Where to Meet the Queer Partner of Your Dreams (Stereotypes Only) in Dallas

Perhaps you’re tired of the dating apps and want to meet the queer partner of your dreams, but you don’t know where to start. Luckily for us, Dallas has one of the best, most expansive LGBTQ+ scenes in the country with a Dallas gayborhood centered on Cedar Springs Road and a newly growing gayborhood in Fort Worth.

To make things easier and more fun, we split the idea of your dream person (truly a complex and fascinating being, we’re sure) into clichéd stereotypes among the queer community. We didn’t invent these confines, but we’ll expand on them where we can – think of this as filling out the “tribe” section of Grindr, really. We’ve suggested where you might find them in Dallas. So tell us your type, and we’ll tell you where to meet them.

These are not necessarily strict guidelines, but simply a starting place to point you in the right direction. Everything else is up to you. Be confident and respectful of boundaries. You may not meet the right one on the first try, but the only way to find out is to get out there. Good luck, babe!

Here are the best LGBTQ bars in Dallas to meet these perfect stereotypes:

Big Burly Bears/Big Burly Bear Chasers

Dallas Eagle
525 S. Riverfront Blvd.
The Dallas Eagle, its predecessor, and the entire Eagle “chain” have a longstanding history of being the place to meet a hot leather daddy or a big burly bear, and with a theme night for every kink under the sun, you’re bound to find somebody who matches your freak. With club music, dim lights and a casual atmosphere, it’s the perfect place to meet the lumberjack of your dreams, and possibly canoodle on the patio. Just don’t break the house rules.

Sickly-Sweet Twinks

Round-Up Saloon
3912 Cedar Springs Road
Perhaps a big wall of beef isn’t your style, and you’d rather chase down a brat summer celebrating a Timothy Chalamet lookalike. Then it’s time to head back to the strip. Two powerhouse gay bars in the Dallas scene, the Round-Up Saloon and S4, are the most popular in town. Late nights on Fridays and Saturdays are the time to show up and show out, when the gays arrive and pack out the clubs. With popular hits blasting from the speakers, you’ll be sure to find a dance partner.
(We may have said “twinks,” but really, if your dream man is out there he’s probably going to stop by one of these two places.)

Gaymers

Cheat Code Lounge
3911 Cedar Springs Road, Suite B
Maybe your dream partner prefers playing Super Smash Bros over partaking in the thundering roar of a packed club. Conveniently located next to S4, this speakeasy-style arcade is a great place to chat up the partner of your dreams, let them win a game and hopefully score a second date. With over 40 games and a wide selection of drinks, you can be charming enough to keep the vibes going all night long.

Gays Off the Beaten Path

The Grapevine Bar
2213 Butler St.
Maybe your vibe is off the strip, and you’re looking for a partner who can hang without all the fanfare on Cedar Springs. Try the Grapevine, an inclusive safe haven. Go on a slow night and chat with the bartenders, or on a busy weekend night and make new friends. Play basketball on one of the best patios in Dallas, or sit inside and play pool. The Grapevine is a multifaceted place with plenty to do, and you can make a whole night of it.

Your Ex-Girlfriend’s Ex-Girlfriend

Sue Ellen’s
3014 Throckmorton St.
Texas’ oldest lesbian club has full-service bars on two levels, live bands and plenty of events. Take the recent Charli xcx and Chappell Roan dance party, where like-minded ladies from all over dressed up and showed out. During the weekend it gets packed, and with a little charm and some luck, you might be able to meet the girl of your dreams.

Millennial Lesbian

The Old Crow
1911 Greenville Ave.
Not every gay hangs out at a gay bar. Say you’re a millennial and you’re looking to meet the woman of your WLW fantasies. Perhaps you should venture out of the gayborhood and check out the Old Crow on lowest Greenville. Truly a low-key dive that fills up on the weekends, this bar has become a hotspot for the (slightly) older sapphic crowd. You’ll also find cheap drinks, and find yourself in a whole new strip to check out and explore. Furthermore, on Saturday and Sunday mornings you’ll be adjacent to The Underground Market where you can shop local vendors. Sounds like a cute date idea. If things go well enough on the second date, U-Haul Moving and Storage of Lower Greenville is 0.2 miles away.

The Queer Who’s Not Like the Others

Double Wide
3510 Commerce St.
Maybe your dream partner would rather listen to Arca and SOPHIE than Britney Spears or Lady Gaga. Maybe the gayborhood just isn’t their “scene.” Try Double Wide on the east end of Deep Ellum, where the fantastic “Pride at Double Wide” is a great place to meet some alt-queers. You can gamble on the dildo races, listen to the DJs or get a flash tattoo. Or, if it works out, come back when it’s slower during the rest of the year, have a frozen Yoohoo Yeehaw and an intimate chat. With one of the best happy hours in Dallas, Double Wide is always a safe bet.

Jocks

Woody’s
4011 Cedar Springs Rd.
If your ideal weekend is spent sitting at the bar with a pint of beer in front of literally any kind of sports game on TV, Woody’s is your home base. Locking eyes across the bar with someone rooting for your team’s rivals? The unlikely queer meet-cute you thought could only exist in a Billy Eichner movie. Sports memorabilia adorns nearly every wall of this bar, so it certainly stands out among the other haunts on the Cedar Springs Strip.

Thes-bians

Barbara’s Pavillion
325 Centre St.
This one is for perhaps one of the earliest stereotypes of the LGBTQ community: theatre nerds. If you’re looking for a partner who can be the Glinda to your Elphaba and take on “What is This Feeling,” then your best chance of landing your most cherished role is actually in Oak Cliff. Barb’s is the vibrant home to an eccentric crowd of regulars who love to hit the karaoke stage every Thursday and Sunday night. This is also very much a “come as you are” bar, which is why it landed on our list of the 100 best bars in Dallas.