Best Salon 2022 | House of Dear | Best of Dallas® 2020 | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Dallas | Dallas Observer
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Best Salon

House of Dear

Cutting the bun is never easy, especially when your parents used haircuts as punishment for bad grades, and your 10-year-old self had to hear about your stylist's dating problems. The good news is, you're an adult now and get to decide how often you cut your hair, bad behavior or not. So keep your locks trim and looking healthy while taking off 10 years of late nights and split ends at House of Dear. Once known as Dear Clark, House of Dear is cool, hip and luxurious. They are known for being curly hair specialists, and every stylist in the joint is top-shelf. The studio also offers a great selection of in-house products to turn your 1981 Bob Ross into a 2022 Harry Styles.

  • 3317 McKinney Ave., Dallas, 75204 Map

Best Place to Buy a Vespa

Kyle's Scooter Shop

The way Kyle Salter tells it, selling and working on scooters is "kind of my entire life." He's been working on scooters since 2004 and bought the scooter shop formerly known as Garner's Classic Scooters in 2011. He posts much of his work on Instagram, where you can find him at the handle @kylescootershop. He works by appointment, but if you give him a shout, he'd be glad to show you one of his restored Vespas. With the way gas prices are headed, we suggest you give him a ring sooner rather than later.

Best Place to Buy Camping Gear

Scheels

Dallas itself isn't known for camping, but there are plenty of places within driving distance that are worth heading out to and staking your tent. But first, you'll need a tent, and the best spot to cop a new tent is Scheels in The Colony. Plus, they've got you covered if you need a sleeping bag, cooking supplies, outdoor clothes, boots or camping furniture. Heck, the employee-owned business has even got ready-to-eat camping meals for your great journey outdoors. A new backpack? No problem. Fishing gear? They've got it. Headlamps and lanterns? Pfft. But be careful when you go in there; it's easy to spend the contents of your wallet.

Best Place To Buy Hemp Products

Dreads Dispensary

The Dreads Dispensary houses a wide variety of High Times Award-winning products. Just by going in the store you're almost guaranteed to receive a free pre-rolled CBD joint if there are any left in the jar by the register. You'll be greeted by real Rastafarians eager to show you some of the newest indoor grown hemp and edible infusions like their home-baked cookie tray and Kush Berries cereal that can leave you high, happy and mildly functional for 48 hours. Dreads is a Dallas-based cannabis lifestyle brand that participates in both the hemp and medical marijuana sides of the industry, along with an exclusive line of rotating deadstock apparel items.

Best Place to Hear Texas Authors

Deep Vellum Bookstore

Nathan Hunsinger

Deep Vellum, located in Deep Ellum, is more than a bookstore: It's also the city's leading publishing house and the regular host of authors from around the country, including from Dallas and elsewhere in Texas. The bookstore is a small but charming place, and the good folks running the show there host authors who publish their books with a range of independent and mainstream publishing houses around the country. Founder Will Evans established the place with the hopes of contributing to the literary arts community in Dallas, and for the last seven or so years, the Deep Vellum team has succeeded. They've hosted Texas authors including Rachel Monroe, Skip Hollandsworth and Lance Scott Walker, among others.

  • 3000 Commerce St., Dallas, 75226 Map

Best Potter

Carl Block

Carl Block is a true Lone Star legend. This North Texas folk potter infuses each piece with American traditionalism and an outlaw sensibility. Block's take on Southern face jugs have offbeat expressions and vivid hues, and over the decades, he's established a style that is wholly, unmistakably his. He also specializes in intricately crafted wall platters, lucky cats and musician jugs. The potter has a thick Rolodex of lifelong patrons who are all enamored of his one-of-a-kind style. Fair warning: as soon as you buy one of Block's face jugs, you'll never be able to stop.

Best Place to Buy Outdoor Furniture

Sunnyland Outdoor Living

With the summer heat fading and fall approaching, you might be eyeing your back patio with the hope of enjoying the brief respite North Texas gets now and then. If you have a soul, though, you could also be thinking about a local shop that sells the outdoor furniture you need to get your yard in shape. Look no further than Sunnyland Outdoor Living in North Dallas. For owner David Schweig, patio furniture is a family business, and his family boasts three generations in the game. Sunnyland has more than 35,000 square feet of showroom space stocked with patio tables, chairs, umbrellas, firepits and whatever else you dream of surrounding your house with.

Best Place to Get a New Tire Overnight

24 Hour Rodriguez Tire Shop

When fate strikes, it doesn't care what time of the day or night it is. Who hasn't gotten a flat tire late at night and found themselves stuck on the roadside (or somewhere worse) waiting for help? If you're in Dallas when the blowout hits, though, you don't necessarily have to wait for roadside assistance or leave your car stranded on the shoulder until the shops open the next morning. 24 Hour Rodriguez Tire Shop is open, well, 24 hours a day. They don't have a website, so you'll have to phone them or catch an Uber that way.

Best Place to Buy Running Gear

Fleet Feet Dallas

Depending on whether you prefer light jogs, cross country or trail running, the kind of shoes you wear when you take off will make a big difference. Whatever your fancy, Fleet Feet Dallas has plenty of choices, plus just about every type of running-related gear, supplements, gadgets or accessories you didn't know you needed. Energy gels, compression socks, anti-chafing balms — Fleet Feet has it all. The folks there also organize free running groups if you need a gang of pals to hold you accountable. There are two stores in Dallas and others in Richardson, Coppell, McKinney and Frisco. Check out Fleet Feet Dallas' website to find the location nearest you.

Best Board Game Store

Common Ground Games

Kathy Tran

Today's board game selections are so varied and complex that there are stores dedicated to selling them and tons of specialized accessories to go with them. Common Ground Games is one of the first retail places in DFW to offer a wide selection of popular and independent party, role-playing, strategy and cooperative board and card games. Now it's even bigger. The Inwood Road board game store moved into a huge space just a few doors down from where it started. It has twice as many games — rare favorites you can find only online to the God-knows-how-many versions of pop culture-themed Monopoly. The truly great thing about Common Ground Games is its sense of community. Even after all these years, you can still walk in and play games from their library or ones you brought with you at no charge.

Best Of Dallas®

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