Here's a closer look at Dallas/Fort Worth's newest eateries, drinking spots, hotels, conference areas, private rooms and other spaces available for events this summer. The new and renovated Dallas/Fort Worth venues are available for corporate parties, weddings, fundraisers, outdoor functions, business dinners, team-building activities, conferences, meetings and more.
A note regarding COVID-19: Some of the venues listed here may not yet be available for hosting events due to COVID-19, or they may be operating at a lower capacity. As venues begin to slowly reopen across North America, we encourage event organizers to contact the venues to verify current capacity restrictions.
The Sporting Club and Blüm Dallas
In April, Deep Ellum welcomed The Sporting Club and Blüm Dallas, a massive restaurant, nightclub and bar. The modern space is equipped with state-of-the-art audiovisual capabilities, including giant TV screens, club lighting and wireless microphone hookups. Planners can reserve the entire 20,242-square-foot venue or any combination of three distinct spaces, each of which features its own food and beverage menus. Blüm—a high-end nightclub with botanical decor, bottle service, DJ booths and an island bar—accommodates 300 guests; the Lounge, with space for 250, offers a more sophisticated atmosphere; and the casual 300-seat patio is equipped with massive LED screens, a dedicated bar and table games.
Photo: Courtesy of The Sporting Club and Blüm Dallas
Citizen
Deep Ellum’s Citizen debuted a renovation in May. The chic nightclub features dark colors, moody lighting, an open courtyard, a DJ booth and other modern touches. Spanning 3,000 square feet of indoor space and 1,200 square feet on the outdoor patio, the venue has room for cocktail parties for 200 and 100, respectively. Catering is available from other outlets in the Milkshake Concepts family, including Mexican cuisine from Vidorra and elevated comfort food from Stirr.
Photo: Courtesy of Citizen
Kimpton Harper Hotel
Kimpton Harper Hotel opened in Sundance Square Plaza in downtown Fort Worth in June. Set in a 100-year-old building, each of the property’s 226 guest rooms features sophisticated details and amenities like handcrafted furniture, local art and Frette linens. The hotel offers more than 10,000 square feet of event space, including the 24th-floor Sanguinet Boardroom, which spans 625 square feet and seats 20; the 3,000-square-foot Centurion Ballroom, which accommodates 195 guests for receptions, banquets or classroom setups; and a handful of breakout rooms. Planners can also host events in two on-site food and beverage outlets. On the ground floor, il Modo serves seasonal, sustainable Italian specialities like cacio e pepe orecciette, Manila clam linguine and bone-in ribeye with bone marrow butter. Penthouse cocktail lounge Refinery 714 presents a robust whiskey selection, classic cocktails and educated bar bites.
Photo: Courtesy of Kimpton Hotels
Monarch
Boasting soaring city views, Monarch opened on the 49th floor of a downtown Dallas skyscraper in March. In the main dining room of the upscale Italian steakhouse, the wood-fired hearth serves as both a central design element and a stunning vehicle for creating sumptuous dishes like salt-crusted whole fish, octopus a la plancha and wagyu tomahawk steaks. Elsewhere on the refined menu, guests can find house-made pastas, raw oysters and whole Alaskan king crab. The restaurant seats as many as 286 guests for full buyouts, but several areas can be reserved for smaller groups as well. The 1,451-square-foot Grand Ballroom seats 120 or accommodates 160 for cocktail-style events; the 416-square-foot second-level Pearl Ballroom seats 30 or fits 50 for cocktail-style receptions; and the 345-square-foot Emerald Room seats 20 or fits 30 for receptions.
Photo: Courtesy of Jonathan Zizzo
CLINK Wine Bar + Bites
CLINK Wine Bar + Bites set up shop in Flower Mound in May. The relaxed, low-key outpost specializes in wine by the glass and bottle and on tap, as well as beer in bottles and cans. The menu includes sophisticated, seasonal bites like warm ricotta with hot honey, margherita flatbread and creme brûlée. The venue features a 450-square-foot private dining room that can host traditional gatherings as well as wine tastings and classes for as many as 30 guests.
Photo: Courtesy of CLINK Wine Bar + Bites
The Guild Downtown—Elm Street
The Guild Downtown—Elm Street began hosting events in June. The ultra-modern hotel concept encompasses 64 one- and two-bedroom luxury suites on the 49th and 50th floors of Santander Tower. The suites themselves are configurable apartments that are designed to be able to accommodate small meetings. Guests and planners also have access to the exclusive 48th-floor Tower Club Dallas, a swanky, 10,000-square-foot lounge, which can be reserved for statement-making private functions. Two state-of-the-art co-working areas can also be reserved for events: a 1,200-square-foot space that accommodates 79 guests and a 924-square-foot lounge with room for 55 people.
Photo: Courtesy of The Guild Downtown - Elm Street
Downtown Cowtown at the Isis
Downtown Cowtown at the Isis at the Stockyards unveiled a renovation in May. The 16,000-square-foot theater seats 500 and includes an upstairs VIP lounge with space for 120. The art-deco theater is adorned with Western motifs and a speakeasy-inspired lounge and event space. While the building was built more than 100 years ago, the theater is now outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment for multipurpose live entertainment and film screenings. Two full-service bars are available for use, and the venue works with several catering partners for additional food and beverage needs.
Photo: Courtesy of Visit Fort Worth
Haywire Uptown
Plano eatery Haywire opened the Haywire Uptown location in June. As with its original outpost, the new restaurant serves homestyle, farm-to-table American cuisine like shrimp and grits, cornmeal-crusted catfish and Texas whiskey barbecued ribs. Inspired by the urban Texas lifestyle, Haywire incorporates rustic materials, with a central bar serving as the main focal point. In total, the high-style space measures 4,504 square feet. For events, the Maverick Room and patio each accommodate as many as 80 guests cocktail style or 60 for seated events; the Mustang Room accommodates 40 and 30, respectively; and a 1,694-square-foot, climate-controlled patio seats 30, with 12 additional seats inside.
Photo: Courtesy of Haywire Uptown
The HiFi Dallas
The HiFi Dallas opened its doors in Deep Ellum in April. The Live Nation music venue is equipped for high-production events. At 25,000 square feet, HiFi can accommodate groups of as many as 1,000 guests, but individual areas are available for smaller gatherings too. For cocktail-style events, the main floor of the Music Hall fits 500 guests (144 for seated banquets), the mezzanine fits 250, and the private Echo Lounge and the patio each fit 125.
Photo: Courtesy of Amy Karp Photography
The Exchange Hall
The Exchange Hall, downtown Dallas’s first food hall, rolled out the opening of its various dining spaces between March and June. Located in the AT&T Discovery District, the 26,700-square-foot venue houses 16 dining outlets—many of which come from the city’s most well-known culinarians—including Revolver Taco, Monkey King Noodle Co. and Val’s Cheesecake. Planners can reserve events for private groups in the elegant Second Floor, an upscale atmosphere that encompasses three distinct concepts: Ounce, which serves tapas-style small plates; Ichi Ni San, focusing on Japanese cuisine; and Hard Shake, a craft cocktail and wine bar.
Photo: Courtesy of Kathy Tran
