DFW Chinatown or Little Haiti? (Dallas, Fort Worth: house, neighborhoods, college)

[clcrash29]

Just curious, have some out of towners coming to stay with us for a couple of weeks and i really wanted to know from locals does Dallas have any version of chinatown or a little haiti or any ethnic neighborhood that would be fun to take our friends too..

Also any other recommendations of cool or unique things to take them to would be highly appreciated.

Thanks

[ChristieP]

We don't have many Haitians here at all.

Richardson has some Chinese and Vietnamese along Greenville Avenue, and a small cluster of middle eastern near its downtown.
Dallas has Koreans along Harry Hines north of Northwest Highway, but be careful in that area, especially after dark.

[mami2emily]

"Chinatown" in Richardson (please do notice the quotation marks around the word!) is very spread out. If you are looking for shops to wander in with your visitors you may have to drive from spot to spot. There is a lot along Greenville near the intersection with Belt Line, going north or south along Greenville you will find places. "Koreatown" mentioned above is a lot denser and better for walking from place to place. But I would only visit during the daytime.

Plano also has a lot of Chinese/Vietnamese places off of Spring Valley Road on 75.

If you are looking for dim sum I can recommend Kirin Court in Richardson. Start there on a Saturday for an early lunch and then venture out.

If you are looking for big interesting Asian grocery stores, the ones in Richardson are going to be older, less clean-looking than some of the big ones in Plano. For a nice one I would visit HMart near the Costco in East Plano. It is very big, clean, interesting to wander around. They also have a very nice food court with multiple stands where you can easily get Japanese, Thai, Vietnamese, Chinese food. If you live near Carrollton, go to the HMart there. It's the biggest of the two HMarts in this area.

Having lived in Boston during my formative years (college!) I have a soft spot for Chinatowns and have had the opportunity to visit many in cities all over the states. Sad Texas doesn't have a proper Chinatown, but there are still ways to get your fix.

[Made_it_To_the_Metroplex]

Isn't there also something of a "Koreatown" along either Royal or Forest Lanes west of I-35 (or is that part of the area already mentioned north of Northwest Hwy)?

[lpepping]

There is also another Korean area at the George Bush and Denton Drive intersection in Carrollton.

[FriscoTex]

If your out of town friends are open minded you can take them to visit King Spa or
Spa Castle.
King Spa & Waterpark
Spa Castle Texas
Both are Korean spas and they serve Korean food in their on site restaurants.

I say open minded because they have separate mens and womens spa areas in addition to
unisex areas. They will require you to shower and soak in the hot spa before going to the
common area and people are butt naked (in the same sex area of course). They will provide
clothes for you to wear in the common areas and saunas.

I would allocate 4 to 6 hours, enjoy the spas, saunas, schedule a massage or a body scrub
and have lunch or dinner there.

[TurtleCreek80]

Originally Posted by clcrash29

Just curious, have some out of towners coming to stay with us for a couple of weeks and i really wanted to know from locals does Dallas have any version of chinatown or a little haiti or any ethnic neighborhood that would be fun to take our friends too..

Also any other recommendations of cool or unique things to take them to would be highly appreciated.

Thanks

While Dallas has a diverse ppopulation, we don't have the ethnic enclaves that other cities like NYC and SF do. I honestly wouldn't waste time showing out of towners our Korean or Chinese neighborhoods, especially if they have been to more impressive ones in other cities.

I would show them things that are uniquely Dallas/Fort Worth like the Stockyards, historic downtown McKinney or Grapevine, the Perot Museum or the Kimbell in FW, maybe dine in the Bishops Arts District or Lowest Greenville, etc. Go to Katy Trail Ice House or Truck Yard or Klyde Warren Park if it's a nice day. Eat some good Tex-Mex and BBQ or steak.

[rantanamo]

Outside of a few places, DFW just isn't a walkable place. But if you want a place that's like a suburban version of that, I'm surprised no one mentions west Garland along Walnut and Plano Rd back down to probably Jupiter for a large grouping of SE and east Asian places. Korean along Royal around I-35E and Harry Hines. Groupings of Indian, I would say Irving along 183 and Macarthur I think as well as a shrinking presence in Richardson at Beltline and Central. If you want something East African, the best place is probably around Greenville and Park in Dallas. As others have said, the immigrant population is simply very integrated compared to places that have an older immigrant population. DFW does have the diversity numbers though.