Dallas / Fort Worth and Me

In previous posts I’ve discussed a number of interesting and historical attractions that grace the downtown Dallas district we call the West End, but I’ve never actually addressed the reality of the West End itself. Well, that changes today! If you’d like a quick-and-dirty tour of the West End, hop in, fasten your seatbelt, and read on.

In a way, the West End is Dallas’ answer to San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury, or maybe Sixth Street in Austin. We’ve also got something called “Deep Ellum” (about which I’ll blog another day) that fills that role to some extent, but the West End has fewer artists roaming the streets, and better shopping.  The area has its own brand of gritty urban charm, if you like that sort of thing, as you can see in yon photo.

But you can get that in just about any large city, and the fact is that these days, the West End is the kind of place where you shouldn’t go out alone after dark. For heaven’s sake, they play classical music over the loudspeakers at the local McDonald’s to keep the gangbangers away. (Apparently it works, too.) Why is it that police departments can’t seem to keep a city’s cultural centers under control? It seems to happen in every city. For Dallas, it’s true of Deep Ellum, the West End, and the Fair Park area, which combined account for about 85% of the city’s culture and at least half of its crime. Why is this? Are they too busy patrolling Highland Park and Turtle Creek, where the important people live?

But that’s grist for another blog. Whatever the cause, the West End’s kind of gone downhill in the last decade. Remember the heady days of Planet Hollywood and the Hard Rock Café? The first is no more and the second has long since moved on, but back in the ’90s this is where they were located, and boy was the place hopping. You’ll also find the very first, original Spaghetti Warehouse here, and it’s still going strong. That particular restaurant is aptly named, because the West End used to be a cruddy old warehouse district near the juncture of the city’s major highways, Interstates 30, 35, and 75. The highway mix-masters have inched ever closer over the years, and it’s now a cruddy historic warehouse district; but it’s a cruddy historic warehouse district with style. See?

To be fair, the West End is pretty cool. It’s not very big, but these red-brick warehouses have stored up a lot of history, and one helluva lot of entrepreneurial spirit. The Dallas Holocaust Museum, the Sixth Floor Museum, the Old Red Courthouse, the Kennedy Memorial, Reunion Tower, Reunion Arena, the American Airlines Center, and quite a bit more is either in the West End, or within easy walking distance. The district’s easily reached via the DART rail system; in fact, there’s a special stop just for the West End.

To me, what makes the West End special is the funky little touches that it offers for those of us who keep our eyes open. Take this metal relief map, for example, which is located next to the DART rail stop. It depicts most of downtown Dallas area, including the major buildings, and the streets are nicely labeled. It’s not entirely up to date, and considering its condition, I’d guess it originates from the 1960s. Whether this is its original location or it was installed here after the rail line was put through in the late 1990s is hard to say, but it’s way cool for those of us who love little artistic surprises like this.

Here’s another one. You know what? I have no idea what the hell this is, but I like it. It looks a lot like a Texan Godzilla fighting with giant chopsticks, but what the hell do I know?  I never saw a sign indicating the name of the establishment, so it could be anything.

Another of the special touches I like about the West End is the fact that it has a Dick’s Last Resort, a great place to stop when you’re hot and dry after wandering around taking pictures all day. They’re part of a chain, of course, but they have their own brand of charm that makes them more bearable than most McPubs. For example, take this sculpture, which is on loan from the Nasser Sculpture Center (another target I hope to cover soon).

Another thing that makes me favorable toward Dick’s is the fact that they’re one of the few places I know of that has Belhaven Scottish Ale on draft. If you’re a beer aficionado and you’ve never tried Belhaven, you’re missing out big time. I tend to prefer dark beers like porters and stouts, and this is one of the few lighter ales I really dig. It’s ideal for cutting the dust and killing your thirst, but beware: it ain’t cheap. They ask $6.75 a pint at Dick’s, and that’s cheap compared to the $9 you pay at the West End Pub down the street. (The only other place I know that has Belhaven on tap is The Gingerman, near the Quadrangle).

Oh, and by the way: while Planet Hollywood and the Hard Rock Café may be gone, a cooler kind of clientele has moved in, one that better fits with the general funkiness and slightly-shabby milieu of the West End. Want an example of what we’ve become? This may not be the best picture ever (I took it from beneath an overpass that now splits the West End in half) but I believe it says it all.

Yeah, baby. I wonder if they have Belhaven on tap?

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