FUN & GAMES

Visitors tend to concentrate on the West End area, where during the day some of downtown’s most popular attractions draw crowds- the Kennedy Memorial and Dealey Plaza (Elm and Houston streets), the Sixth Floor Museum (411 Elm) and die Dallas World Aquarium (1801 N. Griffin). Restaurants and shops in die West End draw crowds during the day. Often there is entertainment in the plaza outside the West End Marketplace {603 Munger). One of two downtown movie theaters is there, the West End 10 (the other is die Sony Cityplace at Haskell and Central). You can take a carriage ride through the West End during the day or night. Planet Hollywood in the Marketplace is an entertainment venue all on its own, and die clubs in Dallas Alley offer recorded music of all kinds. Dick’s Last Resort (1701 N. Market) offers amusingly surly servers, crawfish dinners and rock bands, as well as a gospel brunch on Sundays. In the same building, the Hubcap Brewery is the only brewpub on this side of the West End. The Velvet E (2126 McKinney) is a new kitschy see-and-be-seen place.

Reunion Arena, on the southwestern end of downtown, hosts die Dallas Mavericks basketball team and the Dallas Stars hockey team. The Dallas Sidekicks also play indoor soccer at Reunion Arena, and the venue is used for major pop and country concerts as well as big events such as the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey Circus.

During the day the Central Business District is home to dozens of restaurants, from delis to five-star dining (see restaurant listings). At night, things are much quieter; arts festivals and theater performances bring people downtown.

In the Arts District, the DALLAS MUSEUM OF ART (1717 N. Harwood) often features lectures or concerts, such as a current series of cabaret singing performances, in its Horchow Auditorium. In the spring and summer, jazz and pop concerts can be found on the plaza behind the TRAMMELL CROW CENTER (2001 Ross) and also at the adjacent ARTISTS SQUARE. Many performances are held at the MEYERSON SYMPHONY CENTER (2301 Flora), and there is also a fine restaurant, OPUS, located there, so it is possible to make an evening of dinner and the symphony in one spot.

The MAJESTIC THEATER (1925 Elm) hosts frequent touring concerts and plays, and dance productions from such local groups as Dallas Ballet and the Anita N. Martinez Ballet Folklorico.

Some of downtown’s nicer hotels- such as the Adolphus (1321 Commerce) and the Fairmont (Ross and Akard streets), offer piano music or jazz in their bars or restaurants, as does Dakota’s (600 N. Akard).

For family fun downtown, take the kids to see Pioneer Plaza, the bronze cattle drive sculpture on Young Street near Akard, or to the Farmers Market {1010 S, Pearl), where people-watching opportunities abound and festivals and entertainment are often scheduled on weekends.

Old City Park (1717 Gano). an outdoor museum of relocated and restored turn-of-the-century houses, offers a rare look at the life of early North Texans.

Uptown has been compared to New York’s Upper East Side, with its McKinney Avenue restaurant row and hip clubs. Restaurants range from the trendy, such as Fog City Diner {2401 McKinney) and favorite Jerry Jones hang-out Primo’s (3309 McKinney}. to the classically posh Waters (1923 McKinney) and Old Warsaw (2610 Maple).

The McKinney Avenue Contemporary (3120 McKinney), or the MAC, as it is known, blends cutting-edge modern art shows with films, lectures, spoken-word performances, poetry readings and sometimes music. You can meet a new flame on the dance floor at the upscale Latin spot, Club Babalu (2912 McKinney), or quaff one of hundreds of beers available at the Gingerman (2718 Boll). The Routh Street Brewery (3011 Routh) has the reputation of having the best menu at a Dallas brewpub, chough they’re getting competition on chat score from Breckenridge Brewery (1907 McKinney).

The Hard Rock Cafe (2601 McKinney), with its displays of rock and roll memorabilia, is an entertainment venue in and of itself, and often live music can be heard there. The Quadrangle {2800 Routh) is home to Theater Three as well as the 8.0, which has a hip menu, often has trendy music, and welcomes cigars in a separate bar area. Cigar smokers are also welcome at the Martini Ranch (2816 Fairmount).

Uptown is home to many of Dallas’ finest art and antiques dealers. Dallas Art Dealers Association (925-9558) publishes a list and maps to the galleries, including 19 in the downtown area, and usually offers a monthly “gallery hopping* evening.

Deep Ellum attracts a number of downtown workers during the day to its restaurants, and at night a mix primarily of young people and out-of-towners line up at the clubs. Here you’ll find coffee houses: Cafe Brazil (2815 Elm), Insomnia Coffee Bar (2640 Elm); brewpubs: Coppertank Brewery (2600 Main), Main Street Brewery & Co. {2656 Main); jazz and fine cuisine at Sambuca (2618 Elm); rock and fine cuisine at the enigmatic Dark Room/Green Room (2715 Elm) and also at the State Bar (3611 Party); dance at 2826 Club (2826 Elm); and rock of all kinds, both local and road acts, at Club Dada (2720 Elm), Trees (2709 Elm), the Orbit Room (2809 Commerce), the Galaxy Club (2820 Main), the Bar of Soap (3615 Parry, with bar and laundry facilities), and Deep Ellum Live (2727 Canton). Club Clearview (2806 Urn), where there’s a poetry slam every Friday, is pan of a complex that also houses the Art Bar and the Blind Lemon (2805 Main). Hear blues at Blue Cat Blues (2617 Commerce), reggae at Dread-n-lrie (108 S. Crowdus), and country music at Adair’s {2624 Commerce), Naomi’s (3001 Canton), and the Sons of Hermann Hall (3414 Elm), where there’s live music and food at Friday happy hours.

Historic Fair Park at First and Parry avenues is only a stone’s throw from the eastern end of Deep Ellum. Built for the 1936 Texas Centennial, Fair Park is home to the State Fair of Texas (through Oct. 20), and a number of attractions including The Science Place with its new IMAX Theater, the Dallas Museum of Natural History. Age of Steam Museum, African American Museum, Civic Garden Center and Horticultural Center. The Fair Park Music Hall hosts the Dallas Summer Musicals and the Dallas Opera, and Coca-Cola Starplex Amphitheater has outdoor concerts most months of the year, with touring acts as varied as Jimmy Buffett, James Taylor, George Strait and Lollapalooza.

Fair Park’s Cotton Bowl is the site of major league soccer from Dallas’ newest team, the Burn. The Cotton Bowl is also home to concerts, Fourth of July fireworks and, yes, they still play football in the stadium. The SMU Mustangs play home games there, and the annual games pitting rivals Grambling and Prairie View A&M each September and Texas and the University of Oklahoma each October are still played there, as is the Cotton Bowl game in January, even though the bowl’s tie to the Southwest Conference died when the conference did.

So, despite the fact that downtown Dallas is known for its offices and bank towers, a vibrant life of entertainment buzzes below the high-rise buildings.