Best CD Store 2009 | Good Records | Best of Dallas® 2020 | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Dallas | Dallas Observer
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Best CD Store

Good Records

We're starting to feel like a broken record when we say it (Get it? Get it?), but there's a reason Good Records winds up winning this honor every year. Sure, the selection of vintage tunes at Arlington's Forever Young Records is incredible, and anyone who's ever combed the rack at CD Source can tell you how endearingly weird their staff can be. But Good Records has so firmly entrenched itself in the local music community at this point that it's simply impossible for us to think of any other store as the best in town. This year's Record Store Day celebration was the stuff dreams are made of, a family-friendly affair with performances by a slew of local bands and lots and lots of beer on hand. Sure, the cops pulled the plug on Erykah Badu's set because of noise complaints, but that's how all the best parties end anyway. Here's an idea for next year, boring old Lower Greenville residents—plan a vacation for April 17 if you don't like live music, and let Good Records and the rest of us have one day to party. We know you have to contend with plenty of "scum bars" on a regular basis, but this is different, we promise. Deal?

Best Cheap Art

Urban Outfitters at Mockingbird Station

A piece of art large and bold enough to set the desired tone in the living room can be pricey indeed. That's why in these spare times we recommend checking out Urban Outfitters when you find yourself in a decorating pinch. There are large-scale paintings—granted, they're not original oils, but come on, don't be difficult—for $60 to $100, and they're pretty cool. A recent visit turned up canvases showing a bright green tree with broad, gnarled branches, black and white renderings of urban bridges, and a helter-skelter pile of books from a wacked-out vantage point. If you want to set off the colors in whatever piece you choose without making another stop, pick up some Indian-embroidered throw pillows to complement the art.

Best Cheap Clothes

Wednesdays at Salvation Army

Secret confession: We hardly ever buy new clothes. Why would we when there are so many like-new castoffs on the racks at Salvation Army? OK, yes, you will have to sift through many stained gimme T-shirts to get to the good stuff, but if you have the stamina, you will be rewarded with top-notch designer items from Carmen Marc Valvo, Betsey Johnson, Escada and Elie Tahari (no promises, but we've found all those labels) and scads of quality mall brands such as Anthropologie and Banana Republic. Here's another secret: Go on Wednesdays, when all clothes are half off the marked price. Do the circuit (there are seven Salvation Army thrift stores in Dallas County), but start with the huge store at Harry Hines and Inwood. You can thank us when you have a whole new wardrobe by this time next week.

Best Cheap Specs

Pay-Rite Optical

Like designer shoes and handbags, the price of fashionable eyeglass frames is out of sight. Except at this tiny shop, where 3,500 sample frames crowd the walls and counters. Don't waste time browsing. The owner, Arman, knows his products and people so well, he can pick out the three best choices for any face shape (and budget). Prices range from the twofer special at around $50, to the top-of-the-line designer brands that he'll sell at a deep discount (for a promise of return business and maybe a minute or two of his video about the Baha'i faith). At the end of every sale, Arman says a loud "Hallelujah!" We'll second that.

Best Cheese Shop

Molto Formaggio

Feeling a bit peckish, like John Cleese in the Monty Python cheese shop sketch? You won't go away hungry from Molto Formaggio, where the well-informed salesfolk are happy to provide nibbles of anything in the joint, even the expensive truffle-ribboned delicacies from France. With almost as many American artisanal cheeses as imports, the shop is tops, way beyond even the big-box store gourmet cases. They'll do wine and cheese pairings, party trays and gift baskets. Once a month they throw a tasting party. For $35 you nosh and slurp for a couple of hours, then go home with a bottle of featured wine and a pound of cheese. Pure heaven for the lactose tolerant.

Best Cultural Relaxation

King Sauna

King Sauna is a trip to another country—but you don't have to bring a passport or sit on an airplane for hours. At this Korean jjim-jil-bang sauna, rooms ranging from cold (the ice room) to extremely hot (the fire sudatorium) help you sweat and relax. Americans may not normally equate sweating with relaxation, but if you just surrender to it, the heat soothes aches and leaves you feeling peaceful. Hot tubs, including a tea-tinged one and a powerful jetted tub, relax you further, and a cold plunge pool (64 degrees when we were there), is a bracing refreshment. For extra stimulation (and for an extra fee), get a percussive massage or a vigorous body scrub. Don't be surprised to see other spa visitors sleeping in the movie theater (yes, there's a movie theater) or in the common areas; in Korea, these types of spas are used as a kind of hostel for traveling families. In fact, your $18 entry fee gets you in for 24 hours, so sleep there if you like—bet it's the cheapest day you've ever spent in another culture.

Best Curiosities

Curiosities

Jason Cohen, founder of Forbidden Books and Video and Forbidden Gallery, and his mother, longtime antiques dealer Terry Cohen, have conspired to create a store that somehow combines the best funkiness of South Congress Avenue in Austin, the punkness of Deep Ellum five years ago and the antiques treasure-hunting quality of Knox-Henderson 10 years ago. It's all there now plus the store's own ineffable quality of surprise and whimsy—cattle skulls, doll parts, vintage signs, graveyard ornaments, decorated gourds, tables, chairs, hair. You name it. Curiosities. Tons of 'em.

Best Do-It-Yourself Shop

Splendor in the Grass

When Diana Thatcher's garden art and gift store across from the Dallas Arboretum simply wasn't turning a profit, she did what anyone else would have done: relocate to the Lakewood Shopping Center and focus her efforts on selling jewelry-making accessories and teaching classes. OK, so her plan was hardly conventional, but thinking outside the box turned Thatcher's hobby and passion into a strong business that's been able to hold its ground while battling tough economic times. How does she do it? By stocking the most sought-after items—including Swarovski crystals and freshwater pearls—and teaching classes on Fridays and Saturdays that are almost always filled up.

Best Doggy Style

mine.

Shopping got you down? It's hard sometimes—finding the right outfit, the right fit. Don't even mention accessories and shoes. Good thing Zoë La Rose's mine. has our back. The clean white boutique has flattering lighting, good mirrors and clothes that make a girl feel good. Flirty tops and feminine jackets pair oh-so chicly with dark denim. Strappy heels and a skinny pant balance out a drapey cardigan perfect for belting—or leaving loose—over a white tank. But the best part of mine. is the service. Oh sure, the humans are great help, but we're talking Chi Chi the pug. She welcomes at the door and gives an approving snort here and there. It may be coincidence, but the pink-collared pup seems to have an eye for style. And, well, somehow it's easier to justify an unnecessary shopping spree if Chi Chi wiggles her tail while the receipt prints.

Best Eye Guy

Dr. R.B. Schpok, Optometrist

For the uninsured, finding affordable eye exam docs is often like running up a blind alley. Then we found Dr. Rodney B. Schpok, a reasonably priced ($79 per exam) optometrist who is quick, efficient and surprisingly funny. Clicking through the lenses as you peer at the eye chart, the Woody Allen-esque doc never stops with the quips. "Let's try the left one now," he says, switching from one eye to the other. "And that's also the name of my upcoming autobiography." Here's a guy who sees through the glass(es) lightly.

Best Of Dallas®

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