Alternate title: “Tim Makes His Next Encounter With Adam McGill Awkward”
In the June/July issue of Esquire, the men’s magazine tackles “The Best Bars in America.” The two bars listed for Dallas are Bar Belmont and the Balcony Club. The correspondent for Esquire, the man who suggested these two bars as the best our city has to offer? None other than our own Adam McGill. Well, now he’s Perry Street’s Adam McGill. But the guy spent enough time in these halls that we still own a piece of him, especially where a byline is concerned.
Now, listen. The Bar Belmont has its charms, chief among them its patio. And the Balcony Club ain’t bad. But is the Belmont one of the two best best bars in Dallas? Is the Balcony Club even one of the best bars in East Dallas? The answer to both questions, I believe, is no. The Balcony Club isn’t even the best bar in that building. I’d go downstairs, to the Arcade Bar, before I’d go the Balcony Club.
But that’s just me. I acknowledge this is a very subjective enterprise. Sure, sure. That said, I offer 10 bars, in no particular order, that, no matter your criteria, deserve a higher ranking than the two Esquire gave us for Dallas:
Lee Harvey’s
Windmill Lounge
Bar Celine
Amsterdam Bar
Holy Grail
Old Monk
Renfield’s
Neighborhood Services Tavern
Lakewood Landing (in Adam’s defense, he wrote about this place for Esquire last year)
Al Biernat’s
Jack’s Backyard (a bonus 11th)
23 comments
Agreed. That Adam McMill doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
If I may…
Esquire changed it up a bit this year with their Best Bars feature and sought to delve into the “taxonomy” of bars — their word, not mine. Meaning: They were looking for the Very Dark Bar, the Bar You Take a Woman To, the Bar With Very Good Food, etc. The layout of the feature tried to convey as much, but I don’t think it worked: The section heds were too busy and distinctions too … indistinct. What’s more, the two bars somehow got swapped. Bar Belmont was s’posed to be a Bar You Take a Woman To (hence my cloyingly romantic write-up) and Balcony be dark, and vice versa.
Now, those were the questions asked, and two of the answers I gave found their way into the recent issue of Esquire. Other answers I gave that did NOT appear in the issue are on the list above. (I lumped all of Feargal’s establishments into a suggested sidebar of Best Bar Owner I Know. The editor, who is familiar with many of those establishments, was almost swayed.)
To the point: Are the bars I wrote up for Esquire the Best Bars in Dallas? No. But that wasn’t the question. Did the bars I suggested meet the hard-to-describe criteria by which such lists are determined by Esquire? Apparently.
Also, where have you been? Robert wrote about that, like, a week and a half ago: http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2010/05/so_dallas_has_two_of_the_best.php
Good points from Adam & Tim. That said, I’ve noted that no few people grade how ‘good’ or ‘best’ any bar is according to how afforable that bar makes it for them to get drunk.
Adam – Tim is getting soft on the Observer. Last Friday, he actually praised Schutze.
Adam’s gone all corporate on us. It’s like he’s defending a position for some confusing business-y issue or something.
It even ends in a Q and A format.
@Rawlins Gilliland: In the case, it’s hard to argue against the Loon. That right there is a stiff pour. Perhaps for that reason, it also might be a good bar to bring a woman to.
Dark bar? If you walk into Lota’s Goat during daylight hours, you’ll have your drink half finished before your eyes adjust.
I like your list Tim. I like the Old Monk, and really like Amsterdam.
I’d suggest my favorite spot: Meridian Room. I have never been to a place with better servers and bartenders. Excellent Beer selection as well.
Meddlesome Moth was quite good as well.
I love the view and vibe at the Belmont, but the beer selection can be spotty.
Amsterdam Bar is my pick by far. It has great drinks, affordable prices, a fun (and great-looking) bar staff, is friendly and there is little to no douchebaggery going on there. Which, in Dallas, is saying something.
Just say yes to the Arcade Bar. Underrated.
Tim has good taste in bars. Adam no doubt has many other estimable qualities.
And with that, I’ve spent my diplomacy allowance for the week.
@bill holston: Meridian Room is solid. But whenever I go there, I’m forced to pass the defunct Bar of Soap, which makes me very sad.
The Meddlesome Moth present a conundrum. Is that really a bar? Or is it a restaurant that happens to have a bar in it? I put Al Biernat’s on my list, which exists in the same gray area. For me, the bar at Al Biernat’s has its own ecosystem that is separate from the dining room (which will be even more separate, I think, after the impending renovation). I haven’t spent enough time at the Moth to know whether that bar generates its own ecosystem.
But I like where your head is at.
The first sign of a great bar is that you won’t find a blender anywhere on the premises. After you disqualify all establishments with blenders, the quality of those left are directly related to the abilities of the bartenders. And no one made a better Manhattan than the late, great Joe Miller and no one does it better today than his protege Louie in the bar aptly named Louie’s
@Pete: Louie’s is in the pantheon, of course. Bring cash or AmEx, though. The rest of your plastic won’t work.
And as long as we’re establishing some absolutes (a la your blender rule), can we also agree that a great bar ought not to close before the law forces it to do so? The Belmont closes at midnight on the weekends, earlier during the week. I think this rule might also affect our estimation of Neighborhood Services Tavern, which closes early.
What about chilled Jagermeister shot dispensers? It might not be deal-breaker, but I propose that it does garner a stiff demerit.
As far a neighborhood bars go……The Dallasite is quite interesting mix of young, old and very old!
I got into an email discussion on this topic with someone who said I was an anti-snob snob. He’d rather not be IDed, but when I asked him if he was arguing for snobby bars, he said:
“Yes, I WANT shallow. I want glossy. I want valeted show metal out front. (“A walk through the river of most souls would scarcely get your feet wet.”)
“The Ritz bar at mid-evening. Need to feel like a John once in a while for self-affirmation.
“Al Biernat’s is hearing Eddie V’s footsteps with the Park Cities plutocrats.
“Ocean Prime (toned and tousled serving gals) or Nick & Sam’s Grill in the early evening.
“Good happy hours for specialty drinks at Perry’s Steakhouse, Bailey’s Prime Plus and Library Room at the Melrose.”
A few outliers must be considered:
Kings-X
Ships
And the worst of all- Little Indian Athletic Club in Arlington
@Jordan D: Tell us more about this curiously named Little Indian Athletic Club, because the internet doesn’t tell us much, but what it does say is not encouraging.
Please do not publicize our East Dallas bars.
Oh how entertaining the Mansion Bar used to be back in the day…sometimes we slum over at Cafe Pacific for a good martini since Terilli’s is in ruins. I do like Al’s place and he magically remembers our name. I don’t usually venture that far north these days but is the Inwood Lounge kaput?
LakeWWWooder: Inwood Tavern is alive and well. Got booted out of there a few weeks ago for staying well past closing time.
Thanks Bethany I am glad that one place from the ’80s is still thriving. For some reason I usually drank Drambuie while perusing the fish in there. Once I saw Lee Cullum and Raymond Nasher whisk by – I think that was a martini night.
Please don’t tell anyone that the Pour House will be open all day Friday and Saturday starting at 8 am for the World Cup action.
my absolute favorite bar in dallas is the libertine — the food is amazing, and like another commenter stated, the d-bag quotient is extremely low.
city tavern 1402 main st. if u looking for a bar…..a real one…