ala midwinter visitor's guide

hello. if you are soon coming to dallas for the ala midwinter conference in a couple of weeks, I welcome you to my fair town. I was born and raised in, left, then returned to dallas. as of now, I'm a proud resident of the best zip code in the city, 75226. dallas is sort of a prickly city, not having a particularly tourist-friendly downtown, but it's been trying hard to get better. for those of you staying at the omni (ala hq), I can see your glowing lights from the roof my building. so here, from me to you, are a list of places I love, all within a three-mile radius of the omni. I have tried to feature local/independent establishments, but feel free to add suggestions in the comments. also let me know if you'd like recommendations for any place else.

if you enjoy good coffee (and breakfast), please visit oddfellows (in oak cliff) or pearl cup (on ross ave).

if you enjoy cocktails, please visit the chesterfield (downtown on main street) or cedars social (on south lamar) or the black swan saloon (in deep ellum) or bolsa (in oak cliff). these people don't mess around! dallas is good at cocktails!

if you like to go honky-tonking (if you don't know what this means, we probably won't be friends) and drinking beer from pitchers, please visit adair's saloon (in deep ellum).

if you'd like a good dinner (slightly upscale but still reasonable), please visit cedars social on south lamar. I had my birthday dinner there, and it ruled. it actually has a room full of books. you may also go with lemongrass (in deep ellum) for asian, bolsa (in oak cliff) and if you're really looking to impress someone, local (also in deep ellum). for mexican there's monica's (in deep ellum).

do you like live music? great! go anywhere in deep ellum! or to city tavern (downtown on main street).

if you'd like a good lunch/dinner (cheap), please visit twisted root burger company (in deep ellum) or pho colonial (downtown across from neiman marcus, which reminds me, if you have a ton of money to blow through, go to neiman's on main street). also try serious pizza (in deep ellum).

if you enjoy drinking wine by the person who made it, please visit calais winery (in deep ellum).

if you like pubs with lots of beers on tap and great bar food, go to the anvil pub (in deep ellum).

if you enjoy barbeque, please visit pecan lodge (in the farmer's market).

if you're a history geek, go to the grassy knoll and try to see if it was REALLY possible that Oswald shot JFK from that window. there's also the sixth floor museum, which is not as conspiracy-centric as I am.

again, welcome! I'll be at a blogger/writer meetup at 8:30pm at campisi's downtown on main street that's been organized by jen bigheart. hope to see you there.