Best Places in Dallas for a First Date
The best movie theater is AMC Valley View 16 at 13331 Preston Valley Road, #2300 (972-724-8000). There are two kinds of “best movie theaters”: the ones who show great movies and ones that show movies great and this one is the latter.
The best Classical Theater Festival is Shakespeare in the Park at Samuell Grand Amphitheatre located at 1500 Tenison Parkway. Starting in March at the WaterTower Theatre in Addison and extending into late October at the Amphitheatre, the Festival is inching toward becoming what everybody wishes it could be – a year-round celebration of Elizabethan theater. They may be reached at 214-559-2778.
The best place to see a play is the Contemporary Theatre of Dallas at 5601 Sears Street (214-828-0094). Now in its fourth season, this venue for live theater just keeps getting better with age.
The best bird’s-eye view of Dallas can be found at the roof of South Side on Lamar Lofts at 1409 South Lamar Street. After a late-night cup of coffee at Standards and Pours on the bottom level of this artists’ community, venture your way to the main lobby, find the elevator, and ride all the way to the top. The number is 214-428-4848.
The best live theater company has said to be the Uptown Players at 4606 Cedar Springs Road. Now in its fourth season of plays and musicals at the Trinity River Arts Center, the Players upped the ante last year with more ambitious work and higher-quality productions.
The best waitstaff can be found at Il Mulino New York at 2408 Cedar Springs Road (214-855-5511). Il Mulino is cloaked in a jacked of elegance.
The best commute to dinner is at Goodhues Wood-Fired Grill. Goodhues is not, in itself, a reason to move to McKinney, but it’s sure worth the occasional drive. Located at 204 W. Virginia Street, they may be reached at 972-562-7570.
The best place for a walk in August on a summer date is the Dallas Arboretum Fern Dell at 8525 Garland Road (214-515-6500). On the shore of White Rock Lake, the Arboretum is one of those city treasures that many residents still don’t know about. The Arboretum with its 66 acres of variously manicured green spaces and forest-y wilderness, plus 11 display gardens, which bloom and change with the seasons, the place is a little slice of heaven.
If college theatre is your thing, check out the Quad C Theatre at Collin Community College in Plano. Using student actors and non-pros cast from open auditions, Quad C consistently offers professional-level productions that outshine Equity-heavy downtown stages. They may be contacted at 972-881-5809.
At Rough Creek Lodge you can find everything from wildlife, to dining, to the spa treatment. You can spend a quiet evening as luxurious as the finest in any city but happily not in a city. Located at CR 2013 in Glen Rose, they may be reached at 800-864-4705.
The Texas Discovery Gardens conservatory at Fair Park has the best urban waterfall. Sit on the natural stone ledge and peer into the pondering pool at the base of the two-story waterfall and you’ll forget you’re in a building at Far Park in Dallas. They’re at 3601 Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and the phone number is 214-428-7476.
