The West Village isn’t typically a favorite destination ‘hood of mine unless I’m seeking fro-yo or a sale on cardigans, but a Yelp search pointed me in the direction of Thai-Vietnamese spot Malai when I found myself in dire need of a drink on a Sunday evening. I have zero…
Just days after Texans celebrate the state’s Independence Day on March 2, drinkers can support its independent brewers and try offerings from all five of the DFW area’s functional breweries. (That number won’t be five forever, but more on that later.)Corey Pond at The Common Table says Rahr & Sons…
Remember when a husband-and-wife team planned a beer festival in Fair Park and everyone was all excited about it but then it got canceled and everyone, aside from a few told-ya-so-sayers, was bummed? Well, once again, a husband-and-wife team is organizing a beer festival in Fair Park. And, with more…
Continuing to enjoy holiday beers well after the holiday season shouldn’t make you feel like one of those neighbors who leaves their Christmas lights up through Valentine’s Day. Every day’s a holiday, and today you can crack open a special brew to celebrate (or rue) the fact that on this…
Here’s what passes for my year-end list, 10 of the beers that really impressed me this year, listed in no particular order other than roughly reverse-chronological. It’s late because I tend to do my heaviest drinking during the holidays. I wanted to be sure to include anything I tried up…
This week I was looking something different, my palate weary from ringing in the new year with an excess of cheap California champagne. So I headed to Baboush in the West Village in search of new flavors. Situated between sushi haven The Fish and Cork wine boutique, you might forget…
Has there been a better year for beer drinkers in North Texas, and particularly Dallas, than 2011? Not one that I can think of, for reasons enumerated in the awards below. My year’s wrap-up isn’t over. Coming soon are my favorite beers of the year and a run-down of the…
Walking through the front doors of Whiskey Cake on Christmas Eve, my father says it best: “I feel like I’m in the movie Deliverance.” The abundance of rustic wood, plaid and whiskey barrels lend a backwoods-stillhouse vibe that’s further reinforced by our handsome blonde server, who sports suspenders (mandatory) and…
Don’t ask me out for a drink because, 1.) I’m cheap and 2.) at the height of holiday shopping insanity, I like to leave my house less than Sigorney Weaver in Copycat. So I stay home, watch TV, read and drink. My drink of choice is usually peppermint Schnapps in…
Whitney Filloon, our resident pastry chef/booze correspondent, took the week off from drinking to bring you these winter cocktail ideas. We have her assurances that she was sober when she wrote them. I enjoy a $12 cocktail as much as the next Dallas girl, but I decided I better trim…
‘Tis the season for cliche. I could do with fewer references to chilly weather and the warming bowls of soup I’m reading on food blogs lately. How about booze? How about hot booze? That’s the stuff to warm up with. Observer bar-and-clubs guru Daniel Hopkins came to my office this…
It’s a good week in Dallas beer real-estate news. Not only is Deep Ellum Brewing Co. opening its brewery doors to the public for the first time this weekend, but yesterday Lakewood Brewing Company announced via its Facebook page that it is ready to move into its home.”It’s been a…
The holidays are here, and restaurants and bars around town have broken out their seasonal boozing menus. So I went on a pub crawl and explored some of Dallas’ best wintry concoctions over the past couple of weeks, stopping at The Library Bar, Windmill Lounge, Bolsa, Meddlesome Moth, Marquee Grill,…
Deep Ellum Brewing Co. beer has been available in local bars since last month’s launch party brunch at The Common Table during Dallas Beer Week. Since then, its brews have been the stars of several beer dinners and other events at Cane Rosso, Holy Grail Pub and other beer joints…
Private Social bar manager Rocco Milano is like a young redheaded Santa, ready to grant all your alcoholic Christmas wishes, or maybe the fourth Wise Man, bearing obscure aperitifs and rare scotches in place of frankincense and myrrh. Perched at his silver and white bar in the space’s “Social” wing,…
Dennis Wehrmann, brewmaster at McKinney’s 2011 Best of Dallas®-winning Franconia Brewing Company, hasn’t given up on bottling. His targeted late-summer or early-fall starting time passed, but bottling is still in the works for the company, he says. And with the decision to hand distribution duties over to Ben E. Keith,…
Samuel Adams and Weihenstephan’s collaboration Infinium, marketed (and priced) as a Champagne alternative, is back for the holidays. The limited-edition beer, which will be available next Friday at Central Market and likely other stores specializing in beer, is now in its second year of trying to lure in drinkers looking…
The barman procures a large glass jar from underneath the bar and pours in a few ounces of Sobieski vodka, followed by fresh-squeezed lime juice. Hickory chips are scooped from a glass jar and loaded into a hand-held smoking gun, then ignited with a small torch. Smoke fills the jar…
I’m definitely too old for this, but it’s hard to shake the temptation. While the phenomenon doesn’t seem quite as prominent in Dallas, Black Wednesday has become a steadfast tradition across the country. It’s easy to understand how it got started. College kids home for the holiday finally have a…
The flier is fairly self explanatory, but we thought we’d reiterate the details for you. Tonight the Observer is hosting its monthly Tweet Up party, which means you’ll have the opportunity to hang out, listen to music (provided by DJ Pun), win free swag and most importantly, drink cheap booze…
It’s a Tuesday night in the O.C., and Mesa is abuzz with a low murmur of conversation. Three couples and a group of four populate the soft brown velour banquettes and chairs; with only 40 seats, four tables is enough for the place to feel alive. We take a seat…
With Saturday’s Dallas Beer Festival canceled, the opportunity to sample two of the strongest beers ever made, along with a couple of rare Mikkeller brews, at Strangeways seemed a fitting enough way to cap off Dallas Beer Week. Brewdog’s Tactical Nuclear Penguin (32 percent ABV) and Sink the Bismarck! (41…
