Best Dance Club 2016 | It'll Do Club | Best of Dallas® 2020 | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Dallas | Dallas Observer
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Best Dance Club

It'll Do Club

Patrick Williams

It'll Do Club takes the crown once again, mostly due to consistency. Every Saturday you know exactly what you are going to get from It'll Do: world-class house music (with occasional techno) bringing in some of the most respected touring DJs in the world. No VIP, no bottle service, and none of the other pretentious pitfalls far too many clubs fall into. It's all about the music, dance floor and the DJ. It's the crown jewel in Brooke Humphries' growing empire of bars, clubs and restaurants, and the vibe at It'll Do recalls '90s warehouse parties minus all the sketchiness. On the off nights that they don't have a touring show, resident DJ Red Eye holds it down bringing sets that often one-up a lot of the touring acts that come through.

Readers' Pick:

Station 4

Best Club DJ

Red Eye

Scottie Canfield, better known to the nightclub regulars of Dallas as DJ Red Eye, has managed to be the only DJ in town holding down multiple residencies playing classic house and techno. That's no small feat in a town with an overabundance of Top 40 clubs. His two decades of experience have seen him controlling dance-floor vibes at some of Dallas' most reputable dance spots, from Club One back in the day to It'll Do and Beauty Bar today. Red Eye brings to the table a librarian-level knowledge of classic club tracks (many of which he owns on vinyl) and a firm grasp of the latest tracks with underground buzz. He can read a crowd like few others and uses his deep knowledge and extensive technical skill behind the decks to set dance floors off every weekend.

Readers' Pick:

Lord Byron

Best World-Famous DJ From Dallas

Maceo Plex

When Erik Estornel left Dallas seven years ago, he was already on a rising tide internationally under his Maetrik alias. After relocating to Spain and reinventing himself as Maceo Plex, he quickly became one of the most-charted producers on dance industry tastemaker Resident Advisor's DJ charts. In the years since, he has consistently landed in the top five of Resident Advisor's top 100 DJ's of the year poll. This past summer has found Estornel holding a popular residency in Ibiza and headlining the biggest clubs and festivals across Europe. When Estornel left Dallas he was criminally overlooked and playing to a few friends at small parties. On the rare occasion when he comes home to play nowadays, he's guaranteed to pack any room. But Estornel also hasn't left his roots wholly behind, as he tipped his hat to Dallas by naming his record label Ellum Audio.

Best Record Store

Josey Records and Music

In only two years, Josey Records has established itself as a go-to stop for the crate digger on the hunt for vinyl gold. Ranging from the pricier collector stock to the hidden gems buried among the racks of vinyl, there is something special to be found in Josey's used and new stock. The warehouse-sized retail space is easy to get lost in with its ever-shifting inventory. Record players, vinyl cases, multiple vinyl listening stations and all kinds of assorted vinyl accessories contribute to a full-service vinyl shopping experience. Josey also serves as a great performance space with a stage and PA at one end of the store and one of the nicer DJ booths in town, which comes in handy on the Record Store Day celebration and other events throughout the year.

Readers' Pick:

Good Records

Best Place to Meet Single People

Mutts Canine Cantina

Sometimes Tinder and OKCupid just don't suffice. Sometimes it's nice to meet a mate in the flesh before committing to drinks with them on a Saturday night. It takes effort, but it's worth it when you can finally fulfill that pesky "In a Relationship" status on Facebook. Meeting single people in Dallas is easy, so long as you go to Mutts Canine Cantina, the combination dog park, bar and restaurant in Uptown. Going to a bar alone and drinking can be hard and come off as creepy. Going to a dog park with only your dog and drinking can be cool and inviting. Simply head to Mutts with a dog — your dog, a stray dog, any dog — order a beer and watch the potential spouses come rolling in. Dogs are great icebreakers because they sniff your potential mate's butt before you ever have to.

Best Tearjerker Performance

Kelly Clarkson on American Idol

Dammit, we're still thinking of that Kelly Clarkson performance of "Piece By Piece" on the final season of American Idol. A pregnant and beautiful Clarkson returned to the stage that made the Burleson native a household name and America's first-ever American Idol to perform a song about her struggling relationship with her father. About three-fourths of the way through, however, Clarkson began choking up while singing the lyrics. If that wasn't enough to get America teary-eyed, the camera then panned to judge Keith Urban completely weeping as he watched the performance. Judges Jennifer Lopez and Harry Connick Jr. and host Ryan Seacrest were misty-eyed as well, proving Clarkson's voice can evoke great emotions. Damn it, Clarkson. Stop it. (Except don't.)

Best Use of Reality TV

Dalton Rapattoni on American Idol

We watched him grow as a guyliner-wearing musician singing Phantom of the Opera to a guyliner-wearing musician singing Blue October. Jennifer Lopez called him cute during his American Idol audition, and your grandmother thought he was weird. We're talking about Dalton Rapattoni, of course, and he made the best use of reality TV this year. Whether he was covering a song like "Hopelessly Devoted to You" or mixing up a classic *NSYNC song like "It's Gonna Be Me," the Sunnyvale native was wooing America enough to finish third during the last season of the singing competition show. And it wasn't just that. He extended the reality TV fame long enough to receive a homecoming parade in Sunnyvale and a chance to work on his album with Blue October's Matt Noveskey. His 15 minutes of fame may never end.

Best Country Bar

Adair's Saloon

Is it even a contest for best country bar in Dallas when a place like Adair's exists? Your dad went to Adair's before Deep Ellum was cool and now, when you inevitably go there, you are forced to see his phone number written on the wall. It's the best country bar because there are good burgers and good music and some bar games in the back and that's everything you need to be considered the best of anything. But it really is the music that makes this place stand out. Every night, you can be treated to free live music from a variety of musicians singing covers of Hank Williams Jr. and the Rolling Stones. It's a real-life honky tonk just a hop, skip and a two-step from downtown Dallas.

Readers' Pick:

Billy Bob's Texas

Best House Band

The Texas Gentlemen

House bands: the anonymous heroes behind your favorite pop songs. From Stax to Motown to Muscle Shoals, session players have kept it tight in the pocket for decades and defined the sounds of studios, cities and even whole genres. Staying in the background is the point, though, which is why Modern Electric Sound Recorders' resident group picked the most unremarkable name they could think of: Texas Gentlemen. But this rotating cast of players and ringers is anything but unremarkable and by no means relegated to the studio. They pick up gigs around town, hold down a residency at the Belmont, and are liable to get joined onstage by old friend Leon Bridges whenever he's in town. But even Bridges can't compete with one of their latest gigs, backing up country legend Kris Kristofferson at the Newport Folk Festival, which Rolling Stone singled out as one of the highlights of the whole fest.

Best Metal Bar

Gas Monkey Bar N' Grill

Courtesy Gas Monkey

Nothing screams metal like fast cars, a television motorhead and, well, good ol' fashion metal. Located in the former Firewater Bar and Grill in northwest Dallas, Gas Monkey is the brainchild of Richard Rawlings of Fast N' Loud fame. On the TV show, Rawlings and his friend Aaron Kaufman found forgotten classics cars and restored them to life. Rawlings and Kaufman recreated this magic with Gas Monkey, offering not only a bar and grill offering drinks and food that ignite the senses like an old car but also kickass music usually reserved for late-night drives with the top down. Besides hosting Metal Mondays for local and tourist metalheads, some of the biggest names in metal also dominate the stage at Gas Monkey Live. Some of the upcoming metal acts include Cannibal Corpse, Slayer and the godfather of metal guitar, Ace Frehley.

Readers' Pick:

Gas Monkey Bar N' Grill

Best Of Dallas®

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