This vibrant yet cozy bar is tucked away off Tyler Street in Oak Cliff, close to the Bishop Arts District. It's unpretentious and neighborly. The classic cocktail menu lists the dates the drinks first appeared on the map — 1850 Sazerac and 1902 daiquiri — with just eight drinks in all. Then there are future classics, too, including a Bidi Bidi Bom Bom with tequila, mint, hibiscus agave and lime. Check out happy hour, 4 to 7 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, for half-price cocktails, domestic beer and wine specials. Plus, any place with a Bob Ross shrine deserves our attention.

Sad because your weekly allowance doesn't understand your snobbish foodie side? Take heart at Uchiba, the lighthearted sibling of Uchi, the impeccable Japanese restaurant with a stellar sushi bar. Located one floor up from Uchi, Uchiba offers a happy-hour menu with dozens of options, only a few of which are priced north of $10. Wine, sake, cocktails and Japanese beer, along with a mini burger ($7.50), hot fried chicken bun ($6) and crispy duck ($10), are likely candidates. The nigiri menu comes with two pieces per order and includes Atlantic salmon, tuna and dayboat scallops, all priced less than $10. There's even a dessert on the happy hour menu: crispy bao with coconut semifreddo and koji shio caramel for $7.

Spanish tapas fuse with Mediterranean-style food at Selda Mediterranean Grill. Indulge in fall-off-the-skewer tender kebabs, layered baklava that flakes to the bite and dates stuffed with a creamy feta-walnut mixture. Other traditional Mediterranean dishes include Turkish liver-and-onions and a beyti, ground beef rolled in flatbread. For dessert, enjoy the cheese pulls on Selda's specialty kunefe, which comes with a base of melted cheese in crunchy shredded wheat sticks. Most dishes arrive in shareable portions. Grab a couple of friends and seats on the patio, surrounded by fairy lights and fresh spearmint plants. Just make a reservation; it's a popular spot.

This vibrant Deep Ellum hotspot is all about the vibes — good ones, that is. Since its opening in 2021, Neon Kitten's Asian-inspired small bites have already made near-permanent indents in our terminally famished hearts. But the lounge's memorable craft cocktails are the true stars of the show. Sip on the Osaka in a Hello Kitty-shaped glass, the Hiroshima in a Yoda vessel or the Kobe in a container that resembles a handstanding pink pig. It's just about all the deliciousness one can handle served in super adorable cups.

Oh, whiskey: best friend to some, worst enemy to others. But whatever your feelings about the amber-colored spirit, it is indisputable that Herman Marshall delivers some of the best around. This award-winning distillery recently relocated to Wylie from Garland. Go for the HM Texas Bourbon, which you'll see on many bar shelves around North Texas. This particular bourbon is based on a recipe from the 1800s and is what kickstarted this entire venture. Distilled with 77% Texas corn and 23% malted barley, it won silver at the American Distilling Institute's Craft Distilling Competition and was named "Best Small Batch Bourbon" at the International Whiskey Competition.

This otherworldly Deep Ellum watering hole transports you to a realm totally unlike that of your mundane 9-to-5 existence. Yes, Ruins is a great bar, restaurant and venue, but it also serves as a de facto art gallery packed with apocalyptic themes. Fantastical creatures, Our Lady of Guadalupe imagery and distorted demon masks adorn Ruins' walls., Ruins is where Dante Alighieri would go for literary inspiration — and to knock back a few tequila shots. When we die, we'll be first in line to haunt this joint for all of eternity.

With dishes bearing cheeky names like the "Hollywood Hooker" and "Fussy Hussy," it's no wonder that Slutty Vegan makes our mouths water like no other. Restaurateur Pinky Cole recently brought her magic to Big D following the success of her vegan burger chain in Atlanta. The Deep Ellum establishment serves up some seriously sinful plant-based burgers and sandwiches, and Cole's culinary finesse helped bring home VegOut Magazine's "Best Burger" award in 2022. The food here is so damn good that you won't even miss the meat.

If you're looking for something caffeinated and creamy, look no further than Summer Moon's Nitro White. All of the coffee shop's locations across DFW carry this drink: nitro cold brew coffee with half and half. Get the large and thank us later. As you sip this cool beverage, you'll feel electrified by caffeine and ready to take on the world.

Deep Sushi touts itself as the first sushi restaurant to land in Deep Ellum. Opening in 1996, the place has spent decades serving up specialty rolls, fresh sushi and sashimi. There's plenty to choose from on Deep Sushi's menu, but you can't go wrong starting with one of the lunch bento boxes served with rice, deep sushi salad, salmon and shrimp sushi, half a California roll and an orange. If you're anything like us, that might not completely soothe your sushi cravings, so you'll want to go ahead and throw a Deep Sushi combo on your tab. It comes with three different types of rolls: California, shrimp tempura and spider. Your last bite will be sad because the food is so good. But rest assured, this spot has been around a long time and they don't seem to be going anywhere soon, so you can always come back for more.

Crown Block is a Las Vegas-based restaurant that moved into the ball atop Reunion Tower this year, after the space had sat empty for the past couple of years. Unfortunately, the revolving switch has been turned off, so to get the 360-degree view you'll have to leg it around the restaurant. But the view of the Trinity River, canopies of trees to the south, eye-level skyscrapers and all the traffic along the highways that looks like ants marching in a line is whimsical. Plus, the macaroni and cheese waffle is itself worth the trip.