Living the Good Life

Dallas-Fort Worth claims awesome title of booziest metro in nation

Dallas-Fort Worth residents really like to raise a glass (or two).

Photo courtesy of Alamo Drafthouse

It seems that having more restaurants per capita than most anywhere else in the nation means that the people of Dallas-Fort Worth actually, you know, eat out a lot. How much? A lot.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Expenditure Survey, we top the list of cities that "spend a disproportionate amount of their salary on alcohol, smoking, and eating out." DFW residents allocate 6.10 percent of their total spending on eating out, and 1.21 percent on alcohol. The national averages are 5.16 percent and 0.94 percent.

The Washington Postpublished the results and dubbed DFW "the booziest metropolitan area" of the survey. Of our annual average spending of $61,698, about $744 goes toward alcohol and $3,765 toward eating out.

The survey notes that Texas' on-premise excise tax on alcohol, which means establishments have mixed-beverage permits and pay a 6.7 percent tax on gross receipts, could be why our number is so high. "That cost is passed on to the consumer, meaning more expensive drinks at bars, and incentive to buy alcohol at stores.

"Even so, Texas ranks in the bottom half for excise taxes on spirits, wine, and beer."

Cleveland, Philadelphia, San Diego, and Phoenix join us on the booze list, while San Francisco, Los Angeles, Houston, and Cleveland round out the dining out top five.

The third arm of the survey concerns money spent on tobacco products, and no-smoking Dallas-Fort Worth did not make the top five (though Houston came in at third).

cocktails rankings

McDonald's News

McDonald's closes 2 CosMc's beverage spinoffs in Dallas-Fort Worth

Photo courtesy of CosMc's

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After less than a year, McDonald's is cutting back on its CosMc's beverage spinoff, and that includes shutting down locations in Dallas-Fort Worth.

McDonald's introduced the beverage led concept in December 2023, when it opened the first location in Bolingbrook, Illinois. The concept — which seemed to be competing with Swig, the drive-through drink chain from Utah — features coffee, lemonade, slushies, and energy drinks, plus bites such as the Egg McMuffin, hashbrowns, and McPops — like doughnut holes.

They went on to open six more locations, all in Texas: two in San Antonio and four in DFW. Both San Antonio locations still show up on the website as open but two have closed in DFW so far, as follows:

Watauga at 7304 Denton Hwy.
Arlington at Abram's Alley, 300 E. Abram St. #150

Their website currently shows the Dallas location at Campbell Road, which was the original location, as still open, as well as a location in Fort Worth on McPherson Boulevard.

Despite the closures, McDonald's still plans to continue the test in the US for the foreseeable future, a spokesperson says, including opening two new smaller format stores in Texas in 2025.

That includes a location in Allen at 861 W. Stacy Rd.

The plan is to close three of the larger locations that were remodeled into CosMc’s locations — meaning that one of the locations currently still open is due to close.

"Since opening CosMc’s, we have had the benefit of testing out different location sizes and setups – from revamping larger restaurant spaces to building smaller prototype locations that focus more on the drive-thru and digital experience," their statement says. "We learned that the smaller format stores allow us to test new, unique circumstances that are reflective of our customer base. As a result, we will open two new smaller format stores in Texas in 2025, and close three of the larger locations that were remodeled into CosMc’s locations."