Where to drink right now
Where to drink in Dallas now: 5 hot new cocktails you must try
We all have our favorite bars where we get our favorite drink. Nothing should ever change that. But if you're feeling frisky and the tried-and-true isn't cutting it for you, we've uncovered five new sips, ranging from a sultry cocktail in an East Dallas bar to a fun — and free — ceremony in a Plano hotel.
Take a walk on the wild side with these five suggestions for where to drink in Dallas this month:
Eureka! Uptown
West Village burger spot is well known for its impressive selection of craft beers. But the bar program doesn't stop there. Its cocktail philosophy espouses an American theme, including all-American products and classic American cocktails with a twist. Its fall newcomers include a talker called the Electric Butterfly, with Immature brandy, rum, and Butterfly Pea Tea, a cool herb that turns the drink blue. It also has the flowering herb of the Acmella oleracea plant, aka "Buzz Button," aka the toothache plant. Known for its medicinal properties, it has a numbing agent called "spilanthol" which gives your mouth a tingle.
Lounge Here
East Dallas bar is worth repeat trips because the cocktail list changes regularly. The current lineup has a drink called the Ultima Palabra, translation: "the last word." Its ingredients include pineapple-infused mezcal combined with the fabulously medicinal liqueur green Chartreuse. If those two flavors are not complex enough, they deepen it further with fresh lime and maraschino.
Midnight Rambler
Downtown Dallas' underground hang has something called the Lysergic Poire, which is another exploration of the Rose aperitif cocktail, using sparkling wine as a canvas. They add Williams Pear Eau de Vie pear brandy, vermouth, and house-made Valerian essence. To make the essence, they blend Valerian root, cassia bark, bitter orange peel, and dried ginger root, which they pulverize in a mortar and pestle, then cold distill it under vacuum. Voila. Valerian essence. Warning: Don't try this at home.
Renaissance Dallas at Plano Legacy West Hotel
New Asian/Texan fusion hotel has a fun ritual every Monday-Thursday at 6 pm sharp, when guests and visitors are summoned to the lobby with a traditional gong. A mixologist pours a punch recipe that changes based the bartender's inspiration and the spirits available at the hotel's Whiskey Moon bar, which can be local to North Texas or made in house. Last week the punch had Texas rye whiskey, Campari bitters, and Carpano dry vermouth, topped with lemon zest. Understanding the importance of a community cocktail, the hotel offers a glass of the punch for free.
Thirsty Lion Gastropub
Snaps to this new spot from Portland, Oregon, which recently opened at Toyota Music Factory in Irving, for its fearless embrace of fruit in cocktails. Sitting side by side with a serious craft beer selection are drinks such as the raspberry drop, with vodka, raspberry, and lemonade; and a blood orange cosmo, with orange and cranberry juice. They also do a cool twist on the mojito by incorporating passion fruit. The drink has Bacardi Silver Rum, triple sec, passion fruit purée, mint, lime, soda, Sprite, and simple syrup. If you like your drinks less sweet, tell them to hold the Sprite.