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Brick and Bones is an essential Deep Ellum dive bar with a small side hustle kitchen serving some of the best fried chicken in the city. Here, the boring bird is marinated in a peppery Mexican brine, producing something wild and exciting. We’ve anointed it as one of the 100 best bars in Dallas, the best fried chicken in Dallas, as well as the best place for late-night grub. Crushing? Yeah, maybe.
Brick and Bones opened 10 years ago along Elm Street. It’s weathered a pandemic, DPD-imposed street closures, summer chaos, inflation and whatever else the neighborhood (or world) can throw at it. But you can’t keep a hot bird down, apparently.
“I had to get off Elm Street first and foremost,” says owner Cliff Edgar of his move two blocks over. “We needed a facelift. The Elm Street space was maybe a little too divey. The parking is on Commerce; there’s tons of it, as Elm Street had zero parking and was furthest from the music venues.”
Lauren Drewes Daniels
On Saturday, we parked two easy blocks away for 86 cents (yes, 86 cents) at a meter. That was around 5 p.m. on a Saturday for two hours, so maybe don’t expect that later in the evening.
However, there is a large parking garage, The Stack, at 2700 Commerce St., where rates run from about $2 per hour to $10 for 24 hours. Brick and Bones is literally across the street.
The Elephant in the Street
The new issue for Brick and Bones is the Commerce Street construction. On Saturday, a bulldozer sat behind a large construction fence just outside the front door. But chalk it up to growing pains.
“I know the construction is rough, trust me, I know, but big picture, when it’s done, Commerce Street will be the best block in the neighborhood. It’s only bars and restaurants, no clubs,” Edgar adds, referring to the Rodeo Dallas fiasco on Elm Street that was also outside his front door over the summer. When cops used tear gas pellets to disperse crowds at the late-night club over the summer, the team at Brick and Bones had to escort customers out the back door to the alley.
The Food
The menu remains the same: fried chicken, served naked, hot, sexy or forbidden. All levels are hot and fried; one doesn’t have breading (you guess). There are a few small plates, including deviled eggs, beet salad, poblano mashed taters and a habanero bacon mac, plus a few more. (The bacon mac was the hottest thing we ate on Saturday night.)
We imbibed in a couple of house cocktails and a basket of chicken that is still exactly as good as remembered. How that breading has snap and heat is a culinary feat I’ll never understand. All the while, the meat remains (we only use this term when absolutely necessary) juicy.
The Space
Brick and Bones is in the former Ebb and Flow space, which was an upscale bar and brunch spot. They left behind some elegant touches, like full modern floor-to-ceiling windows up front and a not-at-all dive bar bathroom. But there’s still a ciggie machine, so it’s a fun juxtaposition.
Lauren Drewes Daniels
Rowlett Brick and Bones Closed
Unfortunately, Edgar said he had to close his Brick and Bones outpost in Rowlett, which opened in the summer of 2024.
Commerce Street Strip
If they ever do get this strip figured out, there is a nice lineup of restaurants, all within an easy walk to the parking garage. There’s Cane Rosso, The Free Man, Twisted Root, Ruins, Angry Dog, Adair’s Saloon, St. Pete’s Dancing Marlin, Hibiki and Ichigoh Ramen.
