Where to Drink

Where to drink in Dallas right now: Best bars for champagne by the glass

Bubbly is the best.

Photo courtesy of Paramour

When contemplating Where to Drink in December, one's thoughts turn to holidays, celebrations, and magical toasts.

In other words, bubbly. Specifically, champagne by the glass (rather than the bottle). We're not talking Prosecco; sorry Prosecco, you're wonderful but you're no Champagne.

Here are the best places to get true Champagne by the glass:

Lounge 31
Bar adjacent to its sister restaurant Bistro 31 hasn't lost a step, even after seven years holding court in Highland Park Village. It remains a buzzy place to meet for drinks and snacks, and their bubbly selection offers a clue as to why. Their list has 11 options, seven of which are available by the glass, all of which are top-shelf with names like Ruinart and Perrier Jouet, starting at $17 for a glass of "Impeccable" Brut Rose up to $27 for Ruinart Rose.

Bullion
No French restaurant worth its sel is going to be without Champagne, and that includes Bullion, the fine-dining restaurant in downtown Dallas from chef Bruno Davaillon. Their bar program is sophisticated and ultra-savvy, and that extends to the unique quintet of sparklers, all French (Dieu merci): from an affordable $16 glass of Cremant de Alsace to a rare half bottle of Billecart-Salmon Brut Rose for $68. You can even get Dom Perignon by the glass for a smooth $98; it's a 2000 Dom Pérignon Pléntitude 2, a special release of Dom Pérignon and part of a unique partnership between Bullion and the label. Where else can you find that in town?

Cru
Wine bar chain with locations in Dallas' West Village, Allen, Plano, and Fort Worth specializes in flights. Their bubbly flight features sparklers from various regions, with one always a true Champagne such as Piper Heidsieck. Like all of their wines, it can also be ordered solo, $25 a glass. During their weekday happy hour from 3-6 pm, they have Veuve Cliquot Yellow Label by the glass for $16. On Thursdays, they do half-price bottles of champagne from 3-11 pm.

Doc B's
The Uptown Dallas location of this snappy chain from Chicago offering burgers, sandwiches, salads, pizza, and bowls has what is hands-down the absolute best sparkling deal in town: Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label for $9.99 per glass. This is the only location that offers Veuve at such a deal (it's $19.99 at the Shops at ClearFork in Fort Worth). As backup, both Dallas and Fort Worth Doc's locations also have Veuve du Vernay Sparkling Rosé, a sparkler from the Burgundy region, at $12 a glass, and California's prestigious Schramsberg sparkling rose for $17 a glass.

Felix Culpa
As its plush velvet couches might imply, this suave Henderson Avenue bar is not your typical watering hole. They boast great snacks and a strong wine list that includes six sparkling wines by the bottle and glass. There's a name-brand prosecco from Italy and a cava from Spain, but check out the quartet of French sparklers: Moet Chandon for $18, Perrier Jouet Grand Brut for $20, Veuve Clicquot for $22, and Ruinart Blanc de Blancs for $26. It's a wealth of bubbly riches.

Honorable mention: Sixty Vines
This pizza-and-wine concept already made the December list of Where to Eat, and it's important to spread out the love, but Sixty Vines' bubbly situation demands a nod. Like many other places, they have Veuve Clicquot — but theirs is a vintage La Grand Dame. They offer labels rarely found by the glass such as Pierre Gimonnet and Taittinger. As with all of their wines, you can get them in three sizes, from a 2.5-ounce half-glass to a 5-ounce glass to an 8-ounce quartino.

where-drink holidays cocktails

Spring Arrival

West Dallas gets new Spanish-Peruvian restaurant with big-name chef

Photo courtesy of Ulloa's

Paella will be on the menu.

A new restaurant with a high-profile culinary director will bring Spanish and Peruvian flavors to West Dallas: Called Ulloa’s, it is coming to 727 Fort Worth Ave., with a projected opening in March 2027.

The concept is from philanthropists Susan and Woodrow Gandy, who were previously investors in the historic Belmont Hotel just around the corner. They've teamed up with Dallas celebrity chef Kent Rathbun as culinary director, along with Christopher Tunnell as general manager to lead the front of the house.

Rathbun is a name Dallas diners know well, with a resume that includes The Mansion on Turtle Creek, the Landmark Restaurant at the historic Melrose Hotel, Seventeen Seventeen at the Dallas Museum of Art, Abacus, Jasper's, Rathbun’s Blue Plate Kitchen, and more. He's won numerous awards and made multiple appearances on Food Network. He was most recently behind the launch of On The Rocks, an Italian bistro in Burleson.

Chef Kent Rathbun will be the culinary director of Ulloa's. Photo courtesy of Kent Rathbun

Tunnell’s background spans both culinary direction and front-of-house operations. He worked at Los Angeles hot spots Ketchup, Geisha House, and Les Deux, as well as the Mandalay Bay and The Mirage in Las Vegas, before moving to Dallas to open The Mexican, the upscale restaurant in the Design District.

“I am truly excited to partner with Chef Kent Rathbun, whose reputation is amazing — not only in the DFW Metroplex, but in the culinary world,” Tunnell says. “He has been with this project since the beginning, helping develop it; this will be a very chef-driven, culinary-forward restaurant.”

The team's vision for Ulloa’s is both culinary and urban, with hopes of anchoring the corridor and attracting other businesses to Fort Worth Avenue — a stretch connecting downtown Dallas with Oak Cliff that remains somewhat underdeveloped despite its panoramic skyline views.

The restaurant is named for Spanish explorer, astronomer, and scientist Antonio de Ulloa, who spent extensive time in the Mexican peninsula before becoming Louisiana’s first governor. During his travels, Ulloa documented a fogbow — a circular rainbow formed when sunlight meets mist that causes silhouettes standing between the sun and fog to appear ringed in light, a phenomenon known today as “Ulloa’s Rings.”

That vibrant phenomenon inspired both the restaurant's identity and logo. The concept promises "bold, worldly flavors in a welcoming neighborhood setting inspired by exploration and discovery,” the owners say.

Ulloa's Rendering of Ulloa's.Rendering courtesy of Ulloa's

While the menu remains in development, Tunnell describes the culinary direction as “Spanish soul with a Peruvian heart.” The kitchen will merge the coastal flavors of both traditions — ranging from paellas and ceviches to crafted cocktails and signature adaptations by Rathbun.

The 200-seat, two-story space will feature a downstairs dining room, a large bar, and an outdoor patio. Upstairs, plans call for a secondary bar, a private dining room, a patio, and an expansive balcony patio, offering views of the city's skyline and of the Margaret Hunt Hill and Margaret McDermott bridges.

While the upstairs space will be available for private events, the owners intend for it to operate primarily as an organic extension of the main restaurant. The buildout will include a guest elevator along with ample parking, including both self-parking and valet options.

The team says the restaurant will have have an aesthetic that's “warm, theatrical, generous, elegant but alive, with the energy of a great Spanish tapas bar and the soul of Peruvian hospitality.”

Ulloa’s plans to launch with dinner service first, followed by lunch and weekend brunch.

restaurants bars peruvian flavors west dallas oak cliff kent rathbun