Best New Library 2008 | Bookmarks - NorthPark Center | Best of Dallas® 2020 | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Dallas | Dallas Observer
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Best New Library

Bookmarks - NorthPark Center

At last, a kid-friendly place at NorthPark that isn't trying to sell them something. Bookmarks is the new children's library tucked into the largest, glitziest shopping center in North Texas. With 5,000 items for kiddos from baby to tween-age, there are books, audiobooks, DVDs, CDs and laptops for public use. Free WiFi means you can check e-mail while the little 'uns are enjoying storytellers, puppets, magic shows or other special programs. Open every day but Tuesday.

Best New Old Lesbian Club

Sue Ellen's

Sure, the old place had its charm: Nothing says "lesbian club" like indoor/outdoor carpet, after all, and Sue Ellen's old locale had that in spades. But the old gal just grew too big for her khakis. The last few times we went there, it was wall-to-wall ladies, and not in a good way. There was no room to play pool, no room to mingle, no room to dance. So Sue Ellen's up and moved around the corner, and she moved into the 21st century while she was at it. The new Sue Ellen's is state-of-the-art, a glass-and-neon interior with separate rooms and levels. Stairs, plenty of seating, tons of pool tables, bars everywhere you turn...the place is like the Billy Bob's of dyke bars. Oh, and the place is an epicenter for a variety of entertainment: The large concert area upstairs provides ample space for local—and sometimes national—acts to perform, but downstairs you can still shake it on the soundproofed dance floor. How cool is that?

Best New Player

Kevin Moriarty, Artistic Director

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When Kevin Moriarty stood up to announce the 50th season lineup for Dallas Theater Center, no one knew what to expect. Then came his stunning news. His first directorial work would be the vintage rock musical The Who's Tommy, about as un-DTC as you can get. Also, he was hiring a nine-member resident company of local actors, something DTC hasn't had in more than two decades. And most shocking of all, he dared to utter the name of DTC's revered but oft unmentioned founder, Paul Baker. This wasn't just lip service to Baker, who was deposed from DTC in 1983. Moriarty had spent time with the legendary director and teacher, now 97, to help define his theater's past, present and future. In his first year on the job, Moriarty has earned goodwill by making his presence known at nearly every theater in town, seeing shows and meeting actors. Giving support to the city's theater artists has given them the respect they deserve and provided a new goal. After feeling shut out for far too long, Dallas actors, thanks to Moriarty, once again have a shot at the Dallas Theater Center spotlight.

Best Non-Nasher Sculpture Garden

The Valley House Gallery & Sculpture Garden

Head east on Spring Valley Road between Preston and Hillcrest, but not too fast. Drive quickly and you'll miss one of the most amazing outdoor art displays in Dallas. There on the right, turn into Valley House Gallery & Sculpture Garden, park your car and walk along a pebble path that allows you to look and linger on the lush grounds of the home of Kevin and Cheryl Vogel. Currently situated among the reeds, vines, flowers, trees and ponds on their 4.5-acre wooded estate are abstract metal sculptures as well as sculptures of people in various states of repose and play, works by Charles Umlauf, Mike Cunningham, Charles Williams, Nat Newlean, David Hayes and Frederich Sotebier. And there is no such thing as a trespasser at the Vogels' garden—not Monday through Saturday between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., and not if you stay away from the Vogels' private residence, which is also on the grounds. These works of art set among the garden are available for public viewing, free of charge. Of course, if you want to take home any of these sculptures, or any works of art inside the gallery, which is also nestled onto the grounds, that will cost you.

Best Outing With the Kids

Museum of Nature and Science

In 2006, the Dallas Museum of Natural History, the Science Place and the Dallas Children's Museum merged, forming the Museum of Nature and Science, the sort of place you could get lost in for days. For the kiddos, you can't beat the new Children's Museum. Check out the Little Urban Farm, where kids can play farmer for a day—milking a cow, gathering eggs or driving a tractor. At the Fire Department section of the museum they can practice being an EMT or a firefighter while dressing up in child-sized gear. This is one merger that really made sense.

Best Pencils Ready

Sunday Night Pub Quiz at Trinity Hall

Trinity Hall is easily one of the most welcoming bars in Dallas, thanks largely to its progressive, non-smoking environment. (Guess what, naysayer, you know where else you can't smoke in pubs? That's right, Ireland.) This pub boasts a handsomely designed interior in a choice piece of Mockingbird Station real estate, not to mention its tasty menu and incredible whiskey selection. Sunday nights the bar hosts the decidedly old-school Sunday Night Pub Quiz, complete with pencils, paper and a real life, flesh-and-blood dude calling out questions. Generic, piped-in satellite trivia this isn't. And since most of the questions aren't multiple choice, it's not exactly easy either. The drinking part's a breeze though.

Best Place for a Cheap Date

Pocket Sandwich Theater

Not a first date, unless you're the type who thinks a burlesque re-enactment of a Battlestar Galactica scene is the kind of first impression you want to make. But if you're not in the mood to impress and don't mind slumming it a bit, Pocket Sandwich Theater is, if nothing else, fun. They specialize in what they call "popcorn-throwing" comedies, stuff like Attack of the Killer Mutant Leeches, in which audience participation (especially the throwing of popcorn) is encouraged. The food isn't great, but drinks are cheap, and hey, where else can you see a woman strip down to a G-string and re-enact the Napoleon Dynamite dance?

Best Place for a Day Trip

Waxahachie

In most towns, the nerds who like to dress up in medieval battle gear and wage "war" are relegated to some far corner of the playground. Not so in Waxahachie. In this town just 35 minutes south on Interstate 35E, the Renaissance-loving dorks aren't just celebrated; every April and May they take over the town. That's just one reason to check out this town of 20,000. Another reason is the Webb Gallery, a 10,000-square foot space off the main square that revels in the weirdness of folk and "naïve" art, from carnival banners to disturbing Masonic masks. Collectors come from around the country to see what new stuff the Webbs have found. The town's also full of gingerbread-style architecture. Back in the 1980s major motion pictures, including Places in the Heart, loved this place. We know it has a special place in our heart.

Best Place for Jenny the Elephant

Anywhere But Dallas

When the Dallas Zoo's 39-year-old elephant KeKe died in May, the media spotlight shined on KeKe's cage mate Jenny, who either needed a new home or a new buddy. Zoo officials decided to send Jenny to the Africam Safari Park, a drive-through zoo in Mexico. A group called Concerned Citizens for Jenny, along with council member Angela Hunt and even actress Lily Tomlin, demanded that Jenny instead be sent to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee, where she would have more space to roam. Eventually, the zoo and Park and Recreation Department chose an option that no one was fighting for: Keep Jenny in Dallas by bringing in another elephant and building a $40 million Africa Savannah exhibit. We're not sure where Jenny's future should be spent, though anywhere but Dallas is best given the knuckleheads making the decisions in this city.

Best Place to Avoid Getting a DWI

Café Brazil

It's 2:30 in the a.m. on a weekend, half-past last call, and you're closing down some bar on Lower Greenville or in Deep Ellum or on the Southside—it doesn't matter. All are within designated driving distance of Café Brazil on North Central Expressway, assuming your designatee knows the way. If the two-hour wait isn't sobering enough, pour yourself a cup of coffee or three from the seven varieties that are offered at the self-serve coffee bar. The aromas and roasts will wake the drunk right out of you. And it's breakfast anytime, with omelets fluffy and fat with veggies and other treats, which are also good for grounding. If the French toast, which rivals the best in town, is too sweet for the bourbon and Coke you've been gulping all night, try the BLT or the grilled cheese or whatever lunch item suits you. And when you've had your fill, make sure that you can drive, because it's your ass that will be toast if you pick up a DWI.

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