New Year's Eve Ideas

The best restaurants in Dallas to celebrate New Year's Eve 2014

New Year's Eve brings different kinds of merriment, from the rowdy party in a bar to the rowdy party at your friend's house. There's a time for rowdy parties, and that's midnight. But dinner comes first, and these Dallas restaurants are ready to serve.

Canary By Gorji
Four-course dinner includes choice of appetizer from chilled avocado with poached shrimp and puttanesca or Bulgarian feta with pomegranates; salad choice of baby greens with toasted pistachios or kale Caesar with egg yolk and white marinated Spanish anchovies; entrée choice of tenderloin with garlic Gorgonzola mashed potatoes, Arctic char and shrimp, lamb and quail with tabbouleh and tzatziki, wild boar and scallop, or vegetarian entrée by request. Desserts include chocolate liqueur cake or four-berry sorbet. 5-10:30 pm. $79. Call 972-503-7080.

Dallas Chop House
Three-course dinner begins with Osetra caviar, then choice of starters from oysters, tuna tartare, pork belly, or beet salad with watercress and blood orange. Entrée choices include mushroom risotto, filet mignon, quail with black-eyed peas, short ribs and sea bass. Dessert includes bread pudding, warm almond brownie with ice cream or cheese plate. $70 per person, plus $25 for wine pairings. 214-736-7300.

Dallas Fish Market
Three-course dinner begins with scallop tartare, with choice of starters from red beet tartare with crème fraîche, seafood gumbo, calamari, crab salad or hamachi sashimi. Entrée choices include swordfish with basmati rice, salmon with braised bok choy, striped bass with maple yams, hen of the woods mushrooms and roasted chestnuts, butter poached lobster with sunchoke purée, or strip loin with scallops. Desserts include olive oil cake, white chocolate crème brulée or cheese. $70 per person, with $25 for wine and sake pairings. Call 214-744-3474.

Del Frisco's
Del Frisco's Grille is offering a 16-ounce bone-in filet and crab cake special for $79. Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steakhouse is doing a champagne toast at midnight in both Dallas and Fort Worth; there is also a balloon drop in Cowtown. For reservations in Dallas (4:30-11 pm), call 972-490-9000. For Fort Worth (4:30-10:30 pm), call 817-877-3999.

Fearing's
Three- or four-course dinner with choices such as smoked salmon tartare and pork pâté, scallops with prawn and mussels, Wagyu beef carpaccio, quail and prosciutto roulade on white bean cassoulet, turbot with lobster Thermidor, lamb chop, antelope on celeriac purée, and beef Wellington. Dessert options include chocolate soufflé tart with chocolate mallow fluff, eggnog ginger ice cream sandwiches and butterscotch custard. First seating 5:30-7 pm, $95 per person; second seating 7:30-10:30 pm, $195 per person, with champagne toast and balloon drop at midnight. Call 214-922-4848.

Holy Grail Pub
Beer dinner with dishes inspired by regions that produce great American craft beers: smoked tuna pâté with grape marmalade, fried chicken thighs with grits, barley beef soup, prime rib with sweet potatoes and mole sauce, and "coffee and doughnuts" for dessert. $65 per person. Call 972-377-6633.

Lazaranda
Three-course dinner beginning with lobster tamal, then choice of sea bass and scallop with cilantro rice or filet with adobo sauce and cranberries over sweet potato and walnuts purée. For dessert, tres leches cake. 5-10 pm. $50 per person. Call 972-866-8900.

Malai Kitchen
Five-course chef's tasting menu with a complimentary glass of champagne. Options include oysters or steamed dumplings for starter; tiger prawns or quail salad; curry short rib or monkfish; and, for dessert, chili chocolate truffle with fried banana and mango custard. $44 per person. Call 214-599-7857.

Martin House Brewing Company
Brewery celebration includes open beer bar, pint glass, dinner and live music. Special beers include Salsa Verde, Septemberfest, Turtle Power, Riverside Shootout and all six year-round beers, plus a Blackberry Bomb Turtle Power Firkin and Sugar and Spice from 2013 and 2014. Dinner from Stone Catering includes chicken, cowboy potatoes, salad and dinner rolls. Live music from Ole G. 5-8 pm. $32 per person. Order here.

Oak
Four- or six-course dinner includes options such as duck confit with curried celery root; hanger steak with nut purée, poached pear and kale; and frozen chocolate soufflé. Add white truffles from the Piedmont region of Italy, $45 for approximately four grams. Four-course menu runs 5-7 pm, $80 plus $45 for wine pairings; six-course menu runs 7:30-11 pm, $95 plus $55 for wine pairings. Call 214-712-9700.

Pakpao
Four-course tasting menu includes Gulf oyster with sausage and panang curry, lobster with red curry and flat-iron steak with coconut rice, corn and watercress salad, and orange blossom chocolate cake with Thai tea ice cream and pomelo. $40 with $20 optional wine pairing. Call 214-749-7002.

Pappas Bros. Steakhouse
Five-course meal with appetizer, salad, entrée, vegetable and dessert includes crab cakes; fried oysters; shrimp cocktail; Caesar salad; lobster bisque; and entrées such as rib-eye, peppercorn steak, lamb chops or salmon. From 4-6:15 pm is $100; 6:15-11 pm is $110. Call 214-366-2000.

Perry's Steakhouse
Three-course menu includes specials such as lobster bisque, pork chop, filet mignon, sesame-crusted ahi tuna, and milk chocolate peanut butter candy bar. Dinner at 5:30 pm or earlier is $60; 6 pm or later is $80. Call 214-855-5151.

Pyramid Restaurant and Bar
Four-course dinner includes choice of starter from crab-leek soup, quail or artichoke-quinoa salad. Second course is a beet-kale salad with goat cheese and Marcona almonds. Entrée is choice of beef tenderloin, striped bass, chicken breast with Swiss chard and butternut squash, or mushroom risotto with candied walnuts. Dessert is a coconut and apricot bourbon cream with coconut sponge cake. Reservations begin at 6 pm. $60-$79 depending on choice of entrée. Call 214-720-5249.

Ser Steak + Spirits
Six-course dinner as well as a specially designed, six-course vegetarian tasting alternative menu. Party takes place on the entire 27th floor with performances by W.T. Greer and DJ Marvel. Three distinct party lounges include the Bubble Lounge, with Cristal by the glass as well as the newest “it” champagne on the market, Beau Joie; Grey Goose Lounge; and Recharge Lounge. A cocktail and champagne toast at midnight is followed by a breakfast snack at 1 am. Starts at 7 pm. $175 per person, plus $85 for wine pairings. Call 214-761-7470.

Stock & Barrel
Three-course dinner includes choice of tuna tartare, beet salad or pork belly for starters; entrée options include lobster and chicken pot pie, goat cheese dumplings, sole-wrapped scallops, lamb shank, or flat-iron steak. Dessert is bread pudding or chocolate tart. $100 per person. Call 214-888-0150.

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Cocktail News

6 Dallas bars unveil new on-trend cocktail menus for spring 2025

Tupelo Honey

Old fashioned flight at Tupelo Honey

Dallas restaurants regularly roll out menus these days that follow the season, keeping things fresh by taking advantage of whatever's being harvested. But bars are getting in on the action, too, unfurling creative drink menus that make the most of seasonal ingredients and flavor trends.

Here are some refreshing drink menus to look forward to in Dallas this spring:

Knife Plano
Plano steakhouse has four new seasonal cocktails for spring including In Bloom, which contains both mezcal and tequila, along with pineapple juice and lime, served in an absinthe-rinsed glass. The Umit’s Mule is a spin on the classic mule featuring bourbon with aromatic bitters. Monk’s Sabbatical blends Diplo rum with trendy Green Chartreuse, Averna, and falernum, stirred. Finally, the fruity Fresa, which combines tequila blanco with citrus syrup, lime juice, and fresh strawberries. Cocktails are $14-$16.

Midnight Rambler
Award-winning cocktail bar at the Joule Dallas Hotel is doing two very distinctive themes. One theme is Pokemon-inspired drinks including Marky Mav with Bacardi Ocho rum, Cuban Style, and citrus mint prosecco foam. The Conspirator is a Caprese-style martini with tomato-basil-infused rum and Mozzarella Co. bocconcini — cheese in a drink, how wild is that. Matcha Chop has Illegal Caribbean Cask, mezcal, matcha, coconut milk punch, and blackberry foam. Their second "Rambler on Lock" theme features cocktails inspired by Dallas staples such as The 11, a riff on 7/11’s frozen Slurpee; and the Filthy 2.0, an ultra-dirty martini. Cocktails range from $14-17.

On Rotation
Brewery located near Dallas Love Field has brought back Turbulence, an IPA they first released in 2021. It's a hazy IPA full of Citra and Idaho 7 hops with grapefruit, tangerine, mango, apricot, and oranges. They have it on tap, $4.50 for eight-ounce or $8 for 14-ounce; and or via growler, $9 for a 32-ounce fill. They also have it in cans at the brewery, $22 for a four-pack.

Tupelo Honey
North Carolina-based Southern restaurant has launched a new beverage menu nationwide and that includes the two DFW locations in Las Colinas and Frisco. It's heavy on matcha and watermelon in drinks such as the Mindful Martini with Prairie Organic Gin and matcha; a nonalcoholic iced match latte; and the Watermelon Smile Margarita. Cereal Milk Martini is a rum-based cocktail topped with rainbow cereal marshmallows. There is also a Whiskey Flight with four old fashioneds served in a mimosa flight stand; and house-made lemonades in flavors like matcha, peach, and blueberry. Drinks are $11.50-$28, or $6.50 for the non-alcoholic matcha.

Virgin Hotels
Commons Club at the Virgin Hotels in the Design District has a new limited-time cocktail menu promoting the new Hulu sitcom Mid-Century Modern, which follows three friends as they spend their golden years in Palm Springs. Drink highlights include Boys Just Wanna Have Fun with Ketel One Vodka, cherry vanilla soda, and lemonade; She’s Throwing Shade, with Spring 44 Gin, St-Germain, Fever-Tree grapefruit soda, and lime; and Rainbow Rager with Bacardi 8, Aperol, pineapple, and cinnamon. Drinks are $16 each, but for those who want to indulge or share, a For The Queens Bowl for 3-4 is $45. Available through April 27.

Waterproof
Statler Dallas Hotel rooftop bar is going all tiki with three new tropical cocktails: Llama’s Choice with Tito’s Vodka, guava nectar, lemon, and coconut; Mai Tai with a pineapple rum blend, orgeat, triple sec, lime, and Fee Foam; and Rooftop-Rita with LALO Blanco Tequila, orange liqueur, agave, and lime. Drinks are $15-$16.

Cocktail notes

RTDs at the supermarket
The Texas legislature is considering a bill to allow "RTD" ready-to-drink cocktails in grocery and convenience stores. The bill, authored by Sen. Kelly Hancock, R-Fort Worth, would allow the sale of beer and wine products with up to 17 percent ABV. Texans can currently buy RTDs at liquor stores such as Total Wine, although those have a higher alcohol content than the lower-ABV malt liquor versions Hancock is suggesting for convenience stores. In the bill, Hancock claims the laws are "confusing for Texans." The bill is sufficiently innocuous and pointless that it has made it through the Texas Senate State Affairs Committee, and if passed, it would be effective September 1.

Bar takeover
Ginger’s, the speakeasy-style cocktail lounge in downtown Dallas' East Quarter that is operated by Sushi | Bar Hospitality, will host a special bar takeover for one night only featuring craft cocktail icon Christine Wiseman on Tuesday, April 23, from 6-10 pm. Formerly the Global Beverage Director for Bar Lab Hospitality, Wiseman spearheaded award-winning programs at Broken Shaker locations in Miami, Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago, and is known for her creative, playful yet refined cocktails.

nightlife cocktails