The last time I visited Dallas was back in 2017, when I solo-road tripped out to Texas for spring break! I spent a Delightful Day in Dallas and visited many of the touristy spots. This time around, we spent most of our time with friends and visited a plethora of local spots. Second, staying with friends gave us the budget-friendly advantage of avoiding lodging costs and transportation costs! Whenever I stay with friends, I always try to pay for at least one meal to thank them for hosting us over the weekend.

Torchy’s Tacos:

The first spot we headed to when we landed was one of my favorites, Torchy’s Tacos! At Torchy’s, I always get the fried avocado taco, some of their delicious queso and a margarita to pair with my meal. Note that this establishment is a chain restaurant, but I think it has a unique flavor profile compared to the taco joints we have back home in Georgia.

Day #1:

The Ronald Kirk Bridge/Dallas Continental Bridge:

We slept in Saturday morning and made breakfast at my friend’s apartment. To burn off breakfast, we then popped over to the Ronald Kirk Bridge on our way to Fort Worth. We parked right past the bridge on the right hand side and then spent around 20 minutes walking down the bridge and taking in the city views. If you want a longer walk or if you have bikes, I recommend popping over to the Trinity Skyland Trail that runs underneath the bridge and can provide some extra distance.

Fort Worth Stockyards:

After our stroll on the bridge, we continued our journey to the Fort Worth Stockyards, which was our main event for the day. The cattle come through the stock yards twice a day at 11:30AM and 4:00PM. We parked right behind Cooper’s Old Time BBQ in a public lot. The Stockyards has a variety of places to explore like classic western stores, saloons, and old timey hotels to see as well! The atmosphere is great for both new families with kids and young adults.

Drinks at White Elephant Saloon:

Since we arrived before the 4:00PM cattle walk, we snagged a drink at a local bar! The White Elephant Saloon is a super fun bar always filled with live music, games and chill drinks. Since we went during covid, we had our drinks outside and enjoyed some Texan sunshine

Dinner at Riscky’s Steakhouse:

After we watched the bulls walk by in the Stockyards, we decided to hang out for dinner and were able to splurge a bit with the lodging and transportation costs we saved from staying with our friends. It was a traditional steak house with all the delicious sides and fixings you could ask for. I ordered surf and turf with a Caesar salad and a side of mashed potatoes – talk about a heavenly and filling meal! After wrapping up dinner, we headed back to Dallas for the night to hang at our friend’s apartment  and enjoy drinks with a rooftop view.

Day #2:

White Rock Lake:

The next morning, we decided to once again start off our day with a walk, this time a little north of the city. White Rock Lake has lots of options year round for you to do some urban exploring! We parked across from the boat club and took a stroll around the lake, stopping by the dog park briefly as well. There is a trail that goes all the way around the park and you can rent kayaks or canoes there in the summertime. You can also visit the Dallas Arboretum and Botanical Gardens. Be forewarned that you do need to book tickets in advance online – they are $16 for adults.

Deep Ellum Brewing Company:

After our morning stroll, we cleaned up and headed out to explore some of the local breweries! Deep Ellum was our first stop and it was fantastic. Deep Ellum had a large variety of beers and seltzers to enjoy, which is great for someone like me who doesn’t enjoy hops. Deep Ellum is also very well known for their snacks and food. We snagged the elote tots and large mac and cheese and they were both to die for! This brewery is dog friendly and has both heaters in the winter and fans for the summer.

Trinity Cider:

Afterwards we stopped at Trinity Cider, which was new to my friends as well! Trinity Cider allows you to do a 4 of 6 cider flight for $15 to experience a variety of different flavors. They also change their flavors seasonally, so the flight options shift year-round! The boys of our group loved the ghost pepper cider for its spiciness and heat.

Pecan Lodge BBQ:

For dinner, we headed right next door to a local barbecue spot. Pecan Lodge had a wide variety of BBQ options for our large group. I ordered the two plate meal with brisket and pork ribs with a side of mac and cheese. I’m not a huge barbeque fan and I didn’t love this place; truthfully, I thought the one I visited in Austin was better but that is just my personal opinion! After dinner, we headed back to my friend’s place to chill with her and hang out with some of her neighbors.

Day #3:

Breakfast at Boulangerie Village Baking Co:

Prior to our departure in the morning, we popped over to this super simple bakery in Lower Greenville. It had a ton of different pastries and breads to choose from and filled us up before we headed to the airport!

Our trip to Dallas wasn’t super touristy, but we still had loads of fun and explored more unique places than you might in a typical trip! I highly recommend renting a car while you are here as there isn’t great public transit and many of the places we visited were within driving distance! That aside, Dallas is a wonderful city and I was highly impressed with all the different activities and establishments we visited.

Budget: