Love on a Budget: A Guide to Dive Bars and Cheap Dates for Valentine’s Day

You know the usual suspects for Valentine’s Day reservations: Knife Italian, Al Biernat’s, Nick and Sam’s, and Gorji (bless them) will all serve you an amazing meal with service to match in elegant spaces.

But maybe your relationship is a low-mileage 2010 Honda: a solid, great catch; a keeper, no matter how many people ask if you’ll sell it. As is, it bucks pretentiousness. This list is for you.

Also, be sure to check out our favorite cheap eats in Dallas, which we recently updated.

We shared a lot of these ideas recently with Fox host Lauren Przybyl on The Post, if you’d rather watch than read. But below are different spaces around Dallas to enjoy with your boo this weekend, whether it’s first-date territory or a night out with a reliable Honda.

Good Cheap Fun

• The Wild Detectives (314 W. Eighth St.): This Bishop Arts cafe and bar is an adorable home, giving it a cozy vibe. The front part of the space is a bookstore with a lot of deep Dallas cuts on offer to buy or peruse. Towards the back is the bar, which serves caffeinated drinks and cocktails. Then, outside, is a large courtyard — luckily, the weather over Valentine’s Day is going to be near-perfect.
• La Reunion (229 N. Bishop Ave.): This is another cafe and bar combo in the Bishop Arts, along Bishop Avenue. There’s more food traffic here, making a seat on the patio ideal for people-watching. Then, after you can make a lap of your own to check out all the shops in the neighborhood.
• Triumphs Espresso & Whiskey (141 Manufacturing St.): This Design District cafe and bar is a place to work or just hang out on the weekends. Here, the space feels elevated; it’s a bit moody, and the music fits the vibe. Triumphs offers a seasonal menu of well-crafted drinks. They also have a lot of games on hand: you can learn a lot about a person over a game of Uno.
• The Spelled Milk Cereal Bar (712 W. Davis St.): The Spelled Milk in the Bishop Arts District is a cereal bar — yes, cereal — and quirky shop. They have all sorts of sweet concoctions to try, please seating, and some board games. This quirky spot is great for a first date when you want to keep things light.

Dive Bars: Dim Lights and Good Convo

• La Viuda Negra (2513 N. Fitzhugh St.): This East Dallas speakeasy is a side hustle to El Come Tacos. The front looks like a bridal shop, but inside it’s a dark taqueria with expertly crafted cocktails. They usually play an old Mexican movie on the wall. Paying is the best part: the bill comes tucked inside a leather-bound journal with notes and thoughts on life from the many imbibers who have passed through before you. The bits of insight are invaluable.
• Mike’s Gemini Twin (1906 S. Harwood St.): Once you go to Mike’s, you will go again. And again. This dark bar in the Cedars neighborhood has Goodfellas energy with its servers in suits and nice, deep red booths. But then, on further inspection, you’ll notice the accoutrements that give this gem its character: the stripper pole, the hot dog rollers on the bar (it’s the only food they offer), the very dirty martini and a ciggie machine.
• Saint Valentine (4800 Bryan St.): Saint Valentine is an upscale bar that wears Vans in East Dallas. Service is spectacular and fast, and the drinks always hit. Plus, Misti Norris is in the kitchen pushing out her own chef-driven interpretations of our childhood classic dishes that are fun and delicious — imagine chicken nuggets better than you ever thought possible.
• Cosmo’s (1212 Skillman St.): Cosmo’s is a low-key bar in East Dallas stuck in the ’70s. If you time it right, you might even get to pick what VHS tape they put on next (OK, maybe that’s the ’80s.). Go peckish: the Vietnamese kitchen is amazing. If garlic noodles are written on the board, get those. The espresso martini is strong: they make one batch of Vietnamese coffee each day as the base and once it’s gone, it’s gone. Pop over to the dive bar, Lakewood Landing, after, which is next door.
• Ruins (2653 Commerce St.): Ruins in Deep Ellum is sexy and fully underappreciated. The art in this Mexican bar has an angel-and-demon theme. The kitchen serves some of the best Oaxacan-influenced tacos in the city, along with a thoughtfully curated selection of agaves. The name Ruins comes from a style of pub in abandoned buildings in Budapest — but imagine you’re deep in Mexico, far away from tourist traps. There are many conversation pieces here.
• Tiny Vicotries (604 N. Tyler): This cocktail bar on Davis Street in Oak Cliff is a lovely, easy space with a diverse crowd; not too young, not too hipster, just right. It’s not so much a dive bar, but once I was there and they were super busy, and they gave me a quick pour of a “house drink” while I waited to order a cocktail, squashing that first-drink anxiety. It was at that moment that I committed to this space. They also have a Bob Ross shrine behind the bar.