Dallas city guide: from cocktails to cowboy culture

(Image credit: Photography by Dave Shafer)

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Where to stay
Where to eat and drink
What to do
Where to shop

published 27 July 2024

Cowboy culture is currently captivating the world in a new way. Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album has dominated the charts this year, rodeo fashion is back in vogue, and several Texan cities have witnessed an economic and population boom over the past decade. And of the set, it’s Dallas that’s caught our attention. Together with its sister city, Fort Worth, it forms the largest metroplex in Texas and the Southern US, and DFW International Airport is the third largest in the world. With multiple cultural projects in the works, an exploding art market, and the most hotels currently under construction of any city in the US, there’s much more to the ‘Big D’ than the rodeo – although that’s still a huge draw, too. So whether you’re in town for business, pleasure or an extended layover, here are our top spots to explore in Dallas.

What to see and do in Dallas

Where to stay

Hôtel Swexan

Hôtel Swexan (Swiss meets Texan) is Dallas’s most anticipated and unique new hotel of the past few years. It may occupy a shiny new 22-storey glass tower by Kengo Kuma, but the interiors overseen by Harwood International founder Gabriel Barbier-Mueller have an old-world aesthetic – particularly in the many restaurants and lounges. The hotel’s 134 guest rooms include eight individually designed suites, and the rooftop pool bar offers panoramic views across downtown.

Hôtel Swexan is located at 2575 McKinnon St, hotelswexan.com

Where to eat and drink

Bar Colette

Bar Colette offers a moody, contemporary vibe for stylish young professionals to enjoy a variety of original craft cocktails, like the tequila-based Rhu-Barbie, or one of the lighter Two Sip options. Opened in 2023 to rave reviews, the space was founded and designed by brothers Brandon and Henry Cohanim, who looked to 1960s Italian for decor inspiration. Along with the cocktails and an extensive spirits and wine list, the bar menu includes an indulgent Caviar Waffle.

Bar Colette is located at 3699 McKinney Ave #306, barcolette.com

Georgie Steakhouse

Designed by Brooklyn-based GRT Architects, the studio behind interiors of New York’s buzziest restaurants, Georgie is a reimagining of the traditional Texan steakhouse both in terms of style and menu. Burnt orange velvet booths, rattan and tambour panelling and curved architectural elements set the scene for chef Curtis Stone’s award-winning cuisine.

Georgie Steakhouse is located at 4514 Travis St Suite 132, georgiedallas.com

What to do

Rodeo Bar

You can’t come to Texas without visiting a saloon, and Rodeo Bar in the downtown Adolphus Hotel offers the perfect balance of chic and kitsch. The joint first opened in 1981, but four decades later has received a refresh by local studio Swoon that maintains the 1980s honky tonk vibe, but has upped the style stakes. Neon artworks, leather armchairs and the jukebox all retain the original cowboy attitude, while the bar and grill are now accompanied by a basement entertainment space. Whether this is your first rodeo or not, you’re guaranteed a fun time.

Rodeo Bar is located at 1321 Commerce St, adolphus.com

Winspear Opera House

Located in the Arts District of downtown Dallas, this futuristic 2,200-seat performance venue was designed by Foster+Partners as a 21st-century reinterpretation of a traditional opera house. From the exterior, the transparent core of the building glows red from within and pierces through an extensive square canopy of steel that surrounds and shades the building and its landscaped park. Inside, a giant crystalline chandelier hangs above the stalls and balconies are wrapped in gold leaf.

Winspear Opera House is located at 2403 Flora St, attpac.org

Where to shop

Miron Crosby

Searching for a pair of authentic and stylish cowboy boots? Look no further than Miron Crosby, a luxury craft-forward brand with an equally chic store in Highland Park Village, designed by Gill Brown of Maplewood and Javier Burkle of Burkle Creative. Created by sisters Lizzie Means Duplantis and Sarah Means, who grew up on a West Texas cattle ranch, this Dallas-based operation carries men, women, kids and even bridal styles – all made with traditional production techniques and offering customisation too.

Miron Crosby is located at 25 Highland Park Village #201, mironcrosby.com

Nasher Sculpture Center Shop

Interior of Nasher Sculpture Center’s shop

The store located inside the Renzo Piano-designed Nasher Sculpture Center is an art lover’s paradise, stocking a wide variety of books on historic and contemporary sculptors – many of which accompany the museum’s fêted exhibition programme – and design-led objects that make perfect gifts and keepsakes. The interiors by Charles Sparks + Company are intentionally minimalist, in keeping with Piano’s travertine and glass architecture, and the space acts as a connector between the public realm, and the museum’s galleries and garden.

Nasher Sculpture Center Shop is located at 2001 Flora St, nashersculpturecenter.org

Topics

Dan Howarth is a British design and lifestyle writer, editor, and consultant based in New York City. He works as an editorial, branding, and communications advisor for creative companies, with past and current clients including Kelly Wearstler, Condé Nast, and BMW Group, and he regularly writes for titles including Architectural Digest, Interior Design, Sight Unseen, and Dezeen, where he previously oversaw the online magazine’s U.S. operations. Dan has contributed to design books The House of Glam (Gestalten, 2019), Carpenters Workshop Gallery (Rizzoli, 2018), and Magdalena Keck: Pied-À-Terre (Glitterati, 2017). His writing has also featured in publications such as Departures, Farfetch, FastCompany, The Independent, and Cultured, and he curated a digital exhibition for Google Cultural Institute in 2017.