THE SIDEWALK SYNDROME

What do Sfuzzi, the Highland Park Yacht Club, Dick’s Last Resort, The Filling Station, Genaro’s Tropical, and about 6, 000 other Dallas bars and restaurants have in common? They give bad al fresco. Too hot or too close to traffic or too many bird-infested trees. Let’s face it-with hundred-degree summer days and car-clotted streets, Dallas is not exactly friendly ground for outdoor noshing. The really smart bar owners take one of three strategies: they move the outdoor area up (second floor or higher); down (below street level); or back behind the building away from the street.

The outback plan is the secret of success at Cardinal Puffs, where the trees form a canopy of shade (but do watch the birds). The Wine Press also al frescoes in the back, but the space may remind you of a prisoners’ exercise yard.

Taking the low road is Dakota’s, where an elevator whisks you down a level to the courtyard awash with the sounds of a waterfall. As for second-story jobs, try the Hard Rock Cafe, but only on cooler days. One of the best upstairs outdoors places is Gator’s, with its decked area overlooking Market Street. Shade is scarce, but you get nice views of the Green Building and the famed flying red Pegasus.