Top Food Events

These are the 9 best food and drink events in Dallas this week

Cheers to Bastille Day.

Mercat Bistro

Bastille Day arrives this week and a few Dallas dining destinations will celebrate the French holiday with food and drink specials. Margaritas, whiskey, tequila, and wine are also on the menu this week during several tasting events and pairing dinners.

Monday, July 8

Bastille Day at Mercat Bistro
French-inspired dining destination will celebrate Bastille Day with a week-long special prix-fixe menu. Highlights from the three-course experience include lobster bisque, seafood bouillabaisse, and chocolate crepes. The meal is $55 plus tax and gratuity, and available through Sunday when Mercat will open for a special dinner service. Add an optional wine pairing for $30.

Bar Takeover at Ginger’s Cocktail Lounge
Underground craft cocktail bar in downtown Dallas’ east quarter will host a bar takeover by one of Denver’s most decorated bars, Williams & Graham. Taking place July 8-9 from 5–11 pm, the pop-up will feature cocktails by Williams & Graham owner Sean Kenyon, recognized by the likes of Esquire for his mixology skills, who's bringing his entire bar team for the two-day event to shake up everything from negronis to margaritas. Entry is complimentary.

Wednesday, July 10

Casamigos Tequila Dinner at Thirsty Lion
Grandscape location of gastropub and grill has a few tickets left for this four-course tequila pairing dinner featuring Casamigos. (All other Dallas locations are sold out.) In a unique twist, the evening will feature tasting stations with a different menu item and tequila expression, from straight pours to cocktails. Station highlights include shrimp ceviche and chicken tinga tacos. Tickets are $75 plus a small fee, and will run from 6–8 pm.

Thursday, July 11

Pappy Van Winkle Dinner at Monarch
Touted as the world’s most sought after bourbon, Pappy Van Winkle headlines this opulent (read “pricey”) multi-course pairing dinner at Monarch. The $600 ticket, plus tax and gratuity, includes pours of 10-year, 12-year, 13-year, and 15-year labels. (Add the 20-year for $200 more.) Menu highlights include Texas Wagyu carpaccio, fire-roasted Texas peach salad with burrata, lasagna Diane, and bourbon-glazed rosewood Wagyu short rib. Dinner begins at 6 pm.

Friday, July 12

Bastille Day Celebration at The Adolphus
Channeling its French roots, The Adolphus celebrates Bastille Day in The French Room all weekend with themed tea service. The experience includes a three-course menu with tea sandwiches, scones, and festive French pastries, tea, champagne toast, live music by a French quartet, photo ops, and more. Tickets are $75 plus tax and gratuity, and reservations are available July 12-14 from 11 am-3 pm.

Kelleher Family Vineyard Dinner at Margaret’s
California’s Kelleher Family Vineyard will share a select assortment of wines exclusively with JW Marriott Dallas Arts District for a multi-course pairing dinner at Margaret’s, the hotel’s 11th floor restaurant. Taste six reserve collection wines paired with a five-course meal from executive chef Jonah Friedman. Tickets are $300 including tax and gratuity, and dinner begins at 6:30 pm.

Whiskies of the World
The nation’s largest whiskey tasting tour returns to Dallas with more than 150 expressions from distillers around the world. This year the event will take place at Thompon Dallas. Admission is $125 and includes gourmet bites, souvenir glass with complimentary engraving, and live entertainment. Or go VIP for $175 and get early entry and exclusive pours. The event will run from 7:45-10:30 pm (VIP entry at 7 pm).

Saturday, July 13

McKinney Margarita Stroll
Sip, stroll, and shop around historic downtown McKinney during this margarita walk. The $40 ticket, plus tax and $4.52 fee, includes at least 15 stops with margarita sampling at each, including varieties like pineapple basil, watermelon, and even frozen bourbon margaritas. Time slots are 11 am-2 pm, 1-4 pm, and 4-7 pm.

Parker County Peach Festival
Famous annual event west of Fort Worth will feature a bounty of Parker County peaches, live entertainment on two stages, the Peach Pedal Bike Ride, and more than 200 arts-and-crafts, food, and activity vendors. Visitors can get their fill of homemade peach ice cream, peach cobbler, peach pie, peach tea, peach smoothies, ice cream topped with fresh peaches, or just plain juicy peaches. Tickets for adults are $10, or $5 for children 5-12. Festivities will run from 8 am–4 pm at Barber On The Square in Weatherford.

There Goes the Biscuits

Mom-and-pop restaurant chain Biscuit Bar closes all Dallas locations

Photo courtesy of Biscuit Bar

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A Dallas-Fort Worth restaurant chain dedicated to biscuits is shutting down: The Biscuit Bar, a chain with six locations including five in the Dallas area, is closing them all. According to the owners, the closures are effective immediately.

Owners Jake and Janie Burkett say they were poised to sell off the chain to keep it afloat, but the sale fell through at the last minute — forcing them to shutter the business entirely.

The chain has five locations in the DFW area and one in Abilene. All locations are closed including these five in DFW:

Deep Ellum, at The Epic, the mixed-use project at 2550 Pacific Ave.
Plano, at The Boardwalk in Granite Park, at 5880 TX-121 #102B
Arlington, at Champions Park, at 1707 N. Collins St.
Fort Worth Stockyards, at Mule Alley, at 122 E. Exchange Ave.
Coppell, at 104 S Denton Tap Rd. #102

The couple blamed a variety of factors, including "rising costs, supply chain instability, and a commercial environment increasingly shaped by large institutional interests" which "created pressures no small business was prepared to endure."

The concept made its debut in April 2018 at The Boardwalk in Granite Park in Plano, before expanding in 2019 with a bang, targeting five locations all at once — a bold move for a new concept, especially one dedicated entirely to one food group. (They also opened a short-lived location on Hillcrest near SMU which is now home to D.L. Mack's.)

They were open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner seven days a week, offering biscuits, tots, and beer on tap — very ambitious — with a menu featuring both savory and sweet biscuit sandwiches made in house; tots, which could be customized; plus a bar with cocktails, local beer, cold brew coffee, and kombucha, all offered on tap.

Its most popular menu item, The Hoss, featured Southern fried chicken, bacon, Jack cheese, sausage gravy, and honey butter.

Their post says that by early 2025, they entered Chapter 11 — "not to walk away but to rebuild and secure a future for our employees," they say. "And for a time, it looked like that future was within reach. A respect restaurant group stepped forward, committed to acquiring and growing Biscuit Bar. The sale was structured, terms were agreed upon, and the closing was set for December."

Unfortunately, not everyone was on board.

"While many partners supported a workable plan, several key financial stakeholders did not," their post says. "This included a few landlords whose participation was essential. Their refusal to compromise or support a path forward ultimately made the sale impossible, leaving us with no legal or financil ability continue operating. And so just days before Christmas, we were forced into the most painful decision of our lives."

They've launched a GoFundMe for their employees and are encouraging their fans to contribute.

"If The Biscuit Bar ever served you a meal, became part of your routine, or gave you a place to gather with family and friends, we humbly ask you to consider donating or sharing this campaign," they say.

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