Best Of Dallas^® 2019

The animal galloping through this year’s Best of Dallas® issue is named Red. He’s a horse (of sorts) about town. In fact, he’s Pegasus, the winged horsey offspring of Poseidon. At least that’s what he told us when he called us one morning just after closing time at the bars and offered to be the Observer’s official mascot for this year’s issue. Granted, our judgment isn’t at its best at 2 a.m., and we admit he does look a bit like a guy in a red horse suit with dubious wings attached. But he swears he’s Pegasus, and we believe him. No mere mortal fills that red hide. Only something with divine power could lead our photographer Kathy Tran and her partner Daniel Rockey on Red’s exhausting tour of Dallas. Red is a rock star, able to jump a line at The Bomb Factory using his local cred, but chill enough to enjoy a night of bowling with friends. He is a brand-aware consumer who enjoys dropping Benjamins, but also a yogi able to clear his mind as fast as he closes his eyelids.

We’re pretty sure he lives in Uptown.

Red is also a Dallas icon, the symbol of the old Magnolia Oil Co. who spent years atop Dallas’ tallest building, visible to passing airplane pilots. He’s an unchanging bit of history in a city where change is constant. New people from across the U.S. and world flock to Dallas every day. They bring new ideas, cultures and businesses that might fly below the radar, unless you know a guy like Red or, say, have a band of writers scouring the city for all the great things it offers. Lucky you. We have Red and the writers on hand, and you get Best of Dallas without having to trail around a winged horse. After all those years on top of a building, he can get a little crazy when he cuts loose. See for yourself in the pages that follow.