This Week In Gluttony

Get your barbecue with a side of beer in this week's top Dallas food events

We realize that everyone is making their way to the State Fair of Texas to live out their fried food fantasies, but it’s still a busy week on the food events front. And if you are a philanthropic diner, then you are in luck, because this week is all about chowing down for a cause.

Tuesday, September 29

Hope is Brewing at Community Beer Company
Love146 is an international humanitarian nonprofit dedicated to the abolition of child trafficking and exploitation. At this celebration, activists can come together for a good cause, creating awareness for the Love146 mission and a welcoming environment for friends and supporters. Tickets start at $35 and include dinner and craft beer. The event starts at 6:30 pm.

Friday, October 2

Taste of the Anatole Festival at Hilton Anatole
This inaugural three-day celebration is packed with international wine, cuisine, and music featuring Uptown Jazz Dallas. The festival includes an international tasting on Friday evening, followed by Saturday afternoon educational workshops and an evening grand tasting, before concluding with a lavish Sunday brunch. Tickets start at $45, and the fun kicks off on Friday at 6 pm.

Chef John Tesar’s Burgers & Burgundy
This is the swankiest backyard barbecue you will ever attend. Chef John Tesar and his celebrity chef buds cook burgers of all kinds, and the Burgundy wine flows nonstop. All proceeds benefit DIFFA Dallas, which raises funds for organizations fighting HIV/AIDS. Tickets begin at $85, and the event starts at 6:30 pm, and the home of Karen and Bill Seanor.

Saturday, October 3

Texas Beer Camp at Long Road Farm
This is a 24-hour camping event created to bring beer lovers, home brewers, and music lovers together. It is a bring-your-own-beer event, so come prepared to share your home brews or your favorite commercial beers. This event also features live Texas music, home brewing demonstrations, and a charity raffle to benefit Homebrew for Heroes. Tickets start at $40, and the event kicks off at 10 am.

Smoked Dallas at Main Street Garden
Chefs from all over the country are making their way to Dallas to show off their unique barbecue chops. Another impressive aspect of this event is the live music, with performances by Asleep At The Wheel, The Suffers, Bobby Patterson, Pleasant Grove, The Vandoliers, Dean Fearing’s Lost Coyote, and Quaker City Nighthawks. Tickets start at $22, and the event starts at 1 pm.

Oktoberfest at Community Beer Company
Doors open at 2 pm for the tapping of Communitys specialty small batch Oktoberfest Lager. With each ticket, guests get a limited-edition commemorative Community Beer stein. Rusted Truck Ranch will be onsite, grilling up brats and other delicious Bavarian-esque foods. Also expect live music, brewery drinking games, and local artwork on display. Tickets are $22 and are expected to sell out.

Sunday, October 4

Bishop Arts Food Walking Tour
This tour explores the amazing restaurants that make up the Bishop Arts District, including Eno’s Pizza, Lockhart Smokehouse, and Veracruz Cafe. Also learn the colorful history of Oak Cliff and its unique Bishop Arts neighborhood. Tickets are $45, and tours are limited to 15 people. The tour starts at Veracruz Cafe at 11 am.

Burgers & Burgundy benefits DIFFA Dallas.

Photo by Shana Anderson

Burgers & Burgundy benefits DIFFA Dallas.

breweries burgers chefs event-planner festivals barbecue

Where to Drink

Where to drink in Dallas right now: 5 new happy hours for February

Even Coast

The Frozen John D at Even Coast.

The February edition of Where to Drink, CultureMap's monthly column on restaurants and bars you can get a drink at, travels far and wide to find the best and most exotic happy hours around: From sushi deals in downtown Dallas to $5 margaritas in Collin County to Indian bar bites in Irving.

(If you're in a more date-night frame of mind, be sure to consult our list of places where you can share a sweet Valentine's Day meal.)

Here are five happy hours to try in February:

Cafe Gecko
Laid-back perennial favorite in Richardson has just unveiled a brand new happy hour menu featuring their delectable versions of classic bar food treats including pizza fries, pretzel bites, chicharrones, onion rings, and fried pickles, priced from $5-$7, plus $1 off everything in the bar. It's served Monday all day, and Tuesday-Friday from 3-7 pm.

Dozo Omakase
Omakase sushi restaurant which opened a year ago at Trinity Groves with a compact menu that includes the trendy multi-course omakase style of dining, available in small or large versions. They do a cool approach to happy hour by introducing a new menu nearly every month. For February, it includes items from the sushi bar and the kitchen including half-price nigiri, sushi hand rolls for $8, gyoza for $6, crispy rice tuna for $10, and miso soup for a bargain $2.50. Cocktails include sake for $9 and a Kyoto highball cocktail for $11.

Even Coast
Neighborhood restaurant from chef Omar Flores opened on the Addison-Dallas line in 2024 with seafood, pastas, and steaks — and now happy hour. It's a good one, served from 2-6 pm every day with its own menu of $3 oysters, $10 cheeseburgers, and salmon dip. House cocktails are $9, including a rotating flavor frozen drink; a pint of beer is $6, and wine by the glass is $9. The only restriction is where: On Friday-Saturday, it's available only at the bar; Sunday-Thursday, it's also available in the dining room and on the patio.

Neon Cactus
Congenial Mexican restaurant in Fairview has a happy hour with deals that surely seem worth driving for: They run Monday-Friday from 3-6 pm and include margaritas for $5, domestic beers for $4, wine by the glass for $5, and well drinks for $4. They also have daily food specials that run all day, such as queso blanco and chicken tinga flautas, $10 each on Thursdays, and taco plates with rice and beans, $10 to $12 on Tuesdays.

Nirvana
Sultry Indian lounge at Toyota Music Factory with DJ, dance floor, and rooftop patio has what may be the worst website in the world — but buried beneath the PTSD flash graphics and music is a worthy happy hour, served from 4-7 pm featuring $2 off all cocktails, including the Hunan Heatwave with tequila and tandoori pineapple, and the Beijing Berry mocktail with mixed berries and ginger ale. Plus Indian-themed bar snacks such as "drums of heaven" AKA chicken lollipops; street-style chow mein, and crispy chili corn.

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