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Dallas & Forth Worth Itinerary For Valentine's Weekend - Need help!
Hi All,
OK, we've narrowed down the itinerary so please take a look and let me know what you think! Friday: Leave Houston around 11am and drive to Dallas (how long do you think this will be, 4 hrs?). Check in to Embassy Suites Market Center then head to Dealy Plaza and the book repository. Back to hotel to relax a bit and then head out for dinner. We're thinking of the new Wolfgang Puck restaurant Five Sixty but I just called and they are completely booked for Friday and Saturday nights. Can someone recommend another really good restaurant similar to that? Also somewhere to go after dinner? Sat. Get up have breakfast at hotel and head to Forth Worth. Site seeing (any suggestions on what to see/do) and have lunch somewhere (suggest a great lunch place? perhaps with outside seating? No BBQ and burger, maybe mediterranean or something unique for dallas?) then DH wants to go to the Rorh and Sons Brewery tour which is from 1-3. Looks like they have a band and so on so we're thinking it should be fun. After that, there's a champagnes and chocolates event at Art and the Boulevard Gallery we want to check out. Head back to hotel, relax, then head out to restaurant for dinner (can you suggest one that is like a local hang out type of place? I like the tappas bar typeplaces). Then somewhere for drinks that night. Sunday: Open. Maybe a good sunday brunch somewhere? Tool about in Dallas sight seeing then heading out of town around 6pm or so back to Houston. Some background info: We're in ourmid 30's no kids. like art, museums, festivals (LOVE festivals) and pretty much open to alot of things. Not big on BBQ or burgers adn fries joints. LOVE seafood, good wine, good beer. Thanks All! |
My help will be limited because we stay with relatives and do family stuff, but...
Count on 4.5 hrs for drive - and you'll be getting into start of Fri rushhour, so maybe a little longer. Ft Worth - definitely the Kimball Art Museum. King Tut exhibit at Dallas Museum of Art. |
THANKS DFR4848!!! Any restaurant recs?
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Hi maria_so
Saturday, you may consider having lunch at the Reata in downtown Ft Worth. I believe it is all inside seating though. http://www.reata.net/reata_ftworth.html Where is the Rorh and Sons Brewery??? I've never heard of it, and didn't find anything on google. The Kimball and Modern Art Museums are both nice. I haven't been to the Amon Carter Art Museum in many years, but it is in the same area. Sunday brunch - There is Ozona on Greenville. The patio is great if the weather is warm. http://www.ozonagrill.com/locations.aspx Although I've never been, I believe Maguire's has a good Sunday brunch, but it is in North Dallas/Carrollton. |
We like the Blue Mesa for Brunch.
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For your Friday night fancier dinner, research some of the following:
Fearing's Stephan Pyles The Mansion on Turtle Creek Abacus Charlie Palmer Screen Door Lola - smaller and not flashy celeb chef type place, but super romantic! For Saturday night more low key locals type dinner, Google: La Duni Sangria Taverna Nonna (don't think they have website) Rise No 1 I believe the best resource for investigating restaurants in Big D is www.guidelive.com. Their reviews are usually right on. Let us know if you have any more specific questions! |
One more Friday night idea is Craft at the W, and it would be easy to get to from your hotel.
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Sorry for multiple replies...
For brunch do you prefer buffet or a la carte? |
For seafood, we've had very good experiences at Truluck's on McKinney near Uptown.
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Wow, nice suggestions! Thanks! Will look into all the restaurants mentioned.
For brunch, somewhere with bottomless mimosas or something to that effect? Buffet or per entre is fine but I do prefer per entre. Thanks ALL Oh, here's the info on the brewery: sorry, it's because i didn't spell it right. brewery tours between 1-3 every saturday. http://rahrbrewery.com/brewery |
Ok, so out of the list for friday night (haven't looked at brunch, lunch, and sat dinner) here's our choices:
craft (is it really expensive - I mean, it looks like you'll have to order sides separately or no?? Main entre prices are ok but not if it doesn't come with sides at all. Have to admit, it's mostly the Tom Colichio (sp?) thing that's pulling me in) Stephan Pyles The Mansion at Turtle Creek Screen Door Kind of like lola too. Anyone have experience for these restaurants they'd like to share? |
If you eat heavy for you evening meals, you might consider "Greens" for lunch. This place serves pretty much salads only, with maybe a couple of soup options. Some of the salads have various meats (tuna, etc) Very very good.
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Craft is pretty pricey, but it is at the W Hotel and that could be fun - they have the Ghost Bar and that sort of thing. I would go for the Mansion just because they recently renovated it and it is a beautiful place with a very nice bar as well. Stephan Pyles is very good as well and right by the Dallas Museum of Art. I second the recommendation for www.guidelive.com for reviews and would also add Fuse as a good restaurant downtown. For brunch, I think Breadwinners Cafe on McKinney is a great choice. They have bellinis and other fun drinks as well as fancy coffees and you can wear whatever you want there. You could also go there for a casual lunch or dinner, but dinner gets a little more expensive there than the other meals. La Duni on Oaklawn or Knox-Henderson is also good for brunch on the weekend or lunch or dinner. Since you like Tapas, I would recommend Cafe Madrid, just off of Knox-Henderson on Travis, as a great place for some wine and small plates. For late night drinks, close to your hotel is the Anatole Hotel which has a great hotel bar with a fantastic view and live music on the weekends - it is not unusual to see people dancing here, but you can also enjoy a nice cocktail by floor to ceiling windows and it is quiet enough that you can visit. If you like Mexican food and the weather is nice, I would go to lunch in Fort Worth at Joe T. Garcia's, a cash only limited menu place right by the Stockyards with a huge patio. Reata would be good for lunch or dinner and it is downtown in Fort Worth. Random other dinner suggestion in Dallas is a new restaurant near downtown called Neighborhood Services. It does not take reservations and people start lining up before they open, but it is getting really great reviews. Have a great trip!
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thanks ladybird! i will definitely check out all those options! Anatole sounds like a fun place to check out later on sat night. especially if it's close to our hotel!
thanks also spirobulldog but although we don't like heavy meals, we do want fish or some sort of protein (not beans or legumes) for dinner. might be good for a visit with our vegetarian friends who plan to come up a few weeks after us though so I'll be sure to forward that recommendation to them! Thanks! |
hmmm, now i'm thinking fuse for sat lunch! looks good...and interesting. definitely different.
I think i'm leaning on stepham pyles for dinner friday night. May do the tappas place (not sure which one yet for saturday night as long as they don't have a set menu. Still not sure for brunch but the suggestions are FANTASTIC! Just our type of restaurants! Many thanks! |
maria_so-
Which part of Houston are you coming from? I'm betting closer to 5 to 5.5 hours. You will be heading into rush hour traffic- and it's especially bad on Friday nights. (I've made the Dal-Hou run 100 times.) Friday - The Sixth Floor museum is well worth the price of admission. DO take the audio tour. Great musuem. They close at 6pm, so you will probably want to leave Houston a little earlier than 11am, to make sure you have time to see the whole museum. I think you should plan an hour minimum, but 1-1/2 hrs would not be too much time there. Saturday - I was a little confused about whether you are doing lunch on Saturday in Ft. Worth or Dallas. I assumed Ft. Worth, but you say, "something unique for Dallas" in the same sentence. :) I will assume you <i>meant</i> Fort Worth. I will second the recommendation for Joe T. Garcia's, if the weather is nice and you like Mexican food. Also the Blue Mesa is excellent for lunch. And very Fort Worth-ish. :) If you're looking for a light meal (small menu) and you like brewski- the Flying Saucer is where you should stop for lunch. It¡¦s right on the Square. If it is warm, they should have the outdoor dining area open. Try the Turkey Meltdown sandwich. Very good. :) http://www.beerknurd.com/stores/fortworth Here is a link to Sundance Square dining: http://www.sundancesquare.com/dining...ler_Sushi.aspx Most of what you'll want to see in Fort Worth is near Sundance Square or the "arts district". (Being that you live in Houston, I assume you don't want to see all the western/cowboy stuff in the Stockyards.) You say you like museums, so please don't miss the Kimbell. Fabulous museum. https://www.kimbellart.org/index.aspx If you like western/American art, the Amon Carter is great. They have more Remingtons (paintings and sculptures) than I have seen anywhere. http://www.cartermuseum.org/ There are plenty of parking garages/lots around Sundance and most are free on the weekend: http://www.sundancesquaremanagement....ps/parking.asp Other things you might want to check out are a tour of Bass Performance Hall (10:30am on Saturdays only, schedule permitting). It is a FABULOUS place. Beautiful inside and out. http://www.basshall.com/thehall.jsp I-30 is your fastest way to get from downtown Dallas to downtown Fort Worth. There is a lot of construction on it, though, right now. (A good deal of it in preparation for the new Cowboys stadium which is not far from the Interstate, in Arlington.) BUT, it should not be too bad on a Saturday morning. Take I-30 West and exit at I-35 North (toward Denton). NOW, as soon as you get off the entrance ramp, move left. You want to get on "Spur 280" into Downtown Ft.Worth and it comes up fast. :) Once you are on 280, you will see that the road splits to 6th Street or 4th Street. You want to take the 4th Street exit. Now, it's not really an exit. There is no ramp or anything- it just goes straight into downtown. Jones street is the first or second light. Turn right on Jones, left on 2nd, left onto Calhoun. (There are all one-way streets.) Bass Hall is one block up on your right. We like to park at the garage on Calhoun- you will see it on your left immediately after passing 3rd street and just before 4th (which is the street the entrance is on for Bass Hall). And of course, if you are into football, you will want to come by and look at the new stadium. (I live in Arlington.) It is a behemoth. If you want to see the stadium on your way to Fort Worth, take the Collins Street exit off of I-30 and go south. You go about 1 mile and turn left on to Randol Mill Rd. The stadium will be on your right about 1/4 mile down the road. You CANNOT miss it- trust me. :) Here is the website: http://stadium.dallascowboys.com/ To get back to I-30, stay on Randol Mill until you hit Highway 360. Go under 360 and turn left, getting onto the feeder road going north. Take a right at the first light. (You'll see the McDonald's on the right at the light.) This road is the entrance to I-30. Stay left to go back west on I-30 to Ft.Worth. We have an absolutely beautiful Botanic Gardens in the arts district. And if you go, do not miss the Conservatory. A walk through there will make you feel like you are in the Land of the Lost. Simply beautiful. :) http://www.fwbg.com/ Sunday - If you happen to get up late Sunday and miss brunch, I love Monica's in Deep Ellum for lunch or dinner. Very eclectic Mexican. Try their shrimp cocktail. Outrageously good with chunks of tomato and avocado. (Sunday's, they only do lunch 12-3). Inexpensive. http://www.monicas.com/reservations.php Whew! I'm exhausted! hahahaha :) I should mention one other thing. Don¡¦t get confused by the fact that both Dallas and Fort Worth have an I-35 Interstate. What happens is that I-35 splits on the north and south ends of the Metroplex (Dallas/Fort Worth). So, in Fort Worth, you would be traveling on I-35W (western leg) and in Dallas you will be on I-35E (eastern leg). Just didn¡¦t want you to get confused, as your hotel is on I-35E and my directions to FW tell you to get off on I-35. ƒº Additionally, your hotel is close to Highway 183, and you could take that west and then it connects to 121 west and that goes right into downtown FW, also. BUT, I think there is WAY too much ¡§suburban traffic¡¨ on 183. Plus, it goes by DFW airport, and so is always busy. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me. [email protected]. ƒº Have fun! |
I'm an idiot. Your thread header says you're coming Valentine's Day weekend. If you're going to eat someplace nice on Saturday evening, you'd better already have your reservations. ALL restaurants will be packed!
And I doubt it will be warm enough to eat outside in the evening, but might be during the day. FYI. Have fun! Paula |
HI Paula! Thanks for all the tips! We live in midtown (practically downtown) in Houston but I will be picking up my husband from work at 11am (soonest he can leave - he's got a meeting that morning) and his office is about 30 min on the way to Dallas already. I'm hoping we'll just barely miss traffic.
We didn't want to go out to a fancy dinner Sat night but Friday night, to miss the valentine crowd. We honestly hate eating out that night which is why I was asking for restaurants that won't be in high demand that night and plan to do the fancy one on Friday night instead. So I just made reservations at Stephan Pyles for 8:45 that night and the lady said she'll try to put me by the fireplace (I'm thinking it may be cold that night). Will look through the other stuff. We're not big american football fans - regular football (soccer) is a different story and yes, no rodeo/country stuff. We get enough of that here. We may do the sixth floor on Sunday (would it be open?) since we have a full day with no such definite plans yet except for knowing we want to go to brunch. Thanks again! |
Definitely Joe T.'s while in Ft. Worth - if the weather is at all decent the patio is perfect - be sure to tour the whole thing. Breadwinner's has an amazing breakfast/brunch and if it was me, I wouldn't miss the filete Cantinflas at Javier's - a Dallas institution.
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Can't believe I didn't include the link for the Sixth Floor Museum:
http://www.jfk.org/ And yes, they are open on Sunday! I am so glad you got into Stephen Pyles'. My son-in-law is in "the business" and his favorite chef is Stephen Pyles! :) Have a safe trip! And do let me know if you have anything else with which I can assist! :) |
Will do Paula and I'm sure I'll be asking after we look through the other links! Thanks much!
thanks linsley. we're a bit tired of mexican food at the moment (had too many times in the last 2 weeks). Maybe if we skip it the next 2 weeks we'll be up for it then but yes, we're wanting to have lunch in Forth Worth. If not Mexican, another option you would suggest would be what? |
Maria - Reata is a Fort Worth institution and would be a good pick for your lunch. They do have outdoor seating upstairs with nice views of Sundance Square and Downtown Fort Worth.
The Kimbell & the Modern are both must-sees in Fort Worth. We live in Fort Worth & do the Rahr tour and tasting a couple of times a year. It is lots of fun and there is always a big crowd so you may want to get there early to find parking. We enjoy La Duni or the Dream Cafe for brunch in Dallas. I second the vote for the bar at Nana at the Anatole for drinks. It is on the top floor...just a couple of blocks from your hotel and has amazing views of the city. Hope you have a great time in DFW! |
We LOVE the Modern cafe inside the Fort Worth Modern Art Museum. You do not need to pay admission to dine at the cafe. Great food and great ambiance.
http://www.mamfw.org/cafe.html |
joygerm, can you tell me how the brewery is like? We have one here (Saint Arnold's) that does tours/tastings on saturdays adn it's tons of fun. It's free and they have you line up at the "entrance" and give you tokens (4 tokens) and each token gets you a free tasting (about 4 ounces). They do a speach first about the brewery and it's history, current news, there's really no real tour. ANyway, after that, you line up to get your beer.
How does the one in Frth Worth do it? We're not thinking realta for lunch as soon as they open then head over to the brewery to be there around 12:30. IS that enough time to get parking? We love brewery tours. So far, the best one has been at Abita across Lake Ponchetrain near New Orleans. I also liked Red Lodge in Montana and the great divide in Denver was also pretty cool. So we're really looking forward to going! Thanks for any enlightenment on how this one works. |
Did you click on the link I provided for Greenz and look at the Menu? It isn't a vegetarian place. The Panko Shrimp on the salad is good. The Hawaiin Tuna Salad is good as well Below is there Southwest Shrimp Salad. Salads are fairly large. It really isn't that light.
Grilled Southwestern Shrimp ) Delectable grilled shrimp, roma tomatoes, sweet and spicy tomatillo-jicama relish and sweet potato straws, all atop our spinach and romaine mix. Served with cilantro-lime vinaigrette. |
I'll second the recommendations for Reata and the Cafe at the Modern for eating in Fort Worth. Both are GREAT and you will enjoy them!!
Just so you know, Valentine's Day is usually pretty chilly (it's not spring yet!) so patio seating might not be the best idea... The Emabssy Suites you're staying at is in a commercial/industrial area. If you're getting a great rate on it, that's fine, but if you want to be in an area that has more things going on, I'd pick another location. |
Christie P, which Embassy Suites location would you choose?
Hi Spriobulldog. It does look good. Sorry, I shou'dve clicked on the link. |
Last night I had dinner at La Cubanita and saw that they have bottomless drink specials for brunch. Its a cute casual place on McKinney with a wraparound patio that is enclosed if chilly.
http://www.lacubanitadallas.com/ I love Breadwinner's, but I do think it gets a little pricey with drinks. Of course I haven't been in a couple of years, so many they have some specials too. |
THANKS BECKYTX!!!! That is PERFECT! I have been kind of sick of mexican food (since we've had it alot lately) so this is perfect and the bottomless mojitos or mimosas are just an added bonus. DH will love the sandwhiches menu (it's his favorite type of lunch).
Thanks again for posting that! We will definitely be checking out that place next Sunday. |
I'd go with the one near Love Field. The Love Field one is on Northwest Highway and it's right around the corner from Lemmon Avenue and a lot of restaurants. It's still close to downtown Dallas and McKinney Avenue.
Looks like we are going to have gorgeous weather this week: lows in the 50s and highs in the 70s! |
Shucks, it's too late to get my state rate for it. Oh well, I guess we're staying where we are. Thanks though.
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Hi All! Just wanted to say thank you for all the suggestions. Just wanted to let you know how our weekend was.
Left Houston at 11am. Stopped off for a an hour lunch on the way at madisonville (good restaurant at an old inn) and got to Dallas at 3pm. We checked in and DH and I just wanted to relax and did our vday presents exchange. Got him artistic photos I took from Yellowstone framed for his office. He LOVED them (so did the gallery I work with and now she wants me to do reprints of them!). Anyway, I got an ipod touch - very surprised and extremely pleased with it! Hotel was not in the best location and it's seemed to be an older ES but it suited us (I found the downtown Fort Worth one may be a suitable place for our next visit). We asked the shuttle driver to take us to a "bar type place for drinks" and he took us to Dick's - which we've been to, of course, in San Antonio. We were at first a bit disappointed but met a really nice couple at the bar so ended up having a good time. Then we took a cab to Stephan Pyles. Sorry, but I was a bit disappointed with the place and the food. We waited to be seated even though we were on time and there seemed to be empty tables. The only food that was good was the raw oysters with the 3 different sauces. I had a crab mouse pie for an appetizer that I couldn't eat and a rack of lamb for an entree that was too red and had to send back. I've ordered plenty of lamb medium rare before but this one barely touched any heat! We called it a night after that. Sat woke up and had breakfast at the hotel then made it Fort Worth and walk around sundance square. Cute little area but the shops were not my style at all although fun to go through. Then headed to Rarh and Sons (we decided to just have BBQ sandwhiches there). That was alot of fun. After that, we went home for a nap and later we received a call from our new friends we met the night before. They were going to the blues bar for an 80's/70's concert. We decided to join them after our dinner - we went to Okoishii and that was fantastic sushi! Anyway, the band was fantastic too and we had a really great night. We later met some of their other friends at a bar off of McKinney st (can't remember the name) and called it a night. Nice new friends! Sunday, I woke up feeling a bit fluish but we had tickets to the King Tut exhibition (if you order in advance and get the gold pass, it's quite a deal and you skip the looooooong lines by going through fast track) so we decided to get lunch. We ended up going to Rise No.1. That was the BEST place we went to all weekend for food. I had the crab souffle and had onion soup to start. The restaurant is housed in this modern take of a french cottage. Even the bathroom was cool! After lunch, we went to the exhibit which was very nice even though it was too packed for my taste. We grabbed some steak burgers (which we heard was popular and a dallas insitution) and headed home. By the time we finally made it home, I was running a fever, had really bad chills that evening and missed 2 days of work. All in all, a really good visit! Thanks everyone! |
sorry for all the typos and the run on sentences. i'm in a bit of a hurry but wanted to just post back!
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thanks for reporting back, maria_so. I'm glad it worked out, and hope you're better by now!
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maria- sorry you didn't get to the Sixth Floor Museum. I hope you can catch it on your next visit.
But glad you made some new friends and had some good food/drink. :) |
We had a really good time and want to go visit again. Just suggested it as a girl's weekend trip with my gal pals too. I found folks from Dallas very warm and friendly. Not just the ones we ended up hanging out with that night but others as well like the brewery, etc. I always thought that Houston and Dallas were the same (set up, I mean) but nothing like it. There are actual spaces with no growth between the cities/towns. Between Spring and Houston, it's all built up, for example.
Yeah, we missed the sixth floor but that will be top of the list for us when we come back. That and securing a reservation to Wolfgang Puck's Five Sixty... |
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