This joint is tucked into a lot next to a tire shop, and the only evidence of life after dark is a dimly lit sign that reads, "Cocktails and Dancing," shining like a dive bar beacon. It's everything you could possibly want in a dive: carpeted floors, a jukebox, a shuffleboard table along the wall and the light of the neon moon glowing from every fixture. "It's just a neighborhood little fun spot," owner Kent Smith, who can usually be found in his corner bar spot, told WFAA in 2017. No sports, no fuss, and they don't put up with assholes. Most nights the bar serves as a bumping karaoke spot with classic movies playing on the television screens. It's a perfect place for a shot and a beer, cocktails, dancing and a night you may not remember.

Before the pandemic, Deep Ellum had become a certified country gold hot spot, but in the years since, honky-tonkin' spots such as Mama Tried and Blue Light Dallas have blown away like tumbleweed in a desert ghost town. The 2022 arrival of the Wounded Ostrich on Main Street injected some twang back into town, with a steady stream of live country and folk talent as well as pool, darts and cocktails you can (literally) buy and drink by the bucket. If alcohol served in buckets isn't country, what is?

From Lil Wayne to Summer Walker to Gucci Mane, Headquarters has kept its focus on providing partygoers with the ultimate nightlife experience by the world's biggest stars. Imagine enjoying great drinks at great prices or VIP bottle service around the most stylish people with your favorite celebrity performing right next to you between sets by the city's best DJs. Toss in a reasonable cover charge and more celebrities ready to party on any Friday and Saturday night. The line that always stretches around the building includes people from all over the world who have heard about the nightclub either through word-of-mouth or through 96.8 million hashtags on TikTok, The exquisitely spacious Chris Poux-owned nightclub gives you a night you will love to remember over and over again. Everybody is somebody at Headquarters.

When Love Is Blind came to Dallas for its third season, we were beyond pumped. A binge-worthy reality show featuring some of the hottest singles Big D has to offer? Sign us up. But one contestant especially stood out thanks to her love of fitness and clean eating: Raven Ross. We've been following Ross' posts on Instagram, and her down-to-earth, lighthearted approach to getting healthy has us feeling like we can take on the world. Ross is the positive inspiration that we've needed to finally get our asses to the Pilates studio.

HG Sply Co. has good eats and drinks and a great space to enjoy it all. The rooftop patio at this cool spot offers comfortable seating and a great view of bustling Lower Greenville. With 9,000 square feet of space, it has more than enough room to spread out and take in this vibrant piece of Dallas. Stylish wooden furniture and string lights overhead give off the perfect rustic vibe for you and your friends to sit back and get cozy as you stuff your face and slam drinks down your gullet.

Rubber Gloves is one resilient venue. After COVID-19 hit in 2020, the renowned Denton mainstay managed to avoid a fate that befell countless other clubs. That tenacity has paid off, and Rubber Gloves hosts some of the most brutal metal acts around. From national bands to hometown heroes, this venue always has its finger on the pulse of the metal scene. And at a time when certain stages are spurning mosh, Gloves' consistently packed shows are conducive to fierce-yet-friendly pits and harmonious headbanging. Thanks, Rubber Gloves, for cultivating a mecca for local metalheads.

Operating as a nonprofit in a beautifully restored, hundred-year-old church in Winnetka Heights, Arts Mission Oak Cliff provides a radically different kind of space for local artists, one that focuses on health, wellness and the creation of new, original works. Yoga and meditation classes, hilarious comedy nights, an Artist's Way book study, Canorra's multimedia and fashion show event, live music performances by Home by Hovercraft and 808 Saints, a full theatrical fun of Cabaret, locally written works of "Artists-in-Residence" Rai Barnard and Very Good Dance Theatre, and a Beginner Beyoncé Ballet class have made for a staggering repertoire and a year of sold-out performances. If more venues and event spaces followed this business model, it could revolutionize the arts culture in DFW.

There aren't as many festivals here as there were before the pandemic, but one thing is as true now as it has been for more than 25 years. The annual KHYI Texas Music Revolution is a mandatory appointment for any serious Texas country fan in the Dallas area. For the past three years, the two-day fest has taken over the historic downtown square in McKinney, where several stages within easy walking distance offer headliners such as Randy Rogers and Charley Crockett along with the most exciting up-and-coming talent.

This local couple knows how to deliver the true crime goods: with excellent wine. Brandy and Chris Diamond's Texas Wine and True Crime podcast covers some of the most sordid tales to have unfolded in this state. The Diamonds recently taped a live episode at the Dallas Public Library's True Crime Mini-Convention to discuss the resurgent Candy Montgomery case, and they've also aired a series about the 2016 Midlothian murder of Missy Bevers. True to its name, Texas Wine and True Crime thoughtfully highlights Lone Star State-grown wines, making this podcast an all-around gem.

Nonprofit Deep Ellum 100 started as a way to help the musicians, businesses and workers of the entertainment district affected by the pandemic. A year or so later, it took on an incredible musical project: updating the Sounds of Deep Ellum album from 1987. Among hundreds of applicants, Deep Ellum 100 selected the 10 definitive musical acts that represented the sound of the time and helped keep music at the heart of the neighborhood. Together with a team of local producers and artists, the group recorded a live showcase at Trees that yielded a compilation album of performances by Lorelei K, Skinny Cooks, Memory Shivers, Maya Piata, Cure for Paranoia, Stone Mecca, Flower Child, Chilldren of Indigo, Ducado Vega and Labretta Suede and The Motel 6. It's now on vinyl, serving as an archive for the era.