Deep Ellum Nightlife: The Hottest After-Dark Hangouts
Night owls can choose from a growing selection of bars and clubs in Deep Ellum, but the area is most known for its live music scene, which has been a part of its history since the early 1900s when it was a popular hangout for jazz and blues musicians. Many music establishments can be found in the area nowadays, playing everything from jazz and blues to everything in between.
Go no further than Club Dada to witness some of the best music in the city; this iconic musical venue has seen it all, from rock, rap, and metal to country and punk. The Sons of Hermann Hall, one of Dallas‘ most genuine honky-tonks, is a further location to discover a variety of music and perhaps engage in a little swing dance.
For those who like something more active than simply relaxing and listening to music, check out Electric Shuffle. Here, you may compete against friends while indulging in mouthwatering snacks and drinks.
Find out more about the best places to party in Deep Ellum by reading on.
RUINS
One of the greatest places to go for individuals who enjoy agave-based spirits is this enormous indoor-outdoor bar and café, which was modeled after Budapest’s fabled ruin pubs. We’re talking about a bar list with more than 100 tequila and mezcal options, as well as a sizable range of rum, whisky, brandy, and liqueurs. Expect a sleek menu with regional Mexican food with influences from the Caribbean and South America. As if you needed any more motivation to visit, Ruins also has a modest concert hall and dance club called the Limbo Room. This facility hosts a variety of nightly entertainment, including live music, DJ performances, dance competitions, and karaoke.
Ruins is a fantastic location for individuals looking for a more intimate atmosphere to dance, hence it is recommended for dance clubs.
CLUB DADA DALLAS
You would struggle to find a location in Deep Ellum that is more renowned for live music than Club Dada. The club spent more than 20 years showcasing high-profile performances and helped local beers like Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians launch their careers before it shuttered in 2009. Dada is back in business with newly renovated quarters that feature stages inside as well as outside on a sizable, planted patio. Expect to find a wide variety of regional and national performers performing music from many different musical genres, such as hardcore punk, rockers, rap, metal, and country.
Dada has garnered the distinction of being the best venue to witness a range of music embracing all the categories, making it a choice for Deep Ellum’s Best Nightlife.
DOUBLE WIDE BAR’
This historic bar celebrates trailer park culture with its kitsch-adorned furnishings and unexpectedly delicious low-brow drinks. As suggested by the name, the pub is situated within a double-wide trailer, which is decked out with wood floors, stuffed animals, unmatched antique furniture, and odd artifacts in every direction. On the AstroTurf-covered terrace, where bargoers unwind on repurposed toilet seats and sip Boone’s Farm martinis, the theme continues. Double Wide is one of Deep Ellum’s premier music venues, showcasing everything from rock and bluegrass to electronica and Americana, despite all of its tackiness.
Because Double Wide is Dallas’s quirkiest and most distinctive dive bar, it is suggested as a part of Deep Ellum’s Finest Nightlife.
CROSSFADED BARBERSHOP
This 1920s-themed barbershop (formerly known as High & Tight Barbershop) gives stylish haircuts during the day and hair-raising beverages at night in a small, concealed lounge decorated in the style of Prohibition. The store itself closes at 9 p.m., but the bar stays busy until the wee hours of the morning with live music that ranges from funk to alternative rock and everything in between. Along with prohibition-era classics like the Brooklyn and the Paper Plane, cocktails also contain inventive and seasonal combinations. This is the place to go if you’re searching for a hip cocktail bar with a laid-back atmosphere.
Crossfaded Barbershop is the finest place to go for individuals who appreciate artisan drinks in a distinct setting, making it a suggestion for Deep Ellum’s Best Nightlife.
ELECTRIC SHUFFLE
Behold Electric Shuffle, a shuffleboard-themed nightclub with a rare combination of high-tech shuffleboard, exquisite cocktails, and wonderful food, for those looking to get serious on a night out. Four internally created games that use vision technology to track pucks and record scores can be played by groups of 4 to 24 players per table. Guests can pre-order food and beverages when they book, and prices per person range from $10 for an hour to $15 for 90 minutes. Speaking of food and beverages, there will be a wide variety of shareable dishes matched with regional beers, sparkling spritzes, and craft cocktails.
Because Electric Shuffle is the place to go for a night of nonstop excitement, it is recommended for Best Nightlife.
ADAIR’S SALOON
The majority of visitors are attracted to this Deep Ellum bar because of its laid-back atmosphere and regular schedule of free live music, not because the drinks are cheap or the burgers are famous. When it comes to emerging independent bands and singer-songwriter artists, Adair attracts the cream of the crop in country music. The old-school attraction is further enhanced with a vintage jukebox that plays songs by Hank Williams and Bob Wills, along with wall-to-wall artwork, a lifetime’s worth of Christmas lights, and floor-to-ceiling posters. It’s understandable why this location has been able to survive for more than 50 years.
Adair’s is the greatest location to enjoy free live country music, offering it a recommendation for Best Nightlife.
TWILITE LOUNGE
Like your little dive bar in terms of friendliness, but classy enough to bring a date. The musicians who also operate this bar with a Big Easy motif had it as their goal when they first launched it in 2012. But this is far more than your ordinary dive bar. Twilite is the kind of place you can easily spend the night in, from its elegant interior, complete with red leather seats and lights, to its pleasant French Quarter-style courtyard and a superb range of libations. You’re likely to like the constant stream of free entertainment, which includes stand-up comedy, DJ performances, local jazz artists, and karaoke.
Twilight Lounge is a superb choice for jazz clubs since it offers a wide range of amenities, including amiable staff, excellent drinks, and a fantastic schedule of free entertainment.
SONS OF HERMANN HALL
Sons of Hermann Hall, which was once a fraternal lodge and is now used as a dance floor and live entertainment venue, hosts genres like folk, country, and blues as well as contemporary pop and reggae every Friday and Saturday night. The Hall offers a variety of events throughout the week in addition to performances, such as swing workshops on Wednesday nights and an acoustic campfire jam on Thursday. When you need a break, go underground to the pub where a jukebox, picnic table, and checkerboard offer a fun diversion. Keep an eye out for reports of ghost sightings as this location is reputed to be haunted.
Sons of Hermann Hall is the ideal location in Dallas for swing dancers, making it a recommendation for Best Nightlife.
THE NINES
While there are many venues to listen to music in Deep Ellum, this two-level dance palace is one of the few locations in the area that is purely for dancing to it. There is plenty of space to do just that. The basement level of the establishment has two bars, a nice lounge, a dance floor, and some of the best DJs in the city spinning everything from ’80s music to EDM. Take the back stairway to the rooftop terrace to enjoy the best views of Deep Ellum whenever you need to get some fresh air.
The Nines is Dalla’s most distinctive dance club, making it a recommendation for Best Nightlife.
DALLAS COMEDY CLUB
Nothing beats the Dallas Comedy Club, the go-to location for some of the best improvisation, comedy sketches, and stand-up in the city, for a delightfully good time. Five evenings a week, there are comedy events here, including stand-up comedy, sketch, open mic, and drunken trivia. The training facility of DCC produces a lot of the skill, although other performers occasionally include well-known comedians from across the country. The location features two enclosed theatres, a stage outdoors, a full-service bar, a beer garden, and a diverse food selection meant to be shared. All of the performances have affordable ticket costs, which typically range from $10 to $15. Oh, and the open mic and improv shows are always free.
Dallas Comedy Club is the ideal place to go if you want to have a night out full of laughing, making it a recommendation for Best Nightlife.