Best Dive Bar 2011 | The Windmill Lounge | Best of Dallas® 2020 | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Dallas | Dallas Observer
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Best Dive Bar

The Windmill Lounge

Every man needs a home bar. Every man needs that place he can slouch into, order a Shiner or a Maker's on the rocks and retreat into its dimly lit recesses to hide from Dallas' summer hellscape. The Windmill Lounge is that place. Once you park in the gravel lot behind the building and pass through the red door, you may notice that The Windmill exists in a state of perpetual night, which is by design. Don't give a man bright and airy. Wrap him in a cocoon of low lighting and blasting air conditioning. Give him a black vinyl couch that runs the length of the back wall, where he can continue slouching. Give him tiny, one-man-operation bathrooms scarcely big enough to turn around in. And, most important, give him a jukebox with a puzzling assortment of soul and soundtracks from seminal films like Clueless, Grosse Pointe Blank and The Wackness. That, friends, is a place just seedy enough to be a man's home bar. God bless our happy Windmill Lounge.

Best Rock Bar

The Boiler Room

In 2011, a Deep Ellum bar that was destined to be the best rock bar in Dallas reopened under the ownership of one of Dallas' biggest rock stars. Drowning Pool bassist Stevie Benton opened The Boiler Room for business the same day he got the keys to the front door back in June, and it's been teeming with Deep Ellum's hard-rock set ever since. Benton beefed up the venue room, which sits adjacent to the bar room, with a powerful sound system and lighting rig, making The Boiler Room one of the best places in town to see a hard-rock show. And, chances are, you might get to rub elbows with a few rock stars while you're at it.

Best Bartender

Gabe Sanchez, Black Swan Saloon

"Mixologist" has always seemed such a pretentious term. Bartender wasn't good enough? Did a bunch of drink-slingers attend a doctoral program in mixology at Johns Hopkins? Pfft. At least we used to think that way until we met Gabe Sanchez, owner of Black Swan Saloon and winner of two other "bests" in this issue — for introducing pickle shots to the city and creating his watermelon-infused vodka and club soda. Mixologist? How about "alcohological alchemist?" With its large glass jars of house-made fruit and veggie infusions, Sanchez's narrow, woody saloon, tucked on a Deep Ellum street corner, has the vibe of a medieval chemist's lab (a very cool, inviting lab). Tell him how your tastes run, and he'll whip out various liquids, infusions, ice cream, pixie dust, whatever and whip up something you've never had before but realize you've been hankering for all along. Alchemists searched vainly for the secret to turning dross into gold, but Sanchez has found something better: the recipes for liquid happiness. (Philospher's stone would make an excellent drink name, by the way.)

Best Honky Tonk

Billy Bob's Texas

Caity Colvard
This award has become synonymous with Adair's – the broken-in dance floor, the burger, the flair cluttering every possible space on the wall. It's local; it's loved; it's fantastic. We'd never argue otherwise. But since we've told you about Adair's every year for, like, forever, this year we decided to change up the equation and cast the honky-tonk net far and wide, all the way to Fort Worth. If you figure the ratio of dance-floor square footage to distance from Dallas, Billy Bob's is practically in your backyard, or something. But honestly, the place that bills itself as the world's largest honky tonk is a sight to behold. Every seen a saddle that's a disco ball? Go to Billy Bob's. Want to see the best country concerts? Billy Bob's. Crave an order of righteous fried pickles? Yeah, Billy Bob's. It's a special occasion honky tonk, the Six Flags of country bars, and every two-steppin' Texan worth his or her cowboy boots should make the drive at least once to drink a Shiner in what feels like the most spectacular Western movie set.

Best Place to Unleash Your Inner Rock Star

MAC Karaoke

You do it in the shower, but nobody is watching. You do it in your car when you should be paying attention to your driving. At MAC Karaoke you get to do it in front of the captive audience of your buddies while being serviced by some friendly Koreans. Get your mind out of the gutter. We're talking about unleashing that inner rock star that secretly resides in each and every one of us. No more embarrassing surprise walk-ins while singing into a round brush or shampoo bottle, and no more side-eyes from the person in the next car. At MAC, your terrible sing-along to Journey is encouraged! As far as Korean karaoke joints go, MAC boasts one of the most all-encompassing and frequently updated song lists out there. While you're belting away, imbibe on a selection of soju and beer, because after all, you are a rock star. If you want, you can even order a fruit platter or some of their killer Korean spicy wings and pretend they're on your bands' rider list. It's what the Britneys and Jessicas would do. (Especially the wings part.)

Best Karaoke

GOOD LUCK Karaoke

Matt Nager
Thursday nights carry a temptation like no other: From 10 or 11 p.m. (it's loose; go with it) to 2 a.m. GOOD LUCK Karaoke commences with fucking up the Double Wide proper via themed karaoke parties ranging from the bizarre to the downright genteel. Hosts Josh Hammertimez and Oliver Pecker (whose real names have been partially changed to prot ... well, just because) never disappoint when it comes to inspired moves or stage wear. As Pecker says, "We do it for the love of PARTY'N!" Hammertimez agrees, adding "Oliver is really good at throwing parties and I'm really good at attending them." GLK recently celebrated its one-year anniversary, and looking back, Hammertimez says the boys' fondest memories are of toga, emergency-room and construction-zone nights. In that case, yield to your DJs and proceed without caution; rockers ahead.

Best Lady Gaga Moment

Round-Up Saloon

On March 14, a club full of gay men thundered with excitement after a long night's wait. It wasn't because the bartender replaced the kegs of cosmos. Lady Gaga had arrived. The night before her Monster Ball Tour hit the American Airlines Center with the Scissor Sisters, Twitter's rumor mill was spinning. She was there. She was at the jam-packed Round-Up Saloon on Oak Lawn. "Please don't rush the stage," the club's announcer said over the P.A, "or I'll kick you in the nuts." Someone nearby screamed, "Is she here?" Then it happened. Fast. Like a lightning strike, she stepped on the wooden dance floor, performed "Born This Way," and left. It was fast and furious, and something very special. There was a sense of genuine care, love and community in the air. There was a sense that we all caught the view of something fleeting and good. We all saw an artist at work, just for a moment. Whether you love or hate her, in that moment, she was great. It was an exciting moment in a city that pretends to have too few.

Best Improvised Fun

Dallas Comedy House Improv Classes

Courtesy of Dallas Comedy Club
There's no bonding experience quite like self-imposed humiliation — or mutual success. Dallas Comedy House's improv classes offer the perfect way for laugh-loving folk to meet, make friends and figure out paths to punch lines that don't always involve dick jokes. Students enjoy weekly classes to build skills and show them off in a public showcase at the end of each term so they can prove to family and friends why they should or shouldn't be the next member of Upright Citizens Brigade. Those who truly improve their improv get to level up to more challenging classes. Jam sessions (for those who prefer a seat in the audience or those who want to go after improv with open-mic-style abandon) can sometimes morph into a dance party and the cover's cheaper than an ultra-chode lounge. Occasionally, DCH offers a trial improv class for free so potential students can see if the world of "yes, and" is right for them.

Best DIY Venue

The Canton Co-Op/Deep Ellum

Dallas, you finally have that place. That one place you keep hearing about, haven't fully grasped what it is and need to be there. It's a place that shimmers at night and sleeps by day. Here's the kicker for this music and art find on 2703 Canton St.: It's the most unpretentious, genuine venue in Dallas. Proprietors Leticia Gallegos (who also runs a local music aggregate site called Gorilla Groove) and Emilo Muniz (a photographer schooled at UNT) are lovers of Deep Ellum. They're protectors. It's in their bones. They live it, and the vibrancy of Deep Ellum shines best at their shows. Established in 2010, the co-op has hosted shows that include metal art, live photography, Parade of Flesh brand concerts and "Who Sharted?" (a hilarious T-shirt art concept show). They are always on the lookout for local sponsors who give a shit (they currently have an informal partnership with Batter Blaster, an aerosol pancake dispenser thing out of Austin). Oh, one thing we forgot to mention — there's always free beer. Donations are welcome, though.
  • 2703 Canton St., Dallas, 75226 Map

Best Bar to Get a Manicure

Beauty Bar

Most happy hours consist of a few cheap beer specials and dollar-off wells, but the Beauty Bar specializes in our kind of happy hour: manicures and martinis. During their workday happy hour, the low, low price of $10 lets you end a stressful day with a new coat of nail polish and James Bond's chosen libation. Don't expect the spa treatment, but you will get a damn good manicure and strong adult beverage for less than you'd pay for a mani at the nail salon. The vibe's cool, the manicurists are sexy and you'll have pretty nails and a buzz by the time you leave. Now that's killing two birds with one stone.

Best Of Dallas®

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