After sampling the umpteenth new ultra-lounge, even Mr. Dallas has grown weary of sparkling pretense and glossy excess – temporarily. Enough already of nightclubs that are short of name (five letters seems to be the max allowed) and long on bottle service. Let's bring in the New Year with rough-hewn charm, at places where the drinks are cheaper and the chin stubble less ironic.
Such authenticity is unfamiliar territory for Mr. Dallas, so he's enlisted Quick 's Up All Nighter, Lesley Téllez, to lead the way on a tour of some hipster dives.
Our definition is not rigorous, but goes something like this: A hipster dive is a comfortable place to have a drink. Dress is casual, decor homespun plain to downright seedy. It's smoky, sometimes very smoky. A group of regulars, who never appear to have anywhere else to go, clots at one end of the bar, but the clientele leans decidedly to the post-collegiate rather than the post-paroled. Entertainment options include darts, pool and feeding the jukebox.
This is a sampling, not a comprehensive survey, so you Old Monk fiends can just save your breath.
Mr. Dallas
Melanie Burford / DMN
Chris Ebbesen plays shuffleboard at the Dallasite.
3239 Ross Ave.
214-826-3670
The Dallasite has a devoted – and young – following. On a recent Tuesday night, we found a packed bar and a screechy-voiced dude singing the Backstreet Boys' "I Want It That Way." It's also got shuffleboard and a pool table. Get there quick, because it's moving on Jan. 5 to a new spot at Bryan and Fitzhugh.
Music: An Internet jukebox, karaoke on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Bid for authenticity: Old cigarette machine, water served in Miller Lite-branded plastic cups.
New Year's Eve: $4 beer and $6 mixed drinks all night and a champagne toast.
Lesley Téllez
Melanie Burford / DMN
Carlaine Casey and Pam Turner share a drink at Pastime.
1503 S. Ervay St.
214-565-0085
The Pastime, established in 1937 across from Old City Park, is cozy and simple: one line of booths, a long bar. And some really old beer signs. "My great-grandfather used to drink here," a young guy told us on a recent visit. Ignore the dangling white lights in the front window and enter through the back.
Music: Internet jukebox.
Bid for authenticity: A Budweiser Clydesdales sign, cold Schlitz in the can.
New Year's Eve: It'll have champagne and drink specials.
L.T.
File
The Windmill's Apple Bob cocktail
5320 Maple St.
214-443-7818
The Windmill used to be a diner before it became a small, smoky dive. It's got panini sandwiches and a great cocktail list – try the Manly Man in a Skirt, a mix of White Horse scotch and ginger ale.
Music: An old-school jukebox. Highlights include Edith Piaf, Amy Winehouse, Joe Ely, Pat Green, Scissor Sisters, Pet Shop Boys, the Streets and Tony Bennett.
Bid for authenticity: Neon windmill roof ornament
New Year's Eve: Champagne toast at midnight, complimentary appetizers all night and a Black Tie contest: Wear your craziest, sexiest or scariest black tie for prizes. No cover.
L.T.
Jason Janik / Special to DMN
Ships Lounge
1613 Greenville Ave.
214-823-0418
The original dive for East Dallas hipsters, Ships has it all: questionable clientele, booths that seat only two and a jukebox your grandma would love.
Music: Old-school jukebox stocked with 1950s-era country and R&B. Highlights: the Drifters, Hank Williams.
Bid for authenticity: An ancient cash register (it's cash only), and a BYOB liquor policy. It serves beer and wine only.
New Year's Eve: It's open – nothing special, except for "getting drunk," according to the bartender who answered the phone.
L.T.
Courtney Perry / DMN
Donna Egen talks with friends while the Hunter Sullivan swing band plays at Lee Harvey's.
1807 Gould St.
214-428-1555
Lee Harvey's has live music and fantastic food, so some dive snobs may not actually call it a dive. But it's also got a smoky, ramshackle interior – and a gravel patio out back with picnic tables and fire pits.
Music: Old-fashioned CD jukebox and various DJs throughout the week. Live bands play on the weekend, anything from country to jazz to hip-hop.
Bid for authenticity: PBR in the can.
New Year's Eve: Local band Shanghai 5 performs, and there will be a champagne toast, black-eyed peas and cornbread. No cover.
L.T.
Rex C. Curry / Special to DMN
Bartender Alysa Bedell at Cafe Gecko
5290 Belt Line Road, at Montfort
972-458-9884
Cafe Gecko is an outpost of homey fun amid above-LBJ commercial sprawl. The food's overqualified for true dive-ness, as are the large, bold abstractions on the wall. But the place radiates kitschy holiday cheer. Note the staff Christmas stockings tacked behind the bar ("Amy," "Alysa") and the moose head, sporting a red-and-white Santa cap and antlers draped with lights, that oversees it.
Music: Satellite radio with a mainline rock emphasis.
Bid for authenticity: Much-distressed dart board.
New Year's Eve: Nothing but a champagne toast – "the $3.99-a-bottle" kind, says a bartender.
L.T.
Jason Janik / Special to DMN
Bar manager Aimee Newman at the Loon
3531 McKinney Ave.
214-559-3059
This 16-year-old hole in the wall thrives despite (or perhaps because of) the glistening new urbanism all around. Weekend nights are given over to the young trendoids seeking a touch of seediness and potent pours.
Music: Jukebox of catholic tastes.
Bid for authenticity: Mangy pool table.
New Year's Eve: It's open, and there's no cover.
Mr. D
Jason Janik / Special to DMN
Cosmo's
1212 Skillman St.
214-826-4200
Cosmo's is as hipsterish as a dive can get without crossing over to the world of valet stands and $10 wells. Framed movie posters appeal to art school dropouts. Snuggle bunnies will appreciate the couches and the fireplace.
Music: Old-time flip-page jukebox.
Bid for authenticity: Lighting dim enough to confound moles.
New Year's Eve: No cover. Party hats, noisemakers and a champagne toast.
Mr. D
THE GREAT UNKNOWNS
For some dive snobs, the coolest spots are the ones almost no one knows about yet. Here are a few bars with lots of hipster potential.
File 2005
Pianist Bobby Charles performs at Swan Court
Club Schmitz: Established in 1946, this bar oozes nostalgia, with rows of tidy red vinyl booths and the smell of fried batter lingering in the air. Pick up a six-pack of Pabst to go for $4.50. 9661 Denton Drive. 214-350-3607.
Trap Room:You need a membership card to drink at this smoky, dark North Dallas dive. (It's free.) The place features pool tables, darts and an ominous-looking door that says "THE TRAP." 14023 Coit Road at Spring Valley. 972-392-9054.
Swan Court:The supper club advertises itself as "Collin County's answer to Uptown," a charming hyperbole exceeded by the old-school appeal of its bar. 2435 N. Central Expressway at Campbell. 972-235-7926.
Dunston's Steakhouse: The tiny bar at the Park Cities landmark once buzzed with shakers and movers. The generous pours and bric-a-brac decor deserve to attract a new generation. 5423 W. Lovers Lane at Inwood. 214-352-8320.
L.T., Mr. D
BRING ON THE BOURBON
The late Norman Mailer once described bourbon as the boor's drink. He meant it in a good way, endorsing its sweet, one-two American punch over flinty, foreign scotch. In keeping with the hipster dive theme here, consider sipping these premium Kentucky whiskeys instead of those $40-and-up champagnes on the big night. They were recently canonized in a New York Times taste test and range from $30 to $100-plus.
•Knob Creek, 9 years old, 100 proof
•Basil Hayden's, 8 years old, 80 proof
•Pappy Van Winkle's Family Reserve, 20 years old, 90.4 proof
•A.H. Hirsch Reserve, 16 years old, 91.6 proof
Mr. D
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