Study Says Dallas Prefers Vodka Over Tequila. Are They Sure?

A new report indicated that 53% of Dallas customers prefer vodka over tequila. Are you going to take this sitting down, tequila drinkers?

By Carly May Gravley

June 5, 2024

We're kicking off the summer by pitting our drunkest readers against each other. Nick Reynolds

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "18855504",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2",
          
          "watchElement": ".fdn-content-body",
          "astAdList": [
            {
              "adType": "rectangle",
              "displayTargets": "mobile"
            }
          ]
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17105533",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1",
          
          "watchElement": ".fdn-content-body",
          "astAdList": [
            {
              "adType": "rectangle",
              "displayTargets": "desktop|tablet"
            },{
              "adType": "rectangle",
              "displayTargets": "desktop|tablet|mobile"
            }
          ]
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18349797",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17105532",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25,
          
          "watchElement": ".fdn-content-body",
          "astAdList": [
            {
              "adType": "rectangle",
              "displayTargets": "desktop|tablet"
            },{
              "adType": "rectangle",
              "displayTargets": "desktop|tablet|mobile"
            }
          ]
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18349797",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17105535",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25,
          
          "watchElement": ".fdn-content-body",
          "astAdList": [
            {
              "adType": "leaderboardInlineContent",
              "displayTargets": "desktop|tablet"
            },{
              "adType": "tower",
              "displayTargets": "mobile"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]

Summer is here, at least according to our calendar, and as soon as all this rain clears up, Dallasites will migrate to restaurant patios to cool off with some drinks. Unless you’ve switched over to mocktails or delta-8 drinks, these summery cocktails will likely have either vodka or tequila in them. (Or a different liquor, but we’re not talking about those.)

Hospitality technology company Square recently released its quarterly restaurant report. One statistic in the report broke down which U.S. cities prefer vodka over tequilas. We don’t want to pit two strong, independent spirits against one another, but we were curious to see where Dallas stood.

After toting up the sales of both drinks in the summer of 2023, Dallas emerged with 53% favoring vodka. Are we alone in thinking that doesn’t sound right?

We get that Square did all the counting and we didn’t, but we also live here and know what we’re about. In general, tequila is a staple of Texas culture, and other cities included in the study reflect that. San Antonio tops the list in terms of tequila preference with 66%. Houston demonstrated an almost even split, but still had a 51% preference for tequila.

Austin wasn’t included in the study, and thank god. Houston and San Antonio embarrassed us enough.

You’d think tequila's inclusion in both margaritas and countless summery country songs would put it over the top. We could demand a recount, or we could concede that we might have this all wrong. Maybe there is a silent majority of vodka lovers in Dallas whom we’ve been disrespecting for 250 words.

Texas does have an undeniably strong presence in the vodka industry. Tito’s and Deep Eddy are based in Austin, and Western Son in Pilot Point in Denton County. There are others as well, but the point is that maybe we do kind of see where Dallas’ supposed preference came from. We may even agree sometimes, depending on which drink we're in the mood for.

Square is doing studies like this all the time, and it’s safe to assume we’ll see more data about Dallas’ liquor preference in the future. If you have a strong loyalty to vodka or tequila and want to see that reflected in future studies, you can vote with your wallet and spend the whole summer drinking.

Become A Member

BEFORE YOU GO...
Can you help us continue to share our stories? Since the beginning, Dallas Observer has been defined as the free, independent voice of Dallas — and we'd like to keep it that way. Our members allow us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls.

Carly May Gravley has been the staff music, food and culture writer for the Dallas Observer since October 2023. Before joining the staff, she freelanced for the Observer since 2019 and also contributed to Consequence of Sound, the Texas Tribune and Central Track. In addition to writing and reporting, Carly is a concert and portrait photographer and an alumna of Collin College’s Commercial Photography program.

Contact: Carly May Gravley

Follow:

Instagram: @carlygravley