Izkina offers guests and Dallas residents alike a Spanish-inspired experience with some simple Spanish cocktails, like red wine and cola, sherry with lemon soda, traditional mixed drinks and sangrias. To finish out the effect, the menu is complete with six gin-and-tonic options, from traditional (with Fords Gin and Fever Tree tonic, orange, jasmine and coriander) to Asian-inspired (with KI NO BI Kyoto Dry Gin, shiso, ginger soda and kumquat).
Since a night at the hostel can run you from $40 (dorm-style bed) to $140 (private room for up to four), it's nice to see that the prices at Izkina offer the same opportunity for frugality. Belly up to the bar, and you can enjoy food for less than $10 a plate and cocktails for $7-$20. Tapas-style offerings, from traditional to a bit more unusual options like sherried mushrooms, will be available to fill you up while sipping your G&Ts. The baby octopus, meatballs and Spanish pancakes aren't to be missed.
If you're feeling like a bit of a Dallas baller, treat your fellow travelers to a bowl of red or white sangria for $36. Don't dismiss the sangria bowls as punch-strength — the red and white options boast gin and rhum to accompany the rosé and tempranillo (respectively).
Sangria bowls offer the travelers another way to bond. (Although after traveling with someone, you usually want your own cup.)
Ellie Hopen
Deep Ellum Hostel and Izkina, 2801 Elm St.
