7 Themed Bar Ideas for Dallas

Lately, it feels like you can throw a rock from anywhere in Dallas and hit either a sports bar or a cocktail lounge. Clearly, there's a demand, which is the main tenet of any viable business plan in the service industry. There’s a huge demographic of drinkers and nightlife patrons who want to watch a game in a social setting. And there are just as many adults who would rather spend their night out in conversation without the need to yell over loud music on the edge of a nightclub dance floor. But despite the devastating effects of COVID-19 closures in the hospitality industry, it’s become more and more obvious that these types of bars have reached a level of peak saturation in Dallas.

There will always be a tried-and-true market for this kind of drinking establishment, just like dive bars and pool halls. But Dallas would culturally benefit from a little more diversity in nightlife offerings. Here are seven themed-bar concepts that would bring something new and different to the city.

Decades Bars

It’s no secret that nostalgia sells to almost every kind of audience, clearly illustrated by an explosion of speakeasy-style cocktail bars in Dallas. But every era of history has a style of decor, drinking, music and ambiance unique to its pop culture backdrop. Consider the thought of a 1960s living-room-themed bar complete with a jukebox full of Motown 45s, racks of vintage magazine copies collected from the depths of antique malls and a proper gin gimlet on the menu. What about a beer garden built out like a 1980s shopping mall food court? Or even a 1970s flower-power-themed bar? Imagine how much fun it would be to feel like you’re meeting a friend for drinks inside a time machine.

Horror Bars

Horror movies are more than a genre of film: They’re the backbone of an entire subculture of arts and entertainment fans. Horror bars are an emerging concept in recent years and have started popping up in cities such as Denver, Cleveland and Portland. These unique and spooky spots are all about the ambiance. Picture dim lighting on black walls painted with murals of classic characters like Freddy Krueger or Nosferatu. TVs over the bar show only scary movies on mute, while bands like Nine Inch Nails, The Misfits and Bauhaus play overhead. In the back room, you would likely find a rare Tales From the Crypt or Creature From the Black Lagoon pinball machine. And the drink menus are typically populated with macabre cocktail names referencing horror movie tropes or blood and gore.

Expat Bars

Dallas-Fort Worth has an extremely diverse multinational population, and everyone gets homesick sometimes. It’s also much less isolating to seek out pockets of your own culture when you're either settling into or visiting a new city. Irish pubs are well-represented here, and there’s a rich Korean nightlife scene in the Asian Trade District, but there’s still a wide range of demographics who could be experiencing a taste of their home country in Dallas. It would be cool to see something like a Russian tavern with an extensive library of imported vodkas or a Canadian hockey bar with Molson Premium on tap and an authentic poutine basket, or a Caribbean dance hall with a banging sound system that serves batched rum punch and Jamaican lager. Expat bars are not just important for the international community; they’re also an opportunity for Dallasites to expose themselves to different global cultures.

Astrology Bars

Whether or not you take astrology seriously, you can’t deny its mass appeal and presence in pop culture. It’s common small-talk fodder to ask people about their zodiac signs, even if we don’t really know anything about what they mean. At best it’s a tool for personal introspection; at worst it’s a generally harmless pseudoscience. But, it’s also a burgeoning theme-bar concept. Buzzworthy astrology bars like Little Dipper in Manhattan and Mood Ring in Brooklyn, as well as themed pop-up menus like LA’s Zodiac Bar and even at Dallas’ own Lower Greenville gem Apothecary, suggest a growing trend. Astrology bars are focused on cocktail menus that offer a corresponding crafted beverage for each zodiac sign. Drink specials might be based around moon phases or mercury retrogrades, and there’s likely some kind of fortune-teller there selling readings during happy hour.

Molecular Mixology Bars

Just like the food science-forward kitchen method of molecular gastronomy, molecular mixology is a type of bartending that approaches cocktail creation through the lens of a chemist. So it’s a technique utilizing ingredients more often found in a laboratory than behind a drink well. For instance, chilling a martini with liquid nitrogen or dry ice can give the visual effect of a smoking glass. Xanthan gum (a common food additive and gluten alternative) can create a foamy drink that’s vegan-friendly without the traditional mixologist’s use of egg white as a thickening agent. And garnishing a beverage with gel-like flavor pearls formed by individual droplets of cordial liquor into a liquid calcium bath is just another example of manipulating matter to create a cocktail instead of standard drink-mixing. Some bars even go as far on-theme as using lab beakers and test tubes in lieu of serving their concoctions in typical glassware.

Carnival Bars

In another play on nostalgic appeal, close your eyes and visualize a family-friendly carnival beer garden to stimulate your inner child. Wouldn't it be a thrill to sip some suds and watch some fireworks on a Ferris wheel or take a carousel ride atop one of Dallas' signature red Pegasus winged horses? What about snack stands offering fried funnel cakes, hot dogs, cotton candy and ice cream cones (maybe even hot apple cider in the fall or a refreshing lemonade in the summer)? Imagine a fun date-night outing where you can win your mate a stuffed animal at an old-school ring-toss stand. Dallas has plenty of Dave & Busters locations and arcade bars, so why not a unique and different spin on the playtime concept?

Tiki Bars

Tiki bartending is a specialty mixology tradition focused around the experience of tropical paradise. The bars were most popular from the 1950s to 1970s — which adds a retro kitschy element to the modern-day Tiki bar setting. Think bamboo tables, bar tops edged with Hulu-grass fringe, 1960s beachside pinup girl posters, vintage surfboards mounted to the walls, surf-rock on the jukebox and a staff dressed in vintage resort wear. It’s like stepping into the infamous two-part Hawaiian family-vacation episode of The Brady Bunch.

There’s only one bar in Dallas carrying the Tiki bar tradition on its back: Swizzle in Lower Greenville (est. 2020). But there's no denying we could stand to revive the specialty with a couple more outposts for fruity rum drinks with paper umbrellas, neon-blue fishbowls for two and flaming cocktails served in ceramic mugs shaped like Polynesian totem heads.