Looking for a New Happy Hour Spot? Put Tequila Social on Your List

Another jewel from the Harwood Hospitality Group has opened, and the early returns are promising.

Tequila Social, on the Katy Trail, serves Tex-Mex classics and a host of margaritas, ranch waters and cocktails. Tequila Social’s expansive patio (seating 200) is the main attraction. And when North Texas’ hellish temps finally begin to subside to tolerable levels, we imagine this patio being crammed, especially during happy hour (Monday – Friday, 3–6 p.m.).
It's located in the McKinnon Building (3100 McKinnon St.) in the Harwood District, where signs for Tequila Social will guide you into the parking garage and to the restaurant entrance. The indoor dining room has a full bar, and beyond the dining room and bar lies what has the potential to be one of Dallas’ better patios. The bench-lined outdoor space stretches seemingly endlessly, and with its front-row view of the Katy Trail, hit’s perfect for people-watching (if that’s your thing).

But the day we visited, it was a diabolical 108 degrees outside. Even an arsenal of fans and misters going full force wasn’t enough to tempt us to sit on the patio. No thanks. In the future, though? Definitely.

Happy hour here is a steal. We started with a spicy margarita ($6), which was nice and strong and had a bite to it. Speaking of bites, our first app ordered off the happy hour “bites” menu was the queso fundido ($6): pan-fried catina cheese, blended and then topped with pico and served with warm flour tortillas.

We wanted to sample a couple of Tequila Social’s tacos and ended up going with the Baja fish taco (blackened cod, corn salad, cabbage and poblano sour cream) and carnitas taco (braised pork, pineapples, salsa roja). During happy hour, tacos are five bucks. We assumed that was per taco. But instead, we were happily surprised when our server dropped off two of each. At $2.50 a taco, they’re virtually giving them away at this point. Absolute steal.

Chips and salsa, a strong margarita, queso fundido, and four tacos. Our total? Twenty-four bucks. That ain’t shabby at all. Prices spike markedly outside of happy hour, though. So keep that in mind.

Other items on the happy hour menu: flautas, quesadillas, an assortment of tacos and margaritas (both frozen and non-frozen). All $6 or less. Draft beers are also a dollar off during happy hour.

Tequila Social, 3100 McKinnon St., No. B100. Monday – Thursday, 11:30 a.m. – 10 p.m.; Friday, 11:30 a.m. – midnight; Saturday, 10 a.m. – midnight; Sunday, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m.