![\"Happiest](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/happiest-hour---exterior---lauren-drewes-daniels.png\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tHappiest Hour near Victory Park.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tHappiest Hour near Victory Park.\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Lauren Drewes Daniels<\/p>\n
The American Airlines Center in Dallas is a great place to catch a game or a concert<\/a>. Fortunately, there are great restaurants near the AAC for dinner beforehand, drinks or a snack after (or both!). There\u2019s everything from fine-cowboy dining, happy hours and lively places to continue the party after the game or show is over.<\/p>\n Bonus: all of these spots are within walking distance: who has time to park twice?<\/p>\n We\u2019ve broken this into two types of places: 1. a nice meal, 2. restaurants and bars with big energy. <\/a><\/p>\n If you\u2019re not near the AAC, but want to cheer on your team, here our favorite sports bars<\/a>. \t\t\t<\/p>\n For a Nice Pre-Game\/Show Meal Billy Can-Can<\/a> is one of our top 100<\/a> restaurants in Dallas, and it\u2019s not just for their dark magic mashed potatoes. The steaks, bone-in pork chops and even the burgers are stellar. It\u2019s also got this classic Wild West schtick that\u2019s classy somehow. Go there if you have some out-of-town guests you\u2019re taking to a game or show and want them to experience a bit of Texas panache; and to destroy everything they ever thought they knew about mashed potatoes. 2386 Victory Park Lane<\/p>\n Elephant East<\/p>\n Elephant East <\/a>is a pan-Asian restaurant that is a great first date spot with its plush cozy nooks, dim lighting and semiprivate booths. But the bar is a fun place to grab a pre-game plate of soft-shell crab with a spicy black bean sauce or some Bang Bang Shrimp. The Vietnamese martini espresso is a must here. Elephant East is open until 11 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, and until 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday, so you can go back after the game for a nightcap. Best yet, Elephant East offers valet and you can keep your car there during the game. (Valet service is shared with Poco Fiasco and Harwood Arms, which are all owned by the same company.) 2823 McKinnon St.<\/p>\n The Henry<\/p>\n The Henry <\/a>offers a combo platter of good fare and big energy. It\u2019s also a twofer in the sense that there are two spaces here: a restaurant downstairs and a rooftop bar and lounge upstairs, the latter of which has a touch more party vibe. The menu has a big range of options from crusty bread and brie ($11) to Korean prime skirt steak. There\u2019s something for everyone. Park in the garage across the street and bring your ticket in to get validated. It\u2019s a 10-minute walk (a half mile) to the AAC. Even better, The Henry takes reservations<\/a>. 2301 N. Akard St.<\/p>\n Poco Fiasco<\/p>\n The dining room at Poco Fiasco<\/a> is small-ish, which makes pre-game energy fun, but there\u2019s also a large patio for a bit of al fresco dining. The thin-crust pizza is great, as are the martinis \u2013 a house specialty. In our experience, service can be spotty, albeit friendly (just MIA at times), so plan ahead. You can valet in front of the restaurant, a shared service with Elephant East and Harwood Arms. After the game, grab a slice of pizza at the side-hustle window. It\u2019s about a 7-minute walk to the AAC, which is much less time\u00a0than you\u2019d spend trying to park in a closer lot. 2823 McKinnon St.<\/p>\n Mesero<\/p>\n Queso Mesero: those are two big important words. Get this bowl of queso Chihuahua with spinach, artichoke and poblano topped with brisket\u00a0for a great pre-game feast. We also love Mesero\u2019s<\/a> blackened salmon tacos. Randomly, there\u2019s a Big \u201cD\u201d Dog, which is a quarter-pound wagyu beef frank with chili and cheese on a lobster roll. It\u2019s a bit off-brand, but it\u2019s hard to find a good dog around here. 2375 Victory Park Lane <\/p>\n Saint Ann<\/p>\n Saint Ann <\/a>has a lovely garden and patio area, so if the weather is nice make reservations<\/a>\u00a0outside. This space opened as a parochial school about a century ago. In addition to housing a restaurant now, there\u2019s a samurai museum on the upper level.Wednesdays through Saturdays, from 5 to 7 p.m., Saint Ann offers a prix-fixe menu for $35, which is great considering the value here. You\u2019ll get three courses (salad, main and dessert) with options that include seared salmon and a daily pasta. Saint Ann\u2019s is closed on Monday and Tuesday. Complimentary valet is offered. 2514 Harry Hines Blvd. <\/p>\n Spots for Big Bar Energy Happiest Hour <\/a>is a somuchfun! The entire place has big energy. Sit in the dining room for a nice dinner, or hang out at the huge U-shaped bar overflowing with drinks. You can bet the rooftop and a big courtyard will be full of jerseys before each game. In the times we\u2019ve been, the service has always been amazingly swift considering the number of guests. Get the foot-long fried cheese sticks. Five whole feet of fried cheese. Yes, five feet. We\u2019re so excited for you! 2616 Olive St.\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Rueben fries and a Guinness at Harwood Arms is a great pre-game meal.<\/p>\n Harwood Arms<\/p>\n Harwood Arms<\/a>,\u00a0one of the best pubs in the city, is a great place to kick off a great sports night. If you\u2019re there early enough for happy hour (4-7 p.m., Monday through Thursday), you\u2019ll love the small plate options that won\u2019t absolutely break your weekday budget. Get the Guinness short rib sliders and mini Reuben fries for $6 each. Even better: a $7 Old Fashioned. No, you shut up. It\u2019s an easy walk over the AAC, and after the game, you can get a celebratory night cap right up to 2 a.m. Parking tip: Park in the garage next to Harwood, validate your ticket there. 2823 McKinnon St. <\/p>\n Dirty Bones <\/p>\n 2610 N. Houston St.It\u2019s hard to ignore Dirty Bones<\/a> because it is literally right outside the AAC\u2019s front door,\u00a0but it\u2019s also hard to look past a spate of the bad reviews this place gets for service. There have been some great reviews, too, so it\u2019s a crapshoot. There is a response to the recent negative online reviews, which is sometimes an indication of trying to address a situation. Either way, it\u2019s a wing spot and a fun environment and, best yet, a one-minute commute to your seat. You can get 15 wings for $24 with seven dry rubs options and more than a dozen sauces. The menu of fun appetizers has items like a shoestring onion tower and Dirty Tots.<\/p>\n HERO<\/p>\n BIG-LY playoff sports energy at Hero<\/a>. This might be the best spot to grab a seat to pregame. There are TVs everywhere, and the menu is full of fun, gluttonous options like wagyu beef burgers; get The Ranchito ($16) with\u00a0white queso, Valentina aioli, pico, jalapenos and avocado. Show up hours before and you\u2019ll be well entertained. Reservations<\/a>\u00a0are available. 3090 Nowitzki Way<\/p>\n Te Deseo<\/p>\n Te Deseo<\/a> has one of the best rooftop bars in Dallas. It can get packed. Happy hour, 5-7 p.m., Monday through Thursday, offers a bevy of $7 plates (queso, quesadilla, tacos). You can valet right out front and walk to the AAC in 3 minutes. The menu is Mexican, with a coastal influence: charred octopus, tuna, snapper and sea bass. For a show, get the Flaming Skull, a chocolate shell skull that is set on fire. It\u2019s playoff hockey \u2013 let\u2019s light things up! After the game, go back for bottle service\u00a0options. Reservations<\/a> are highly recommended.\u00a02700 Olive St. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Happiest Hour near Victory Park. Lauren Drewes Daniels The American Airlines Center in Dallas is a great place…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":311633,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5135],"tags":[5229,137346,12080,1596,3139,1320,2879,358,3187,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":{"0":"post-311632","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas","8":"tag-america","9":"tag-city-guide","10":"tag-cocktails","11":"tag-dallas","12":"tag-dallas-mavericks","13":"tag-dallas-stars","14":"tag-events","15":"tag-texas","16":"tag-tx","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-united-states-of-america","19":"tag-unitedstates","20":"tag-unitedstatesofamerica","21":"tag-us","22":"tag-usa"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115391453273212118","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311632","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=311632"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/311632\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/311633"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=311632"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=311632"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=311632"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nBilly Can-Can<\/p>\n
\nHappiest Hour<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/harwoodarms_reuben_fries_and_beer_alisonmclean_47.webp.jpeg\")
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