Heavens

ChristieP, it is hard to explain...I wouldn't be caught dead in an El Fenix when I lived in Big D. But now I crave their cheese enchiladas and their sour cream chix enchiladas. They know how to do enchiladas. There are better places. Like I said, it is hard to explain.

bayridge

Visited in March and the Botanical Gardens were sensational-200,000 tulips and 20000 azaleas in bloom. However, do not know what its like in summer.

Brookside

I haven't been to the West End lately -- is it still fun, or has it deteriorated?

jayne1973

I heard the West End is closing down -- don't know when, though.

ChristieP

Heavens, to each his own! ;-) My husband grew up on the Texas-Mexico border, so he's really picky about his Mexican food. We went to El Fenix recently when our favorite "mom and pop" was closed for remodeling, and the food at El Fenix was so bland that we could barely eat it.

West End Marketplace (the big brick building that used to have the movie theatre and Planet Hollywood in it) will be closing in a few months. Honestly, the place to go now for food and fun is Deep Ellum.

aceplace

Hi,

As Christie said, the West End Marketplace will be closing, but other West End restaurants and shops will remain. The new Victory Plaza development on the north side of the West End will feature dozens of shops and restaurants, however.

Some of my favorite things to do in Dallas include:

. View the city from the top of Reunion Tower
. Take the McKinney Avenue Trolley from the Dallas Museum of Art, through the Uptown district, to the West Village neighborhood
. Paciugo's ice cream in the West Village.
. Eat Yucatan-style mexican in ZuZu's, Snider Plaza across from SMU.
. Browse through the enormous Half-Price bookstore at the corner of Northwest Highway and Shady Brook (near Greenville).
. Wander through the Dallas World Aquarium in the West End.
. Hang out in the coffeehouse in the Bishop Arts District, Bishop and Davis.
. Hang out in the West Village Starbucks.

Metro Dallas-Ft Worth is a big city and an interesting city, and I like it... hope it brings others pleasure as well.

aceplace

Dallas will have several attractions next year, if your travels bring you into town then.

. The new Dallas County History Museum in the Old Red Courthouse should be open.
. The Dallas House of Blues in Victory Plaza should be up and running.
. Fair Park MAY have a new museum of Texas Music. I spoke to the future director a few weeks ago, and that guy has tons of artifacts and recordings. This should be a very important regional, if not national, draw.
. The Victory Plaza shops and restaurants should be well-established. This will include an enormous video display on enormous screens in a Times Square like environment, and a sidewalk-level TV studio visible from the sidewalk.
. Another thousand or so apartments should have been completed in downtown Dallas' Main Street district, supporting many more restaurants and shops.
. The Biblical Arts Museum, destroyed by a fire some months ago, MAY be restored within a year or so.
. The NCAA Conference will be held at the American Airlines Center in Victory Plaza, and maybe the Mavs will have another try at the playoffs.

And within 3 years, the State Fair of Texas, and Fair Park itself, will finally be accessible by rail transit. The DART metro station at Fair Park's Exposition gate will be open in September 2009, making it an easy trip from downtown Dallas, or anywhere else on the DART system. The Victory rail station in Victory Plaza, and other stations on the new DART Green line, will be in regular service.

TerryLFred

My husband and I just came back from a visit to Ft. Worth. Actually went to visit friends in Waco and then four couples went to Ft. Worth for the day/night.

LOVED the Lonesome Dove Western Bistro restaurant. A definite "must-do." We saw the Longhorn Cattle Drive. Shopped at Leddy's and Maverick. Got some great clothes at both places.

Went to the White Elephant for a drink. The music was a bit loud and not very good, but it was still a fun experience. Wanted to go over to Billy Bob's but decided to save that for next time.

Really enjoyed walking around Ft. Worth. It is a very comfortable place to visit and I would agree with the statement that it's "the real Texas."

The next day we went to the JFK Museum before getting on the plane to come home to Los Angeles. We really enjoyed the museum. I wouldn't mind going back again since there's so much to see/read. Didn't have time to do it all.

We enjoy going out to Waco/Ft. Worth/Dallas. We hope to return to visit our friends again and to experience more of Texas.

enjoylife

Gotta head over to Billy Bob's Honkytonk in Fort Worth!

GoodAdvice

The place to go for fun and food is Deep Ellum???? Are you crazy? The place to get shot and join a gang is Deep Ellum. Nobody goes there except for Green Room. It's really gone downhill in the past five years.

Brookside

GoodA -- this confirms whatI have heard about Deep Ellum.

Seems like the West Village and Uptown are now "where it's at" in Big D these days. I visited this area in the spring and was amazed.

aceplace

Yes, Deep Ellum has lost a lot of its glamour trade to West Village/McKinney Ave, but it's still very much alive as a place to go.

Any problems associated with the neighborhood happen at 3AM after the bars let out... at 7 oclock at night, it's a reasonable destination. The Gypsy Tea Room has plenty of live entertainment, and there are more clubs as well.

McKinney/West Village is primarily restaurants, with few night clubs as such.

tennispro

...yes big d has a lot of great restaurants, all the mexican ones mentioned are fine, burger house is good for burgers if you like a little salt with your salt. it is a good place to live but would not want to vacation there. highland park village and northpark are nice to see, and sadly dallas kindof is shopping and restaurants. not much geography or history, fort worth has a better zoo and kimball is nice to visit and eat there, too. museums are good in both. javier's is neat continental mexican, and dallas experience. skip most big chain places,