Tastemaker Best Bars

Tastemaker Best Bar contenders give Dallas drinkers a reason to raise a glass

We're excited about our first-ever CultureMap Dallas Tastemaker Awards, where we celebrate the talent in the local food and drink community. Our editors selected the nominees, and a panel of experts chose winners in nine categories — which will be revealed at our big event on May 6.

So far, we've applauded the city's top pastry chefs and tipped our hat to the best breweries in town. Now we get to the fun stuff: best bars. Our list covers the spectrum — from the fancy hotel canteen to the funkiest dive, from the best beer bar to the pub with excellent food.

After you've scanned this list of Best Bar contenders, head over and cast your vote in our Best New Restaurant tournament.

Adair's Saloon
This Deep Ellum dive is famous for beers in cans, burgers and live country music. The walls are covered with Sharpie art, and you're encouraged to add to the ever-growing mosaic of dirty rhymes and initial-filled hearts. Live music is a big draw; a Red Dirt band plays just about every night.

Black Swan Saloon
Understated bar in Deep Ellum is hard to find but worth the search. Owner and accomplished mixologist Gabe Sanchez knows his way around the art and magic of fruit-infused vodkas and bourbons.

Common Table
A pioneering presence on the local craft beer scene, Common Table boasts one of the best selections of beer on tap in the city. The bar is a destination for local beers clubs and brewers from around the country. Plus it boasts a good menu with fried calamari, margherita flatbread, and chicken and dumplings.

Katy Trail Ice House
Best patio anywhere, with long community tables, idyllic location off the Katy Trail and 50 taps of beer all combine to make the Ice House a major presence in Uptown Dallas. It's also dog-friendly.

Lee Harvey's
Quirky bar in urban South Dallas neighborhood is an acquired taste. With its enormous patio in front, it's more of an outdoor bar than anything else, with picnic tables and cheap beer. Sunday afternoons, it becomes a giant dog park, and the place has at least two unofficial mascots, one a dog, the other a cat called Bacon.

Libertine Bar
As Greenville Avenue becomes more cool and more crowded, the Libertine becomes a more invaluable alternative. The laid-back vibe is somewhere between stoner and hipster, while the selection of beer on tap is as good as it gets in Dallas. A nifty menu of edibles is priced at $10 or less and includes a few vegan dishes.

Mansion Bar
Like the Mansion restaurant and hotel, the Mansion Bar is a class act, through and through. With its marble on the floor and petite size, it feels European. More a collection of cozy nooks than anything else, it provides the perfect location for a nightcap or an illicit rendezvous.

Standard Pour
Uptown's version of a dive translates into a spot that's informal yet has the sophistication of a cocktail lounge. There's plenty of see-and-be-seen along with well-made drinks like the Moscow Mule: vodka, ginger and lime juice served in a copper mug.

Trinity Hall
This Mockingbird Station hangout has the classic trappings of an Irish pub — rich mahogany wood, live music, wide assortment of beers and excellent food for a bar, including an ever-growing selection of vegan items. Owner Marius Donnelly is an incomparably hospitable and accommodating host.

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Come celebrate the Tastemakers with us on Tuesday, May 6, at Seven for Parties in the Dallas Design District. To learn more about the event, including information about our beneficiaries, judges, participating restaurants and ticket sales, visit our Tastemakers website.

Common Table

The Common Table/Facebook

Common Table

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New and Noteworthy

Dallas Mexican hot spot makes The Infatuation list of best new restaurants

Photo by Dan Padgett

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Three new Texas restaurants have charmed restaurant review platform The Infatuation and ended up on its Best New Restaurants of 2026 list. One Dallas restaurant, Olōyō, is among the 25 selected across the United States.

In addition to Olōyō, Roya in Austin and Zaranda in Houston made the list. The Infatuation has a presence in each of those cities plus more across Texas. The platform specializes in themed lists and also posts reviews of single businesses to add context for readers.

The Infatuation team ate at more than 2,600 new restaurants in 2026, the introduction to the list explains. It doesn't list criteria or points for consideration, except that there was much debate over favorites and they would "recommend them to pretty much anyone."

The expandable list lays out some key notes such as price, cuisine, neighborhood, a tagline, dish recommendations, and other unique highlights. Users can then click through to see a longform review with a numerical rating.

Olōyō's fixation on heirloom masa had its intended effect on The Infatuation's Kevin Gray, who wrote, "Olōyō will give you a new appreciation for corn." The East Dallas Mexican eatery that made its list began with two people — that is, acclaimed chef Olivia López and partner Jonathan Percival — "building a following through their pop-ups, turning heirloom corn into incredible tortillas and tamales," Gray notes. "Now they have a permanent spot in East Dallas, where they're serving upscale Mexican food in a homey room packed with Mexican art and jugs carved into animal shapes."

Gray recommended a number of dishes, including the barbacoa huarache and any mole on the menu.

Known in its pop-up days as Molino Olōyō, Olōyō restaurant opened in May, after nearly yearlong wait, and also was included in Texas Monthly's 2026 Top 50 Tacos list.

Olōyō received the highest rating of the three Texas restaurants, though the others weren't far off. At a 9.3, it should be well worth the price, which falls in the highest possible category.

Like Olōyō, Austin's Roya was also a pop-up first, serving beautiful Persian food for holidays and special events. It was so popular, it was only a matter of time before Chef Amir Hajimaleki opened a brick-and-mortar restaurant, and it's just as ornate as the food. That was in February.

Zaranda has a Mexican hyperfocus similar to Olōyō, but on fish rather than corn. James Beard Award-winning chef Hugo Ortega and his wife, Tracy Vaught, opened it in October of 2025, imagining an alternate history in which California remained united across the U.S.-Mexico border.

Like Zaranda itself, reviewer Brooke Viggiano mostly kept the focus on the fish, breaking down the different ways to eat it: with tortillas, salsas, and really "whatever you throw at it." She also broadened her scope to recommend the ribeye with bone marrow butter.

True to the Best New Restaurants list intro, Viggiano basically recommended Zaranda to everyone, including diners celebrating special occasions, going on a date, and having a casual meal. "It’s also great for impressing out-of-towners who want the full Houston picture in one meal," Viggiano wrote.

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