Where to drink

Where to drink in Dallas right now: 5 bars with new happy hour specials

A tempting cocktail from Oddfellows.

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With April already halfway done, we're long overdue for the April edition of Where to Drink, our monthly column focused on bars, happy hours, new cocktails, and other things of a drinky nature.

This month includes new happy hours, a new bar menu, and a new spot with discounts on drinks.

Here is our Where to Drink for April:

Bar Louie
Upbeat pub chain is throwing down happy hour discounts Monday-Friday from 4-7 pm. Beer-wise, they're pouring $4 domestic pints and $5 craft pints. Cocktails start at $6 for single-pour premium call liquor cocktails, and $7 premium cocktails, including margaritas, mojitos, and martinis. All the M drinks! Wines by the glass are $6, and you get half-off on flatbreads, wings, Bavarian pretzel with mustard, spinach artichoke dip with chips, and a chip & dip trio with salsa, queso, and guacamole. Four locations include Shops at Park Lane in Dallas, plus Allen, Arlington, and Las Colinas.

Elm & Good
Restaurant at The Kimpton Pittman Hotel Dallas in Deep Ellum has a new weekday happy hour Tuesday-Friday 4-6 pm at its cool in-house bar with $5 local beers, $6 house red and white wines, and $7 select appetizers. On Tuesdays they stretch it out from 4-10 pm with Texas-themed specials including local beer, local wine, and cocktails made with Texas spirits.

Leela's Pizza & Wine Bar
Lower Greenville wine bar has spawned a spinoff which also includes "pizza" in the name, in Uptown at 2355 Olive St. They're in the old Malibu Poke space, across the street from the Ritz-Carlton, in the same parking-challenged complex as Starbucks and Roti Grill. Their happy hour runs Tuesday-Friday from 4-6 pm and is limited to $7 champagne cocktails and $7 house wines. For what it's worth, they don't take cash.

Oddfellows
Casual comfortable community hub in Bishop Arts is there for your coffee, breakfast, brunch, lunch, and dinner needs, as well as happy hour, Monday-Friday, 3-6 pm, with a new slate of discounts on wine, beer, and cocktails. More specifically, they have $7 cocktails, $5 draft beer, $6 glasses of wine, plus half-price shared plates including their deviled eggs, white bean hummus, fried Brussels sprouts, and shrimp ceviche.

Villa Azur
Venue at the W Hotel has a new bar menu and, while it's not discounted, it is new, and surely worth a look, maybe even a try. New cocktails include Let’s Get Guava with gin and guava purée; Purple Rain with Avion Reposado, grapefruit juice, lime, and blueberry purée; and Touch of Azur with gin, infused butterfly pea tea, lavender, and prosecco. Bites include crab spinach & artichoke dip with focaccia toast, and flatbreads with toppings such as spicy capicola, eggplant, shiitake mushroom, spinach, and lobster.

cocktails nightlife happy-hours Where to Drink

Steakhouse Opening

Docent Steak brings Kobe beef and samurai art to Dallas' Harwood District

Photos courtesy of Harwood Hospitality

The main dining room at Docent Steak.

The newest restaurant from Harwood Hospitality Group, called Docent Steak, is ready to open its doors near Uptown Dallas. The steakhouse will debut October 1, and reservations will open September 16 via Open Table.

First announced in 2024 and located within the Harwood No. 14 development at 2801 N. Harwood St., Docent Steak will offer several different dining experiences under one roof, according to a release.

The main dining area, which includes access to an expansive wraparound patio, will showcase traditional white-tablecloth, fine-dining. The restaurant's lower level gives way to a more casual, energetic atmosphere boasting TVs, a lively soundtrack, and a relaxed setting for drinks or watching TV.

Private dining spaces will accommodate everything from intimate dinners to events with up to 80 guests.

General manager Rhea Knight, a 10-year veteran of Dallas' restaurant scene, will oversee the opening team and front-of-house operations.

Docent Steak patio The wraparound porch at Docent Steak.Photo courtesy of Harwood Hospitality

“Great restaurants start with great people, and we’re focused on building a team that takes pride in what they do and how they take care of guests,” Knight says in the release. “I want Docent to become a restaurant people return to for the big milestones, but also the regular nights in between.”

Beefy menu
Docent's menu is built around HWD Beef, Harwood’s exclusive premium beef developed with ranchers in Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. It follows a zero-waste philosophy that uses the entire Akaushi cattle. Because HWD Beef is exclusive to Harwood restaurants, Docent will serve cuts unavailable elsewhere.

Prime cuts beginning at $72 include filet mignon, New York strip, ribeye, bone-in strip, Chateaubriand, and porterhouse. HWD Texas Wagyu selections include dry-aged New York strip and ribeye, starting at $85.

Docent also is authorized to serve Kobe Beef, which requires being a member of the Kobe Beef Marketing & Distribution Promotion Association. Its menu features several A5 Wagyu selections from Japan, available by the ounce, along with a rotating Kobe flight featuring five cuts.

Beyond the meat, the menu includes globally influenced dishes such as lump crab cake, Kobe potstickers, steak tartare sliders, tempura lobster, oysters, spicy tuna tartare, and a seafood tower.

Seasonal entrées include Texas bison filet, Elysian Fields rack of lamb, Kan Kan pork chop, Ora King salmon and miso Chilean sea bass. Sides include tallow-fried shoestring fries, whipped potatoes, mac and cheese, lobster mac and cheese, potatoes au gratin, and Brussels sprouts with Japanese whiskey, soy, maple and braised bacon. For dessert, there's baked Alaska, New York cheesecake, flourless chocolate cake, coconut cream pie, and bread pudding.

Knight — who has helped open several Dallas restaurants, including Town Hearth, two Neighborhood Services locations, National Anthem, and Brass Ram — is also a graduate of the Court of Master Sommeliers Americas’ Introductory Sommelier program and will also oversee Docent's beverage and wine program.

The cocktail menu mixes classic and unexpected drinks, ranging from a traditional martini and French 75 to original drinks such as the Strawberry Lychee Martini, Tamarind Buck, and Bread & Butter, made with reposado tequila, grapefruit, and bread-and-butter brine.

Docent Steak Docent's high-energy lower level.Photo courtesy of Harwood Hospitality

The wine list will reflect the restaurant's art. The selection spans celebrated regions, historic vineyards, and emerging producers, boasting bottles from Italy, France, and America. The program also features a range of sake from producers such as Soto, Dewatsuru, Yuki Tora, Negaibito, Shonen, HeavenSake, Kamitaka, Tengu, and Manotsuru.

In addition to its culinary artistry, Docent offers unique art-filled surroundings shaped by the renowned Barbier-Mueller Collection, which has one of the world’s largest and most significant collections of samurai art.

"The two-story restaurant features more than 100 objects woven into the restaurant’s design, including large-scale sculpture, architectural elements, textiles, armor, and historic equestrian objects, with several works dating to the 16th century," says the release. "Horse and cattle imagery, alongside a display of stirrups from around the world, offers a subtle nod to ranching culture. Together, these works create a dramatic setting that invites curiosity and discovery, with unexpected details revealing themselves throughout the space."

Docent Steak will be open Monday through Thursday from 4-10 pm, Friday and Saturday from 5-11 pm, and Sunday from 5-10 pm.

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