Bar News

New Dallas nightlife venue near Deep Ellum debuts on New Year's Eve

Just in time for the biggest night of the year.

Green Light Social

Well this is some timing. There's a new venue by Deep Ellum opening just in time for New Year's: Green Light Social, the Austin-born venue, will open its first Dallas location doors in the so-called North Good Latimer District on New Year's Eve, the partying-est night of all.

Green Light Social houses three concepts under one roof: cocktail lounge and patio bar, DJ-driven dance club, and a 25-and-up membership-only speakeasy called the Ruby Room.

Green Light Social Operating Partner Ian Fletcher says in a release that they've been eager to get their doors open.

"As a Texas-born concept, we’re pleased to be expanding within the market and provide guests a new type of experience that is unlike anything else in the city," Fletcher says.

They founded Green Light Social in Austin in 2016 as an all-encompassing party destination with multiple nightlife experiences under one roof, from VIP tables with bottle service to an outdoor patio, aiming to attract a variety of partygoer types.

Creative cocktails include a vodka infused Pacific Cooler Capri Sun, plus canned and shareable cocktails, beers, and seltzers.

They're bringing in name-brand talent for New Year's weekend including Las Vegas resident DJ Five for New Year's Eve.

There's also a speakeasy room called the Ruby Room, inspired by Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby, set to open in late January that will be available on a membership-only basis for guests 25 and up.

The release describes the atmosphere at the Ruby Room as intimate, with retro-glam design elements and a whole menu of innovative drinks via tableside cart service served in a punch bowl, including the Garden Rambler with Patron Reposado, green chartreuse, lime juice, pineapple juice, mint syrup, and club soda; and Blood Orange Punch with Grey Goose L’Orange, Maraschino liqueur, blood orange juice, lemon juice, and Prosecco. They have a mildly tasteless video on Facebook that splices in scenes of people partying with vintage shots of Jack Ruby shooting Lee Harvey Oswald. Fun!

Speakeasy bars have been a big trend in Dallas, where we now have more than a dozen places calling themselves speakeasy bars, and one, a karaoke bar, that calls itself a sing-easy.

Green Light Social is part of an unexpected neighborhood between downtown Dallas and Deep Ellum that is emerging as a hot new club zone. The area has drawn a number of high-profile bars and restaurants, all walking distance from each other including the trailblazing Bottled Blonde; Citizen (relocated from Uptown); The Sporting Club and Blum at Florence & Good Latimer; Harper, which opened at the Epic in August; and Wishful Drinking which opened in March 2021; with two more — Miami-influenced nightclub Vice Park and Miami-based Asian restaurant Komodo — set to open in 2022.

deep-ellum cocktails nightlife

Boots & Booze

New Deep Ellum venue vows to win hearts with food, fun, and wedding chapel

Photo by Kathy Tran

The Window at Boots & Booze will serve Deep Ellum early morning through late night.

A new all-day hangout will soon bring comfort food and cocktails, a dog-friendly courtyard, live music stage, and even a whimsical wedding chapel to Dallas' Deep Ellum. Boots & Booze, a new concept from Dallas-based Wush Hospitality Group, will debut its first phase on Friday, October 23 at 3014 Main St., across the street from Terry Black's Barbecue.

The first phase includes The Window, a walk-up kitchen; The Courtyard, an outdoor bar and gathering space; and its signature Shotgun Wedding Chapel.

“This is meant to be a place where you can grab breakfast or coffee before work, bring your dog for the afternoon, meet friends for a drink, catch live entertainment or celebrate something completely unexpected,” Sherry Hazrati, co-founder of Wush Hospitality Group, says in a release. “You don’t need a special occasion to come here. We want people to feel welcome the minute they walk in.”

The Window will serve coffee and breakfast starting at 6:30 am on weekdays, with brunch beginning at 11 am on weekends. The menu, developed by Hazrati and the group's culinary team, changes throughout the day.

Breakfast options include the Crispy Potato and Egg Sandwich and Quick Shift Meals. Lunch brings the Golden Honey Chicken Breast Sandwich, Double Onion Chopped Beef Sandwich, Main Street Philly, and Garlic Bread Grilled Cheese. Dinner offerings include Hearty Chicken, Crispy Potatoes, and After Hours Potatoes.

Weekend brunch features Hot Honey Chicken French Toast and shareable brunch boards, along with lighter and gluten-free options.

The beverage menu includes coffee drinks, sodas, cocktails, wine, and beer, including a gluten-free option. One signature drink is the Cold Fashioned, a frozen take on the Old Fashioned made with Still Austin Whiskey.

Guests can grab to-go meals or settle into The Courtyard, which has a bar, stage, and flexible seating for everything from game-day gatherings to live entertainment and community events.

The Shotgun Wedding Chapel is a "playful” element, says the press release, which is not to say it isn’t a functional wedding venue for couples eager to tie the knot. The team expects ceremonies and other pageantry year-round inside Shotgun.

Sherry Hazrati Boots & Booze Sherry Hazrati and her Wush Hospitality Group are behind Deep Ellum's new Boots & Booze venue.Photo by Kathy Tran

Hazrati says the goal is to make guests feel welcome and give them a reason to return.

“We want people to leave remembering how we made them feel and come back because they feel like they belong," she says.

The group plans to expand the concept with Boots & Booze Scratch Kitchen, a full-service restaurant led by executive chef José Luis Rodriguez Perez, former owner of Dallas restaurant Mixtitos Kitchen. Details and an opening date have not been announced.

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