Houston vs Dallas for my next Texas trip (San Antonio, Austin: hotel, neighborhood)

[DTXman34]

Originally Posted by Foamposite

I'm deciding between Houston and Dallas. All I really do is walk around, go to markets, eat, and most importantly drink. Whether I choose Houston or Dallas, I will probably also go to one of the neighboring smaller towns one of the nights. I found it to be a really good decision doing that with Pflugerville, it felt more Texasy to me while the Austin crowd was very similar to the Brooklyn hipsters that I'm used to.

Keep in mind you'll still find the "Brooklyn hipster vibe" in the popular areas of Dallas & Houston, but they're also bigger and more diverse than Austin. Between Dallas & Houston, I would recommend Dallas for the following reasons: A little more visitor friendly/walkable and closer to more "Texan" cities such as Fort Worth. It really depends how long you're planning to stay in DFW.

Here's my recommendations for Dallas ranked in order (I tied Downtown & Deep Ellum together):

1A. Downtown - JFK Museum/Dealey Plaza (historical), Old Red Courthouse, West End, Pioneer Plaza (cattle drive sculptures), Main St. District (Elm/Main/Commerce Streets between Field & Harwood), Farmers Market District (food hall, outdoor shed w/vendors, shops), and Klyde Warren Park (outdoor park with food trucks and restaurants nearby).

1B. Deep Ellum (east of DT): Walk around Elm, Main, & Commerce Streets. Tons of bars, restaurants, breweries, etc. Mural paintings on many of the buildings. The "live music" capital of Dallas as well as the largest nightlife section of the city. If you want Texan-y AND dive bar, check out Adairs.

2. Bishop Arts District/North Oak Cliff (southwest of DT): Free street-car from Downtown. Compact area of shops, bars, and restaurants. Streets: Davis, Bishop, 7th, Jefferson. If you have time, check out the Trinity Groves area. There's a pedestrian bridge called the Ron Kirk Bridge where you can see the Dallas skyline stretch for miles. It's pretty at sunset.

***The rest is if you really have time. I would recommend heading over to Fort Worth at this point, but if you have time....***

3. Uptown (north of DT): Free trolley from Klyde Warren Park. Much more "new urban" (commercialized "trendy") and flashier in parts. However, there are lots of neat patio bars mixed with mid-rises (Rainey St. on steroids). Walk or bike along the Katy Trail, which has an outdoor bar/restaurant along the way called "the Katy Trail Ice House." The Rustic is also a great nighttime option.

4. Lowest Greenville: Lots of restaurants and bars, but not many shops. Great daytime drinking spot. Check-out the Truckyard and rooftop bar of HG Supply.

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by DTXman34

closer to more "Texan" cities such as Fort Worth. It really depends how long you're planning to stay in DFW.

I definitely agree about DFW feeling more Texan especially in their burbs. Fort Worth might be the most “Texan” city out of all the major cities. Galveston is the most unique out of all the heavily visited. So it depends on your reason for visiting. You won’t get Fort Worth’s Texan feel in Galveston and you won’t get Galveston’s island vibe-Italian influence in Fort Worth.

[KathrynAragon]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

Doesn't matter. The OP is looking to go between those 2 cities. If he mentioned San Antonio and Fort Worth, then sure recommend those. And based on the criteria he mentioned, eating, drinking, exploring markets, etc You'll get a lot more in Houston and Dallas than in San Antonio. Outside of those two, Austin would match his criteria as well, but as he said, he's not looking for that. You can't knock someone for wanting to visit a place you wouldn't like.

If you're going to go to Dallas, you may as well go to Fort Worth, for starters. It's more interesting than Dallas and it's RIGHT THERE.

[DTXman34]

Originally Posted by KathrynAragon

If you're going to go to Dallas, you may as well go to Fort Worth, for starters. It's more interesting than Dallas and it's RIGHT THERE.

The Stockyards and Downtown, yes. The rest of Fort Worth? No.

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by KathrynAragon

If you're going to go to Dallas, you may as well go to Fort Worth, for starters. It's more interesting than Dallas and it's RIGHT THERE.

On going to Fort Worth if you go to Dallas, I agree. I’m not denying that. I mentioned in the earlier post that’s the good outside place to visit if you choose Dallas.

For your second point, I disagree I’d prefer Dallas than Fort Worth. Not that Fort Worth isn’t nice. Stockyards, Sundance Sq, the museums and the zoo etc are all great. But for the OP’s description, Dallas is the better fit. The markets in Greenville, Bishop Sq, drinking in Deep Ellum, dive bars, and abundance of a food scene, Dallas has so much more to offer than Fort Worth.

As great as Fort Worth is, OP didn’t ask what’s the best overall destination. He gave a description. Houston, Dallas and Austin exceed Fort Worth as well as San Antonio for this.

[Redlionjr]

Why not go with San Antonio? That’s the most “Texasy” city in the state. And you got towns like New Braunfels not to far with that small town Texas feel.

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by Redlionjr

Why not go with San Antonio? That’s the most “Texasy” city in the state. And you got towns like New Braunfels not to far with that small town Texas feel.

Being “Texeasy” was a side note about a neighboring town he went to. Read his description. He prioritized dining, drinking, visiting markets, etc. San Antonio lags behind in this case.

[As Above So Below...]

If you go to Dallas, make sure to go to Fort Worth. If you go to Houston, make sure to go to Galveston. Those are the more unique cities in the area.

[RonnieinDallas]

Originally Posted by Foamposite

Dining:

Mexican
BBQ
Various Asian (more so traditional stuff rather than Asian fusion, though I don't mind that)
American
And more. I'm not picky.

I also like Italian and Caribbean food, but I tend not to look for that when I travel since I have it pretty often here in New York.

Nightlife:

Dive bars. Whether it be a hipster dive bar or a townie watering hole type place, I appreciate wherever I can drink cheap beers and be around non-pretentious people.

I prefer a diverse crowd when possible. Though, it's not a requirement.

The recommendations are sort of all over the map so far, so I’ll just stick to Dallas Proper.

Downtown has a lot of great hotels and it’s centrally located to a lot of the neighborhoods and sites worth visiting. The Arts District is located within downtown, and so are most of the other museums. Every DART line connects downtown as well as the TRE which would be a great way to visit Downtown Fort Worth if you chose to. I personally think Fort Worth is boring but it may be interesting to see if you’ve never been. Coming from New York I’m not sure if any of the area museums are worth your time but I personally really like the Dallas World aquarium. Eastbound and Down, and Lee Harvey’s are 2 good nearby dives.

Deep Ellum is very walkable and definitely a neighborhood to check out if you decide to come to Dallas. Many great restaurants to chose from. The first Cane Rosso and Pecan Lodge are both really popular. I don’t really consider a lot of the bars down there “dive bars”. It’s a gentrified old part of the city literally right next to downtown. It’s a little grunge by Dallas standards but probably the closest thing to Williamsburg we have. It’s pretty safe during the day but there have been recent incidents of people getting robbed and mugged at night. Anvil Pub is a fun brunch spot.

Lower Greenville/East Dallas has a lot of good restaurants to try like Velvet Taco and a few good dives nearby. Lakewood Landing, Ships Lounge, The Dallasite, The Goat (opens at 7am), and The Old Monk on Henderson are all fun.

Uptown isn’t dive-y or laidback, but it’s still a good neighborhood worth exploring and there are some really nice hotels here. Places to check out: Primo’s (brunch), the Grapevine, the Gingerman, and the Katy Trail Icehouse.

[Foamposite]

Hey guys so I've been reading all of your comments and I appreciate all the advice!

I've seen a lot of you mention things about Fort Worth, so I'm curious what's different about it from Dallas besides the Stockyards?

If I go to Dallas, I plan on staying close to the general downtown area. I didn't realize how far away Fort Worth was. I do not drive when I travel, so that would be a pretty long Uber ride.

When I mentioned "Texasy", I was being pretty vague and didn't necessarily mean a stereotypical thing such as people being like Sandy Cheeks. I just meant more like a neighborhood, less cosmopolitan vibe where people are more likely to have Southern tinged accents. Like when I went to Marshall's Tavern in Pflugerville outside of Austin, that was exactly the vibe I was looking for and I didn't have to go too far.

Where would I find bars with a sizable to high amount of Latina women? I'm guessing everywhere considering the city of Dallas is 42% Latino, and Fort Worth is not far behind.

So are Deep Ellum and Uptown sort of like Austin's 6th Street? As in, centrally located, walkable, lots of bars, touristy, etc. I would definitely check out something like that, but also check out some deeper neighborhoods as well.