The Best Bars for a First Date in Dallas

Cocktails come with modern sushi at Bar Colette, a West Village cocktail bar with an intimate, elegant room. Bar director Rubén Rolón makes the drinks, and Kazuhito Mabuchi of Namo, the sister restaurant next door, makes the sushi.

The list covers more than 100 spirits. The bar is closed Sundays and Mondays, open Tuesday through Thursday from 5pm to 11pm, and open Friday and Saturday from 5pm to 12am. Book a table through the website.

Head down into a subterranean cocktail lounge at Midnight Rambler, inside The Joule hotel in Downtown. The room feels cozy, the cocktails are creative, and the weekend crowd gets livelier.

Gabe Sanchez, an award-winning bartender, created the menu. It is open Tuesday and Wednesday from 5pm to 12am and Thursday through Saturday from 5pm to 2am. Reserve ahead, since walk-ins put their name on a list and wait nearby.

A record player sits on the bar at Jettison, a tiny West Dallas cocktail bar that feels like a Japanese listening lounge. Whiskey, mezcal and sherry lead the spirits list.

We'd start with Deacon Blues, which blends three scotches into a bubbly highball and comes with almonds on the side. Pastéis de nata are among the small snacks, and nuts round out a menu with no full meals. The bar sits at Sylvan Thirty, attached to Houndstooth Coffee.

Chandeliers hang over the cocktails at Bowen House, an Uptown bar in a Victorian-style house. A private bar-within-a-bar sits in the back.

A creamy bananas foster cocktail sits alongside the whiskey highballs. The French-leaning menu has escargot and steak tartare, plus a club sandwich and cacio e pepe with Calabrian chili. Stop in for a drink before or after dinner, and book ahead to skip the usual wait.

A velvet curtain leads into Apothecary, an avant-garde lounge in Lower Greenville where the lighting stays dark and the mood intimate. The cocktails rotate and lean adventurous, with bites to go alongside.

The bar opens at 5pm Tuesday through Sunday. Make a reservation through the website.

Vinyl DJs spin records at Ladylove Lounge & Sound, a Bishop Arts record lounge with 70s-style decor. Look for the neon sign, disco ball, mirrored bar and velvet couches in back.

The space is intimate with soft lighting, and the music gets louder later in the night. Cocktails and small bites are on offer, including a Cuban sandwich and Disco Fries. We recommend the CDMX cocktail, which mixes Condesa gin with rose water, prickly pear and grapefruit.

Browse a bookstore and have a drink at The Wild Detectives, a bookstore, bar and coffee shop in Oak Cliff. There are two bars, and events include poetry on the patio, salsa classes, trivia and a chess club.

A back patio and quiet indoor corners leave room to talk, and coffee and Topo Chico are there for anyone skipping alcohol.

Push past a bookcase at the back of Atlas, a worldly-traveler cocktail lounge in Bishop Arts, and a small speakeasy room seats about 15. The front lounge has a fireplace living room, velvet chairs, wood-paneled walls and chandeliers.

The Well Traveled menu ties drinks to countries, such as the Pisco Sour, Singapore Sling and Dawa. About a dozen bites include pretzel bites, a Cuban sandwich and a gyro. Seats in the speakeasy room go first come, first served, and it opens on select nights only.

Botanical-inspired drinks fill the menu at Bar Eden, a garden-themed cocktail bar in the courtyard of Paradiso in Bishop Arts. The room mixes a boho garden look with an astrological one, with a half-circle bar, booths and lounge seating.

Cocktails carry mythic names like Medusa's Gaze and Wrath From Above, and a Fountain of Youth French 75 is made for two. Tomato or beef tartare makes a good bite with a drink. It is a pre or post dinner stop.

Take the elevator down to Babou's, a lower-level lounge beneath Hôtel Swexan, and find the hidden door. Red neon, a disco ball, leopard carpet and leather couches set the scene, and DJs play until 2am.

On the first floor, the Library has bookcases, cozy furniture and cocktails, and it is the quieter place to talk. Food options include a lobster steam bun and a mini wagyu corndog.