The Four Seasons’ Cafe on the Green has two events this weekend. The first, Mixology Mistletoe and Merriment, is a holiday-themed class that will teach participants how to egg a nog, put some cheer in their punch and make cocktails that smack of Santa’s tears. The second event is a…
Midnight Rambler is decidedly one of the best (if not the best) places to spend all your cash on excellent cocktails in Dallas. The bar program Chad Solomon and Christy Pope have cultivated is sophisticated, interesting and constantly changing. The drink you liked from Midnight Rambler six months ago probably…
If you’ve been to Remedy, the refined comfort food spot on Lower Greenville, you have definitely sipped one of barman Máté Hartai’s delicately balanced cocktails. The drink program here centers around the idea of the “American soda fountain,” and Hartai adds plenty of booze, enthusiasm, and sophistication to that classic…
Four Bullets bills itself as the “smallest brewery in Dallas,” and it’s easy to miss. Located in an older building close to a DART rail line near Arapaho Road and Central Expressway, Four Bullets feels like a garage someone’s uncle converted into his home-brewing man-cave. It has an assortment of furniture…
Pop-up restaurants have been a delectable trend for the last couple of years, one that’s still going strong with foodies, unlike some other disastrous trends we could name. (We’re looking at you, Cro-Nut.) They’re a great way to support a charitable cause or sample the work of a visiting chef,…
Thanksgiving dinner. A turkey, a small army of side dishes, a dozen family members and football. With all the food you’re consuming, and naptime inevitable, good alcohol can be an afterthought. Luckily, great Thanksgiving wines are easy to find for bargain prices. Our shopping criteria were pretty simple: Wines that…
When you’re at Small Brewpub, you should probably just order a beer. The house-brewed selections are the constant subject of beer nerds’ raves, and even those who don’t necessarily have a taste for anything fancier than a Michelob Ultra can understand the straightforward flavor profiles of these easy sipping beers…
Last week, beer giant AB-Inbev completed its deal to swallow SABmiller for $107 billion. Already huge, AB-InBev is now truly gargantuan, looking at potential annual revenue of $64 billion and controlling roughly 30 percent of beer sales worldwide. It’s so big, in fact, that AB-InBev had to sell its nearly…
You know Buzz Bike. It’s that big yellow bike contraption thing that sits about 15 passengers and drives through different parts of Dallas. The passengers are drunk and loud and annoying and they all want you to know what a good time they are having. It’s all a damn façade…
Dallas may not comprise miles of Irish or English-styled pubs like Boston or Chicago, but we do have pleasant handful where we can sit back and chug a pint while chewing fish and chips. Among the handful are three very successful pubs: The Old Monk, Idle Rich and Blackfriar, all…
I haven’t gotten to write about funky beer too much. Sours are widely popular in other beer-soaked cities, but here in Dallas not many breweries have been willing to dabble in the stuff. Michael Peticolas told me he was interested, once, but the wild yeasts used to make these kinds…
Beer people = my people. The beer crowd is fairly predictable: more bearded guys than you can count; a friendly, fun-having attitude that makes standing in lines and crowds easy; hippies and hipsters as far as the eye can see. Nothing against non-beer-drinkers, but I’m pretty sure that kind of…
For the most part, the Design District is not where you go to spend the evening drinking, but with the growth of craft beer in Dallas, four breweries are now open in the neighborhood alone, with a fifth, Four Corners, nearby in Trinity Groves. Noble Rey Brewing Co., which opened…
It’s rarely a problem. In the past, if a customer had forgotten to bring vino with them for dinner at Urbano Cafe, they could just run around the corner to Jimmy’s and pick up a bottle of Sangiovese. The thing is, Jimmy’s closes every day at 7:30 p.m., which can…
Thanks to the switch to standard time, this year Halloween is an hour longer, which means you’ll have a full 60 minutes to pound in extra booze while you’re dressed like a sexy cat or sexy Walter White or whatever sexy costume you’ve chosen. That mean you’re going to need…
Back in July, the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission banned crowlers — crosses between growlers and aluminum cans — from retailers such as Lewisville’s Taps and Caps. The TABC said putting draft beer in an aluminum can and sealing it up, as opposed to putting beer in a glass bottle and screwing a top…
You can get local craft beer at just about any bar in Dallas these days, and it will only get easier as more breweries continue to spring up. Bars that specialize in craft beer, local or otherwise, are a little harder to come by. When you really want to embrace…
Right now, there’s really no better place to sit on a patio and drink than Spork, the Sonic Drive-In turned chef-driven casual restaurant. The weather right now is excellent at night, the strings of white lights and Sonic-chic neons add kitsch, and if you go late enough, you can avoid…
Each year, Saint Arnold Brewing Co. in Houston releases their Divine Reserve beers: single-batch beers brewed differently each time. Most of the Divine Reserve beers have been heavier, stronger recipes. From double IPAs to barleywines to Belgian strong ales, the variance has been successful, with beer snobs seeking it out…
These days, our likes are used to determine our dating partners, direct millions of advertising dollars into our Facebook feeds, and perhaps most important, show off just how cool we are. When it comes to cocktails, what you order when you belly up to the bar says a lot about…
At this year’s Brewfest, the number of local breweries was impressive. The big guys always dominate the Observer’s annual beer event, but this year the tide appeared to be turning. Local breweries accounted for just over 25 percent of the participants, taking over an entire row of tents and pouring…
Going to the State Fair of Texas is a tradition for many people. Many, many, many people. Hordes, in fact. Sometimes the best way to deal with the stress brought on by the crush of corny dog munching humanity is to down a few beers (which is true even without…
