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6 Best Wedding Venues in Dallas

So you’re looking to tie the knot? Congrats! Now it’s time for the fun part- picking out the perfect dress and touring wedding venues in Dallas. Finding the venue that best suits the style of your wedding is crucial. Do you want to spend more and have everything taken care of, e.g.- catering, floral, decor, pictures, cake, etc.? Or do you want more control of the budget and the details? For this blog, we’ve done the research to help you narrow down some ideas of where to start with 6 beautiful and reputable Dallas wedding venues.

Schoolhouse3Jackie Marie Photography

The Schoolhouse

First we have the Schoolhouse. This is one of the most highly rated and sought after wedding venues in Dallas. The Schoolhouse is a great option for the couple that is looking for a vintage yet elegantly sophisticated ambiance for their big day. It has many great attributes such as a beautiful exterior with an intimate courtyard to have a perfect outdoor ceremony, gorgeous interior rooms with great natural lighting if you choose to have your ceremony indoors, a reception hall that seats 130 guests, and beautiful details like original wood floors and classic architecture that help create that vintage, sophisticated feel for your wedding day. The schoolhouse also allows for outside catering (consider food trucks and mobile bars for a unique feature), bartending, and DJing so you still have control to make the decisions that will ensure your special day is perfect for you.

The Carlisle Room

Located in the heart of Downtown Dallas in the Lonestar Gas Building (est. 1932), The Carlisle Room exudes class and elegance. This opulent venue boasts numerous choice awards. When witnessing the 5,500 sf art deco style location, it is clear why. With the marble walls, 17 ft ceilings, terrazzo floors, topped with a fresh modern luxury, you will feel like royalty. The Carlisle Room can accommodate 200 guests for the ceremony and 250 in the reception hall. Catering is in-house from Chef Douglas Brown and his team, providing custom menu offerings chosen by the bride and groom. The Carlisle Room takes care of details such as silverware, linens, tables and chairs, and even offers complimentary cake serving; perfect for the couple that wants to pay a little extra for luxury and convenience.

The Cliff House

The Cliff House may be the perfect wedding venue for those who would love to get married in an adorable church, but may not already be a member of an adorable church. The venue originally started as a baptist church in the late 1890s. Today, it has been remodeled and repurposed into the beautiful church style wedding venue you see today. The Cliff House can accommodate 140 guests for ceremonial and reception services, along with a dance floor for festivities. Catering is offered through their in-house partnership with Boxwood Catering, and alcohol can be provided on your own or through the caterer. The Cliff House also allows and encourages your own floral decor, allowing you to put your own personal style and touch to the venue for your wedding day.

Cliff Housewww.nbarrettphotography.com

Arlington Hall

Arlington Hall is a premier event space that has been around since 1939. It has since been expanded to host large gatherings of 500 guests, while still capturing the elegance and charm of the original venue with its hardwood floors, antique mirrors and chandeliers. Couples can decide to have their ceremony outside on the terraces, in the pavilions among the formal gardens, or inside the Hall itself. Couples are able to create the perfect space for their vision wherever they choose. Catering is in-house through Executive Chef Adam Fiscus with his team Food Glorious Food. The team offers custom menus and are nationally acclaimed culinary artisans. Arlington Hall can provide a perfect fairy tale experience right in the heart of Dallas, if you can get in.

Texas Discovery Gardens

The Texas Discovery Gardens is the perfect wedding venue for couples that want to incorporate their love for nature and the outdoors into their ceremony while keeping it classy and graceful. TXDG offers several options for ceremonies and receptions with their Grand Hall, Circular Lawn, and Grand Allee. All options provide enough space for at least 200 guests and go all the way up to 600 in the Grand Allee. The Butterfly House is also a unique addition to your event that allows guests to walk among hundreds of free flying butterflies and also produces once in a lifetime photo opportunities for the bride and groom.

TXDG weddinghttps://brittanypartain.com

The Cinnamon Barn

For those looking for a more country style venue, The Cinnamon Barn may be the one. This beautiful newly constructed wedding venue sits on over 9 acres of land, is located just out of the city, and minutes away from Lake Lavon. The Cinnamon Barn offers a few options for spaces including the barn that is perfect for receptions or indoor ceremonies and accommodates 300 guests, an elegant outdoor patio area with bistro string lights, southern style furniture, and a movable bar, and the intimate ceremony lawn that can seat 300 guests and is surrounded by trees that yield the perfect classy outdoor ceremony opportunity. If planning an outdoor wedding concerns you because of unpredictable weather, don’t worry, the Cinnamon Barn can supply large tents to ensure your special day won’t get ruined by a thunderstorm. Catering, DJing, and bartending are all open and up to the discretion of the bride and groom.

 

These are of course only a sample of what Dallas has to offer in wedding venues. The area provides plenty of options for whatever style you are looking for. If you are wanting a luxurious and glamorous metro venue like the Carlisle Room, an outdoor nature focused venue such as the Texas Discovery Gardens, or a classy southern country style venue like the Cinnamon Barn, you will not be disappointed with your choices. Choose your style, set your budget, draft a guest list, then you are ready to shop around for the venues that fit your criteria. The details will come after that. Some venues make it easier and provide more services like in-house catering and decor. For those that allow for a more personal touch, Truckster recommends considering food truck catering. Many food trucks thrive on catering and are experts that offer custom menus that will help make your special day even more memorable.

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Experience Dallas Through Cultural Cuisine: A Guide for Foodies

Uptown Dallas

If you are looking for a city with an amazing variety of mouth-watering authentic cuisines, look no further! Dallas is a foodie’s paradise! No matter what cultural food experience you may be looking for, the Dallas – Fort Worth area has got you covered. Ranging from casual, more affordable values to a full fine-dining experience, and everything in-between, this guide will be sure to give any food lover some great ideas of must-try places to eat in Dallas. Let’s dig in!

The Best Food Trucks in Dallas

Of course here at Truckster, we have to give a shout out first to our partners-in-cuisine: food trucks! No true foodie should ever dismiss food trucks when looking for a passionately prepared authentic dish, no matter what they are in the mood for! Dallas is in no short supply of some of the best and most diverse food trucks that anyone with taste buds could ask for- Dessert food trucks like Zuzu’s Sweet Creamery, pizza food trucks such as Hook and Ladder, Latin food trucks including El Chifrijo, Greek food trucks, for instance, Greek Girls Goodies, BBQ food trucks namely Twin Stacks BBQ- the list goes on! I know what you’re probably thinking- “That’s great, but how am I supposed to find all these different trucks?” Well, that’s easy- with the Truckster App! Truckster is a fantastic and rapidly growing food truck finder app that allows you to track trucks, read menus and reviews, and even connect directly with the owners for catering and events! So next time hunger strikes, don’t forget about those Dallas food trucks spread around town. Go find them; they are sure to surprise you.

Dallas Food Truck

The Best Italian Restaurants in Dallas

To me, nothing says food satisfaction like a big plate of fettuccine alfredo or chicken marsala. If you’re like me you’re in luck, because Dallas is home to some amazing Italian restaurants. First to mention is Kenny’s Italian Kitchen. It has a fantastic 4.7 rating, tons of raving reviews, and comes in at a $$ on price. Kenny’s has a classic, cozy, comfortable atmosphere with plenty of classic entrees that will please any Italian food lover. Next, called by reviewers as “the best Italian in Uptown”, we have Avanti Restaurant. Avanti stands out with a 4.5 rating at only a $$ price point. The Italian-Mediterranean inspired cuisine is not the only thing special about Avanti. It has a beautifully intimate dining room, a trendy outdoor seating area, and nightly live music. And we can’t forget Avanti Restaurant was a winner of the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence in 2022.

The Best Mexican Restaurants in Dallas

mexican food

You can’t be in Texas and not go for some authentic Mexican food. Dallas has a huge number of amazing highly rated Mexican Restaurants. Most notable is Meso Maya Comida y Copas. This establishment boasts an impressive 4.5 rating with almost 4 thousand reviews, at a manageable $$ on the price point. If top-notch service from a super friendly staff is important to you, then this is your place! There are thousands of reviews raving about the amazing experience from the waiting and hosting staff. But don’t let that make you think service is all Meso Maya Comida y Copas has to offer, they make everything from scratch the authentic way, all the way down to their hand ground tortillas and the cocoa beans ground in house for their amazing mole sauce! The craftsmanship and detail the chefs put into every dish makes this one of the best Mexican restaurants in all of Dallas. For a casual cantina style eatery that provides some delicious Tex-Mex inspired dishes, check out Pepes and Mitos. This impressive Mexican Cafe and Cantina has been family owned and operated for almost 30 years, and the dedication and passion the Rojas family puts into their craft shows with every meal. Pepes and Mitos is graced with a 4.6 rating, over a thousand raving reviews, and at a modest $$ price.

The Best Asian Restaurants in Dallas

For  starters we’ll have Chinese, and Fortune House Shanghai Kitchen is a must-try. The most notable thing about Fortune House is that it was awarded The Best of Big D Top 50 Restaurants and Best Dumplings in 2021. With over 4 stars and a thousand reviews, Fortune House is the place to go when looking for authentic, un-Americanized Chinese cuisine. Oh, and get the soup dumplings. Next we have Japanese Cuisine. The nod has to go to Uchi. Uchi was founded by award winning American sushi master chef Tyson Cole. Cole studied in Tokyo for 10 years, and his dedication to his craft shows in all aspects of his restaurants. Uchi has 4.7 stars and almost 2 thousand reviews, with a $$$ price tag. If you’re in the mood for Ramen however, check out Wabi House. Wabi House is known for its amazing Ramen and Tsukamen, has a very cozy atmosphere and a wonderful location. If you’re craving Indian, the easy choice is Kalachandji’s. Kalachandji’s is a full-blown Indian experience. The facility is absolutely stunning, the menu is traditionally vegetarian, and the ambiance is second to none. It’s been called Dallas’ best vegetarian restaurant time and time again. It boasts a 4.7 rating with over 2 thousand reviews.

The Best Seafood Restaurants in Dallas

Pexels Terje Sollie 566345

 

There are so many very highly rated Seafood Restaurants in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, it’s hard to narrow down a couple stand-outs. To help with that, we’ll avoid the $$$$ establishments and focus on the more affordable, casual dining experiences that have the best and most reviews. A good start is Truluck’s, which is still an upscale, dress code type of restaurant and comes in at a $$$ and has a 4.7 rating with 1.7 thousand reviews. Going with someone who’s not a seafood fan? No worries, Truluck’s has steaks too. If cajun style seafood suits your fancy, then check out Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen. Pappadeaux is a truly family operated restaurant, all the way down to the food delivery and the manufacturing of their chairs. They pride themselves on having only the freshest ingredients, expert waiting staff, and top notch chefs that are always finding innovative dishes that keep the menu fresh and interesting. Pappadeaux has a 4.4 rating with over 5 thousand reviews!

There are plenty of great restaurants in DFW that didn’t get mentioned in this blog, but this will hopefully give any new or visiting foodie a good idea of where to start. Whether you want to dress up and have a fine dining experience, or hit the streets of uptown to see what food trucks you can find with the Truckster App, Dallas is sure to satisfy whatever craving may come your way.

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