Where to drink

Where to drink in Dallas right now: 5 foodie happy hours for May 2026

Food and drink at Yuzu Japanese Restaurant and Bar.

Photo courtesy of Yuzu

The May edition of Where to Drink, CultureMap's monthly column on bars you can drink at, embraces a perennially popular theme — namely, happy hours. But these five recommendations are not just "where to find a cheap beer." In this roundup, the theme is more food-focused, featuring happy hours that not only serve discount drinks but also snacks that are noteworthy in one way or another. They're also geographically diverse, with selections that stretch far across the Dallas area.

Here are five new foodie happy hours for May:

AM/FM
Diner and lounge near Dallas' Design District with backyard and live music stage has a worthy happy hour on weekdays from 3-6:30 pm, with appealing food and fancy drinks. Food offerings include a trio of dips with jalapeño edamame, pickle dip, and white bean dip, served with veggies and hippy crackers for $6; fried green tomatoes with green goddess dressing for $5.50; a $9 meatloaf sandwich; and an $8 black bean veggie burger. Drinks are $7, including wine by the glass and a rose nectar martini for $7.

Common Table
Small local neighborhood restaurant and bar chain with locations in McKinney and Frisco is already affordable, with little on its menu over $20. But the McKinney location, at the District 121 development, has an extra-special deal served Monday-Friday from 11 am-10 pm called "the Triple 7s" in which everything — food, cocktails, and wine — is $7. That includes popcorn chicken, Bavarian pretzel bites, garlic knot chicken parm sliders, Wagyu meatballs, Hatch chile queso, blood orange margarita, B.R. Cohn pinot noir, and more.

Hermano’s Restaurant
Mexican restaurant in Allen opened as Hermano's in 2024, in the space that was previously Mexi-Go, when the owner of Mexi-Go decided to retire. But the staff stayed on and the food and drink have remained essentially the same, with most dishes such as their pescado Veracruz grilled fish topped with Veracruz tomato salsa coming in at $15 or less. They host an expansive happy hour: Monday-Thursday all day, with $7 margaritas, including frozen, on the rocks, and swirl. Beer, whether bottled or on tap, is $4.

Radici Farmers Branch
Italian restaurant in Farmers Branch from celebrity chef Tiffany Derry is doing a foodie-centric "Pasta Hour," Tuesday-Friday from 5-6 pm. This early-evening special resembles a senior citizen meal, featuring a specific menu that typically offers choice from four pastas such as lasagna blanca or the Bolognese. You get an appetizer, pasta, and dessert for $30. This helps soften their drink prices which range from $18 to $20 for cocktails such as an $18 spritz with limoncello and soda.

Yuzu Japanese Restaurant & Bar
Sophisticated mom-and-pop sushi spot in Rockwall just refreshed their Happy Hour menu with great food and drink: $5 edamame, $8 tempura shishito peppers, Wagyu wonton taco for $8, nigiri for $3, and $8 dumplings. Handrolls including spicy tuna and shrimp tempura are $6. Alluring cocktails like a lychee elderflower martini and an Aperol Yuzu spritz are $12. Wine and sake are $10, and Japanese beer is $5. What better time of the year to check out The Harbor complex on the shore of Lake Ray Hubbard, and the happy hour runs daily — including weekends! — from 5 pm-6:30 pm.

happy-hours cocktails where to drink

In A Pickle

Dallas-based Smoothie King chain debuts puckery new pickle smoothie

Smoothie King

Pickle flavored smoothie from Smoothie King.

The ever upwardly trending pickle flavor is surfacing in the unlikeliest of places: Smoothie King, the Dallas-based smoothie chain, is releasing a new limited-edition Pickle Smoothie — for those who love pickles so much they could drink them.

Smoothie King is partnering with Grillo's Pickles, a Boston-based pickle company, on a beverage that combines Grillo’s Pickles with bananas, kale, and coconut water for what they describe as a refreshingly tangy drink infused with electrolytes designed to support hydration.

The drink is $5.99 for a 20-ounce serving, and will be available through the summer. They'll be giving out free 4-ounce samples on May 16, while supplies last. A Today writer who ran out and tried it found that the banana and pickles both had an equally strong presence, and that it was "not bad." That's some reporting.

Grillo's Pickles was founded in 2008 by Travis Grillo, who launched the business as a small wooden pushcart in Boston Common, using his family's 100-year-old recipe. It has since grown into a nationwide brand, with their bottles topped with kelly-green lids sold in the refrigerator section of major grocery chains such as Walmart, Target, Whole Foods, Kroger, and Aldi.

Smoothie King is based in Dallas and is owned by Wan Kim, who opened the first Smoothie King franchise in Korea before eventually acquiring the national chain. He's also a major presence in Dallas' restaurant scene, opening the acclaimed Asian-themed Nuri Steakhouse in Uptown Dallas in 2024, and more recently debuting a chicken tenders concept on Dallas' Greenville Avenue called Flock & Fresh on May 2.

Pickles have emerged in recent years as one of the buzziest flavors, including Fort Worth's own craft beer brewer Martin House Brewing Co., a pickle pioneer that has released a number of pickle-flavored beers. H-E-B just joined the pickle party with a new Pickle Chamoy Sherbet, and national boutique grocery chain Trader Joe's is about to reprise its annual Pickle Season onslaught of pickle-flavored products such as Dill Pickle Mustard and Pickle-Flavored Potato Chips.

Beyond their flavor, pickles are a fermented item which can offer nutritional/probiotic benefits, although Smoothie King VP of R&D and Product Marketing Lori Primavera focuses primarily on the hydration aspect.

"At Smoothie King, every recipe starts with delicious nutrition in mind," Primavera says in a statement. "Pickles are not only delicious and having a cultural moment, they also offer real nutritional benefits, especially known for their enhanced hydration. That combination gave us an opportunity to explore them in a new format and push our innovation into new territory, reimagining how a beloved flavor can deliver both function and taste."

Grillo's Pickles Chief Commercial Officer Mark Luker calls them "functional benefits."

"We love to do unhinged collabs at Grillo's," Luker says. "With that, we don't always get to talk about the functional benefits of pickles. When we partnered with Smoothie King for a hydration smoothie, we knew this was a great opportunity to do both. Those who are willing to try will be pleasantly surprised (and hydrated)."

And if pickles are not your thing, Smoothie King is also simultaneously unveiling five watermelon smoothies including fan-favorite Watermelon Hydration, Watermelon X-Treme, Gut Health, The Activator Recovery Watermelon, and Power Meal Slim Watermelon.

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