fall, the Longhorn will complete its third and final phase with the opening of a 6,500-capacity outdoor amphitheater along the banks of the original Trinity River. Called The Longhorn Backyard Amphitheater, it will host a series of soft opening shows this fall, starting with Randy Rogers on September 20. A grand opening with a full calendar of events will commence in the spring of 2026, providing the city with a state-of-the-art outdoor venue one mile south of downtown Dallas.

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