double wide … doubly awesome

I hate to drive. Really, I hate it. Driving all the way from University Park to Deep Ellem for a drink didn’t sound fun at all, but I did it. Pulling into the parking lot of Double Wide, I felt like I was pulling into a trailer park; luckily this one promised good music and drinks.

I parked in front of the “hiz” and “herz” faux outhouses, braved the rain, and scampered into the double wide trailer at Exposition and Commerce. I knew I’d finally made it to the Dallas treasure it was promised to be when the usuals at the bar eyed me as I walked in; I was on their turf.

The laid back attitude of the bar was refreshing. I hadn’t eaten all day and Double Wide doesn’t serve food, so my friends and I ordered a pizza at the urging of the bartender. When the Papa John’s pizza lady asked if it was a house or an apartment, she chucked a bit when I said, “It’s actually a bar.”

The music at Double Wide is meant to be some of the best in Dallas. See local bands here Friday and Saturday booked by the one and only Cha Cha. (She knows her stuff.)

A regular said his best memory of the bar is the opening night – and what a cluster it sounded like. Opening night, the elements dissented; there was a flood, a power outage, and cars were towed. As they say, the worse the wedding ceremony, the better the marriage.

Thumbs up for: GREAT music, friendly bartender, awesome prices

Drink strength: 3.5
Overall: 4 (a must-try bar for any Dallasite worth his salt!)

Double Wide
www.double-wide.com
3510 Commerce St | Dallas, TX 75226
(214) 887-6510

primo’s tex mex

For a good two years, every Sunday evening you could find me at the same place. It was a tradition that my friend Sam and I would grab a table on the porch of Primo’s and sip meltdowns while observing Dallasites in their natural habitat. You could see families, couples on their first date, and sixty-somethings trying to hit on the sweet young things at the next table.

The varied clientele is there because of the fantastic location, the awesome drinks, and the great food. You can order a yummy salad, tacos, or the very surprising hamburger (try it! really!) along with a meltdown to wash it all down. I guarantee, two meltdowns and you’ll see why everyone loves this place (get the magic trick that is the queso flameado and you’ll never leave!).

Tuesday is the best night to try Primo’s due to the $2 margaritas – make sure you get there somewhat early to get a good table. As for the weekends, it’s a great place to start your night, and for that matter, to end it (Primo’s has saved me many-a-weekend-night if I missed dinner by keeping their kitchen open late).

Enjoy the scenery and the meltdowns … after all, it’s a Dallas tradition!

Drink strength: 3.5
Overall: 4.2

Primo’s Tex Mex Grill
www.primosdallas.com | @primostexmex
3309 McKinney Ave | Dallas
(214) 220-0510

Check out Primo’s new catering offers … perfect for holiday parties! Primo’s Catering Menu

For we could not now take time for further search (to land our ship) our victuals being much spent, especially our Beer.

Ship’s log of the Mayflower

Happy belated Thanksgiving 🙂

greenville bar and grill – CLOSED

Greenville Bar and Grill was a complete surprise. I’ve seen it driving down Greenville many-a-time but never made it in … until last night. The “oldest bar in Dallas” (est. 1933) was anything but a typical Greenville Bar.

The history of this bar was somewhat entertaining: after being shut down quite a few years ago for building code violations (eek!), Merkow’s Steak and Seafood threw a pretty penny at the building and shined it up like new. Sadly, Merkow’s didn’t work out – so Greenville Bar and Grill returned to the Dallas bar scene with a nice face lift.

When I say this place was a surprise, I’m not saying that lightly. I walked in and was delighted to see huge HD TVs all over the place and a well-stocked (and CLEAN!) bar. I plopped down at the bar to wait for my friend and Stevie, the bartender offered up my first Tito’s and water with two limes and a couple jokes (he posited that it’s best to stay away from their wells – I took the advice since I didn’t have a happy hour to review for another hour and a half).

My friend arrived and we watched the Steelers game at the bar as the Sunday night poker group filtered in. I suppose it would be a scene that mirrors how Japan’s Night Life is booming, especially with the gambling intent. There were people of all walks and it got pretty darn crowded so we met a few of them. 9 p.m. hit and we switched over to wells to take advantage of the poker specials (some special, $4 wells? no thanks!). I guess now it’s closed, there won’t be anyone enjoying the $4 specials, but I guess there will be plenty of people still wanting to play poker through an online gambling website like www.best-casino.net/ or another similar that could offer them poker nights at home. I guess the main advantage to this would be the fact that if someone went to play poker in a physical establishment, they will be playing house rules, whereas online they get to choose what poker games they wish to play, I hear online that 3 card poker is popular among some of the other variants.

This place is worth a try if you’re going to eat (the food is pretty good). If drinks are your aim, they aren’t very strong and are pretty expensive on top of it all (my Tito’s and water was $7 and it was a standard size). Just make sure you go to the bathroom before you go; the bathrooms smell a bit and are cramped.

Positives: Lots of HD TVs, good food, clean

Drink strength: 2.5
Overall rating: 3

Greenville Bar & Grill
www.greenvillebarandgrill.com
2821 Greenville Avenue
Dallas, TX 75206(214) 821-2828

Specials:
Monday | $3 wells, 1/2 off bottles of wine – Poker at 7 & 10 p.m.
Tuesday | $4 you call its, $3 beers – Poker at 7 & 10 p.m.
Wednesday | $2 domestic drafts, $3 Import Drafts
Thursday | $3 Wells (ladies only), $8 domestic pitchers and $12 import pitchers for everyone
Friday | Live music at night
Saturday | 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. | $2.50 Mimosas, Bloody Marys & Screwdrivers – Live music at night
Sunday | 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. | $2.50 Mimosas, Bloody Marys & Screwdrivers (after 9 p.m. $4 wells and $3 domestics) – Poker at 10 p.m.

jorge’s tex mex

While I love to tell you how great bars are, I also love to tell you which ones not to waste your time on. I had high hopes for Jorge’s because, let’s face it, I like that they spell George with a J (should out to my Cuban friend, Dr. J!). Sadly, my experience here wasn’t great.

When we walked in we were sold on choosing Jorge’s over The Screen Door because I spotted the word “bottomless” on the brunch menu. So my sister and I ordered a quick meal before heading to the Winspear. I ordered the bottomless mimosa and, while it arrive in a cool, stemless champagne glass, it had ice in it … ICE IN A MIMOSA! I could have overlooked the ice if it tasted a little better; it tasted like it was made with cheap orange juice.

Our meal was just OK and the service was pretty bad. Everyone was friendly and attentive enough … when we saw them. The staff seemed to be too enthralled in the lumberjack competition on ESPN to be bothered with customers. We actually had to walk up to the bar to get our check.

A third guest joined us late and ordered the mimosa and was told only after she got it that it would be regular price since she hadn’t ordered a meal. I understand rules but sometimes you have to learn to break them in the name of customer service.

Don’t waste your time on this mediocre restaurant when you have such great choices all around you in One Arts Plaza – life is too short to drink bad drinks and eat bad food!

Drink strength: 2
Overall: 2

Jorge’s Tex Mex Cafe
www.jorges.com
1722 Routh St (in One Arts Plaza)
(214) 720-2211

Specials:
Monday-Friday | 2-6 p.m. | $5 house margaritas, $6 wells and select wines by the glass
Saturday & Sunday | $6 bottomless mimosas (with purchase of entree)

ravenna

I am always a bit reticent to head into the traffic-packed cement jungle that is downtown Dallas, but I am quite glad I braved the traffic on this Wednesday evening. Since I didn’t have to go too far into the mess, I was glad to spend some time at Ravenna.

Ravenna is a pretty darn authentic Italian restaurant nestled on the corner of Main and Field. The feel of the restaurant is cozy and the staff is all incredibly friendly and helpful. Our time at Ravenna was really enjoyable and the drinks and food made it even better.

The happy hour crowd appears to be mostly regulars sitting at the bar but this place gets really packed later. People will wait for the downtown clubs to open or let them in and grab a slice and a martini at Ravenna to pass the time.

Milan, the proprietor, was incredibly attentive and entertaining. He sat with our table and regaled us with with his journey from Chicago to Dallas while we sipped our potent and delicious ginger martinis (a Milan creation). Ravenna is so focused on customer service that they will stay open until everyone leaves (and they deliver pizzas late late late!).

Go for the drinks, stay for the food.

Drink strength: 4

Ravenna Italian Restaurant
www.ravennadallas.com
1301 Main Street | Dallas, TX 75202
(214) 744-9333

Specials:
Monday-Friday | 5-7 p.m. | $1 slice of pizza with purchase of $3 Brooklyn pint
Monday-Friday | 2-7, 11 p.m. – 1 a.m. | $3 wells and domestics, $3.50 margaritas, $5 signature martinis

chuy’s

I suppose it was inevitable that I would end up reviewing a chain. While I don’t love chains, this one wasn’t too shabby aside from one major hitch in the giddy-up (since this site is for Dallasites, I feel that I can use Texasisms!).

$3.50 margaritas usually wouldn’t impress me but these come in a hefty glass and you get your choice of regular, strawberry, or swirl (sadly, sangria swirls are extra). Our bartender, DJ, was quite efficient and friendly but the other bartender working wasn’t much of either. We ordered an appetizer and it arrive very quickly.

Now for the hitch: Chuy’s draw for happy hour isn’t so much their drink specials as it is their corvette trunk full of free chips and queso. The dip and such usually are a great perk, but there were three people who had to wait 4-1/2 minutes for bowls for the queso. A fellow happy hour-goer offered his thoughts on the matter.

“While the incident was regrettable, I’d say it didn’t affect my happy hour experience overall, but if you’re asking me to critique the service industry I would say they definitely failed in their attentiveness to the situation. It would have been nice if someone was quicker to recognize people had assembled in front of their ‘appetizer buffet’ looking confused and bowlless. I think it goes a long way if a server let’s you know they’re working on it and people probably wouldn’t care about waiting a few minutes in that situation. It’s four and a half minutes of my life I’ll never get back.”

Thanks for your comments, Mark! 😉

Overall, Chuy’s wasn’t a bad pick, just try to take your own bowl with you so you don’t have to leave your happy hour buddy all alone at the bar.

Drink strength: 3

Chuy’s
www.chuys.com
4544 Mckinney Ave | Dallas, TX 75205-4214
(214) 559-2489

Specials:
Monday-Friday | 4-7 p.m. | Fully loaded nacho car, $3.50 Margaritas, $6.75 house Texas martinis, $2.75 domestic beers

SusieDrinks

Drink well. Travel often.