Sometimes the simple pleasures stand out. While other establishments spread multicolored chips or unidentifiable puffed snacks along the bar, the folks at Nana set bowls of cashews out for bar guests. That's it. Cashews--unadorned but for a dusting of salt and all you care to grab before the bartenders realize what you're up to. Other places serve all kinds of free goodies for happy hour, but none match the simplicity and the quality. These things are just damn good: very fresh and consistent. Anywhere else, a plastic bag of stale cashews will run you...well, we're not sure what they cost. We're hooked on the free stuff. A bowl of nuts, a drink and a view of traffic stalled along Stemmons Freeway make the Nana bar a perfect happy-hour stop.

Step onto Ozona's patio and it's almost like stepping into your best friend's back yard--except bigger and with a few more strangers. Two fireplaces, which do a lot to add to the coziness factor, are planted in the enclosed patio decorated with plastic deck chairs, old signs and string lights. On cool nights, a seat by one of the fireplaces is a choice dining spot. While you're warming your hands by the hearth, warm your tummy with some chips and queso and a Mexican platter you design yourself. The food's good and plenty, but the atmosphere is the real star here--so good, in fact, it's easy to forget that mean Greenville is just yards away.

Readers' Pick

Ozona Grill & Bar

This is what Dallas is all about: pretense and similitude. Big words, we know, reflecting a city that likes to show off but not stand apart. In other words, the right car or the firmest implants help us fit in with the crowd. Wear the proper clothes (check the fashion mags) and mimic group behavior; that's all the preparation necessary for an evening of debauchery at Dragonfly. It's a cool space with a pool outside and a bar scene indoors. Pretty people bump elbows throughout. And everyone glances as fresh meat enters the scene. Yep, we're saying it's a pickup bar, and female patrons match the men in aggressiveness. But success here depends on the self-assured manner and hip style that only wads of cash or an overextended credit card can purchase. So send only the bare minimum to Visa, shop the first level at the Galleria and then stroll into Dragonfly as if you own the place. Well, at least as if you own a car.

After a night at Nick & Sam's--the fave steak house in town of one of our more cultured, picky foodie friends--why don't you and your dressed-up partner stop by Medici for a drink and a dance? Stylish and relatively sedate, it's the perfect after-dinner spot to sate your inner Soprano. Good-looking Italian men in impeccable dark suits, beautiful women (not girls, women) looking for a dance partner, stiff drinks, delicious items for noshing, a sophisticated gleam that makes you feel cooler than you are...what's not to like about this suave addition to Dallas' upper-class nightlife scene

You can't fault a place that inspired the Toadies' biggest hit, even though the song was so casually morbid it developed a cult following among vampire aficionados. (Seriously.) Blood sucking aside, Possum Kingdom Lake is just as potent a combination as the song it prompted, with cool, clear water perfect for swimmers and fishermen alike. (For the latter, the white bass are an especially big draw.) Plus, a handful of nature trails allow you to take in the tranquil charm of the water from a variety of vantage points. But a trip to Possum Kingdom--75 miles west of Fort Worth on Texas Highway 16--is worth it even if you don't make it to the shore. The surrounding countryside has a subtle beauty that is worth more than just a passing glance. How do we know about the scenery? Because we drove around the entire lake looking for a place to watch Game 7 of last year's Dallas Mavericks-Sacramento Kings conference semifinals match-up, eventually arriving at The Lighthouse on the Breakers, a cozy little lakeside bar and grill where the liquor was cheap and the patrons didn't mind our constant screaming. Or jumping. Or fist-pumping. Good people. Bonus: If you want to turn it into an overnight trip, the camping is extremely comfortable, and there are a couple of quality resorts nearby if you don't feel like roughing it.

Readers' Pick

Austin

While to the untrained eye all ice rinks may seem the same, please understand that this is most definitely not the case. Not all rinks are created equal, and the Duncanville StarCenter shows that. It's true that the competition isn't steep, but Duncanville manages to distinguish itself from the meager pack in a few important respects: It has two full-sized sheets of ice, it's relatively convenient and it's clean. If you've been to a lot of rinks in the area, you know that the latter is definitely a factor to consider. And though the Valley Ranch StarCenter may have the best ice--because of its time as the Stars' practice rink--Duncanville has the best facilities, such as large locker rooms, relatively good food and an upstairs bar/viewing spot for all the parents forced to attend extraordinarily early or late game times. The rink also has a pro shop that is well-stocked with the essentials, though prices run higher than at a normal equipment store such as Peranis or Players Bench. So if you think you've got an interest in hitting big guys with sticks, exposing yourself in tights or just want to get out of the heat and into a building that's always freezing, then this is the rink for you.

The indoor/outdoor bar at Hotel ZaZa is a premier destination for guys pretending to have Dirk Diggler-sized wallets and women hoping to believe them. Doesn't mean the guys pretend to have class. Indeed, one desperate gentleman tried this out on a young woman: "You're so amazing, I'd pay to spend a night with you."

The name of this award may be a little misleading, 'cause if you're at The Beagle, we hope you're truly single and not just "acting." Seriously, guys, that is so not cool. But we digress. With plenty of drink specials and tunes by the likes of Tone-Loc, Missy Elliott and David Allan Coe, The Beagle is a pickup point without shame. (Yeah, we know we never even called you by your name, but we promise it's not because we couldn't remember it. It was just loud in the club...you know how it is.) And in case you didn't know, memorizing someone else's phone number works wonders at a place like this. We suggest your local Papa John's or maybe one of the "escorts" from the back pages of this publication. We hear Brandi and Vixen are lookin' for love.

Dallas World Aquarium is a genuine tourist attraction, but not in a tacky way. It justifiably draws visitors for its re-creation of a rain forest environment and its dazzling array of aquariums, including a shark exhibit you can walk through via a glass-walled tunnel. It's more about spectacle than education, though the learning is there if you want it. The aquarium features many things you won't see anywhere else in the area, such as the "Leafy seadragons," a relative of the seahorse from southern Australia that looks like a rippling, fluttering oak leaf. There's also an outdoor penguin exhibit, a sea otter pool and salmon-pink flamingos. Kids will love the narrow, twisting fake-rock passageways that lead from one display to another--you really feel like you're in another world--and the educational function of the aquarium is never obtrusive.

An unauthorized sprawl on the Dallas Museum of Art's manicured grass in the dark, however appealing, will get you at least 20 hours in the city jail, assuming someone agrees to bail you out. See, they've got really priceless art in that building, and plenty of security guards to make sure it stays there. A nighttime prowl between Harwood and St. Paul streets is tempting, though. If you've ever had a hankering to wander the DMA's park-like grounds at night, to look up at the stars between the dark, shadowy outlines of downtown skyscrapers, wait for the summer season of Jazz Under the Stars, and you'll stay out of trouble. Urban campers pack a snack and bring their blankies for a twilight picnic, complete with live jazz and the murmurs of the city streets. Best of all, the music and the ambience are free.