Nightlife

Dallas has a lively nightlife scene, with enough in the way of performing arts and theater to entertain highbrows and more than enough bars and clubs to satisfy the young and the restless. If you've come to North Texas to wrangle a mechanical bull, you may have to drop in on Fort Worth, but there are a couple of sturdy honky-tonks in Big D where you can strap on your boots and your best Stetson and do some two-steppin' and Western swing dancing.

Ticket Central -- For tickets to sporting events and performances, try Central Tickets (tel. 800/462-7979 or 817/335-9000; www.centralticketoffice.com), Star Tickets (tel. 888/597-STAR; www.startickets.com), or Front Gate Tickets (tel. 888/512-7469; www.frontgatetickets.com). For many events, there's little need to secure tickets in advance of your trip, but that's not the case with big sporting and musical performances.

The Performing Arts

The Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, 2301 Flora St. at North Pearl (tel. 214/670-3600; www.dallassymphony.com), is home to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, a very respectable outfit led by maestro Andrew Litton. The I. M. Pei-designed auditorium is equipped with excellent acoustics and a spectacular pipe organ. Tickets to events are as little as $8, and free concerts are occasionally held. (Free tours are available on selected days at 1pm; call in advance for schedule.) The Dallas Opera performs at Campbell Center #1, 8350 N. Central Expwy. (tel. 214/443-1043; www.dallasopera.org). The Dallas Theater Center, Kalita Humphreys Theater, 3636 Turtle Creek Blvd. (tel. 214/526-8210; www.dallastheatercenter.org), is a little gem, the only professional working theater built by the famed American architect Frank Lloyd Wright, and the best place for theater in the Dallas area. Local and touring productions, some fairly adventurous by Dallas standards (like Angels in America), are on the card here. The ornate, nicely restored Majestic Theater, 1925 Elm St. (tel. 214/880-0137), built in 1920, is the last of the vaudeville theaters in Dallas. It plays host to dance, comedy, and theater, including the Dallas Summer Musicals' Majestic Series. Less traditional theater is performed by the acclaimed Kitchen Dog Theater Company, 3120 McKinney Ave. (tel. 214/953-1055). Of interest to families may be the shows put on by the Dallas Children's Theater, 2215 Cedar Springs (tel. 214/978-0110; www.dct.org).

The Bar Scene

Many of the hottest spots in Dallas are in Uptown. Nikita, 3699 McKinney Ave., A306 (tel. 214/520-6454), is a sexy, dark two-level lounge bar, with a sleek long bar downstairs, low-slung couches, good cocktails (including 60 vodkas), and a very trendy crowd. Nearby, Cru, 3699 McKinney Ave., A306 (tel. 214/526-9463), is a restaurant that features an excellent wine list, but many, if not most, of its patrons treat it primarily as a wine bar to sample vintages from the many different wine flights on offer. But the must-see-and-be-seen spot for wealthy Dallasites and visiting celebs (you'll know immediately if you fit in here) is the much-talked about Ghostbar, a paragon of chic in the new W Hotel, 2440 Victory Park (tel. 214/871-1800). It's got a helipad tailor-made for scene-stealing arrivals. Before Ghostbar, the "it" nightlife spot was another hotel bar, Dragonfly, 2332 Leonard St. (tel. 800/597-8399), at the restaurant of trendy Hotel Zaza. On weekend nights it is still stuffed to the rafters with guys and gals both busting out of their shirts, but otherwise it's a luxurious spot for a cocktail, such as predinner drinks poolside. Samba Room, 4514 Travis St., at Knox Street (tel. 214/522-4137), is another trendy, high-decibel, Latin-chic hangout for Big D's beautiful people. On one side is a surprisingly good restaurant, the other a packed watering hole with a cool serpentine bar. It's a good place to sip a mojito, the Cuban rum, lime, and mint favorite. If you're looking for a quieter, but still fashionable spot, venture inside Hotel Lumen, 6101 Hillcrest Ave. (tel. 214/219-8282), to Social, a swank lounge and restaurant that's a haunt of trendsetting nightlife types.

The Old Monk, 2847 N. Henderson (tel. 214/821-1880), is a dark, handsome bar 1 block east of Central Expressway with an excellent selection of Belgian beers, single malts, and great pub grub -- go with the Belgian mussels with fries and spicy mayo. In Uptown, just off McKinney Avenue, The Ginger Man, 2718 Boll St. (tel. 214/754-8771), has a great beer garden and a beer selection to die for: about 200 beers from around the world, including 70 on tap.

Downtown, if you want to heighten the effect an expensive cocktail has on you, check out The Dome, 50 stories above ground in the revolving Reunion Tower ball, 300 Reunion Blvd. (tel. 214/712-7145). A great new option is the rooftop garden terrace, with a view of the skyline, at Luqa and Petrus Lounge, 1217 Main St. (tel. 214/760-9000). Spearheading the new downtown scene, it features a massive wine tower and 1,500 wines from around the world. Also, check out the third Thursday of every month at Nasher Sculpture Center, 2100 Flora St. (tel. 214/242-5100), where free admission, DJs, and cocktails transform the chic museum into the N Bar lounge until 11pm.

A step up from karaoke is Pete's Dueling Piano Bar, 4980 Belt Line Rd. #200, Addison (tel. 972/726-7383), a piano bar where four accomplished players tickle the ivories on two baby grands and everybody sings along (loudly, enthusiastically) to tunes by the Stones, Beatles, and other boomer faves.

The Gay & Lesbian Scene

The Crew's Inn, 3215 N. Fitzhugh Ave. (tel. 214/526-9510), caters to the widest, rather than the wildest, common denominator of the gay community. Another long-time favorite, with a consistently good vibe and a wall of video monitors, is J. R.'s Bar and Grill, 3923 Cedar Springs Rd. (tel. 214/528-1004). Village Station, 3911 Cedar Springs Rd. (tel. 214/559-0650), is a gay dance club that features nightly drag shows in the Rose Room and Trash Disco every Sunday. Sue Ellen's, 3903 Cedar Springs Rd. (tel. 214/559-0650), is a friendly gay and lesbian bar with live rock, a dance floor, and an outdoor patio. Buddies II, 4025 Maple Ave. (tel. 214/526-0887), is tops for lesbians: hot music and SGWF looking for same. Gay country swing and line dancers should check out the Texas Twisters (www.texastwisters.org), a group that organizes two-stepping and the like for gays and lesbians around the Dallas area, frequently at the Round-Up Saloon, 3912 Cedar Springs Rd. (tel. 214/522-9611), a gay country bar that features a Monday karaoke night.