Holiday News

Find 4 over-the-top holiday pop-ups at these Dallas restaurant-bars

This concoction and these lights are so very fethtive.

The Hall

The holiday 2021 season is being celebrated by the Dallas-Fort Worth food & beverage industry like it never has before. Restaurants and bars are showing an unprecedented determination to party like it's 2019, which is to say, party like we did before the pandemic came along.

There are themed bars, lavish decorations, and more special-edition pop-ups.

For more holiday bar action, check out our list of 4 Christmas pop-up bars and our list of rooftop "bubble" bars with holiday igloos.

Here are four festive new holiday throwdowns:

Chill Minster Pub Pop-Up
An old hand at themed pop-ups, the Ill Minster Pub in Uptown is now home to all things Christmas, seasonal, and alco-holidays, with lights, themed shot wheel, cocktails, caroling on the patio, a live Santa on weekends, and a Santa "Throne of Lies." The cocktail menu is rich with peppermint, spiced, and berry, such as the Gingerblitz'd with rum, Irish cream, and gingerbread syrup. A back entry hallway is covered in wrapping paper, icicle lights, and hanging snowflakes, and the walk to the bathroom is lined with Christmas movie posters. Throughout the pop-up which lasts through December 31, the Chill Minster Pub will have themed paint nights, PJ parties, cookie decorating, and Christmas movie nights every Monday.

Santa's Hall at Trinity Groves
The Hall has been made over into a seasonal pop-up, decked out in holiday décor. The walls are covered with wrapping paper, garlands wind their way around the room, lights are strewn across the ceiling, and giant candy canes and ornaments hang from above. Three festive trees and Santa’s oversize chair anchor the space. Seasonal drinks include a Candy Stripetini with vanilla vodka, the Grinch with raspberry vodka, and the Frosty AF with gin, creme de violette, blue curaçao, and Champagne. Each week, Santa's Hall will partner with a different charity hosting donations, toy and food drives. Thursday-Friday from 4-11 pm, and Saturday-Sunday from 2-10 pm. The space is available for private events Monday-Wednesday throug December.

Santa Baby at Landmark Bar & Kitchen
Immersive Christmas Pop Up hosted at Landmark Bar & Kitchen in Fort Worth’s West 7th Entertainment District features more than 10,000 square feet of over-the-top Christmas décor including snow, lights, and more than 40 Santa Clauses. Admission is free and a portion of the sales up will benefit Toys for Tots. All ages are welcome until 9 pm, and then it's 21 and up until 2 am. The big man himself will be in the building every Thursday-Saturday from 8-11 pm. Grab a Spiked Hot Cocoa and a s'mores kit. Reservations recommended for parties larger than 6. The pop up runs from December 5-29.

Sloane's Corner
Bistro on Ross Avenue in downtown Dallas is doing a "12 Drinks of Christmas" theme designed to lure you in for a drink every night (except Sundays). The drinks are creative, seasonal, and $10 each, as follows:

12/11 – Chris-mint-tini with vodka, crème de menthe, crème de cacao
12/13 – Scottish Winter with Scotch, lemon, cinnamon, amaretto
12/14 – Peruvian Sip with tequila, chicha morada, lemon, egg white
12/15 – Newton’s Holiday with bourbon, lemon, spiced apple syrup
12/16 - #Slay Bells with vodka, pumpkin spice, coffee liqueur, cream
12/17 – El Campeón with tequila, cinnamon syrup, Rumchata, chocolate bitters
12/18 – Pa-Rum-Rum-Rum-Rum with rum, vermouth, chocolate bitters, Angostura
12/20 – Naughty or Slice with Tito’s Vodka, Lemonchata, meringue foam, graham cracker dust
12/21 – Elves’ Nightcap with dark rum, crème de banana, house chocolate bitters, Angostura
12/22 – Jingle Barrels with bourbon, mulled wine syrup, Angostura
12/23 – Just be Coal with Wild Turkey bourbon, coffee liqueur, Demerara, Angostura
12/24 – Winter on the Beach with rum, coconut cream, pineapple and orange juice, Allspice dram

nightlife holidays lists

Chicken & Waffles News

Celeb-owned Johnny's Chicken & Waffles opens second DFW location

dallas.culturemap.com

Johnny's Chicken & Waffles

A restaurant dedicated to chicken & waffles with celebrity ties has doubled down on Dallas-Fort Worth: Johnny's Chicken & Waffles, founded by reality TV star Crystal Smith; her ex-husband singer Ne-Yo; and Karlie Redd (VH1’s Love n’ Hip Hop), has opened a location in Fort Worth, at 2707 Race St. #117.

The restaurant opened softly on July 11, with an official opening coming on July 22.

This marks the second location for the brunch favorite: AFter debuting the concept in 2020 in the Atlanta area, they opened a location in Dallas at 1326 Botham Jean Blvd. in 2024.

Chicken & waffles, their signature dish, takes its cue from the famous Roscoe's House of Chicken & Waffles in southern California (although the dish originated in Harlem at a place called Wells Famous Home of Chicken and Waffles).

Johnny's menu lets diners mix-and-match: You choose how you want your chicken and then a flavor of waffle, so you can customize your chicken-and-waffle situation to order.

Chicken comes in choice of whole wings, tenders, Buffalo wings, or a combo
Waffles comes in choice of buttermilk, pecan, red velvet, or strawberry

Their other big signatures include mac & cheese which you can order with chicken tenders, fried shrimp, or fried lobster tail, for $29.95; and cocktails served in mason jars, such as bloody Marys, margaritas, espresso martini, and a strawberry lemonade with cognac.

They also have entrees like Cajun penne pasta, brioche French toast stuffed with cream cheese, fried shrimp basket, catfish & grits, and salads like a kale Caesar. Most items are priced between $22 and $30.

Operations manager Randy Lamp says that the Dallas restaurant has been such a smash — always busy, and especially on weekends, when brunch draws big lines — that expanding was a no-brainer.

"We thought, we have this wildly successful restaurant here, it makes sense to open something in the area — but not right in Dallas," Lamp says.

They scouted about 20 locations, but it didn't take them long to narrow it down to Fort Worth, where they opened at at 2707 Race St. #117.

"Race Street fit a lot of same criteria as our Dallas location," Lamp says. "It's centrally located but it's not in a saturated retail area, and that is to our benefit. We are careful in how we choose our neighborhoods and spaces."

Lamp says that the Dallas location "showed us some things about ourselves that we liked learning."

"One lesson we learned from Dallas is that you don't need foot traffic for brunch," he says. "People don't mind driving somewhere to get brunch. So a standalone spot with good parking becomes a positive. The Race Street location has a great parking lot right behind it, and there's no one nearby that's going to get mad if we have people waiting in line."

breakfast brunch openings