If you’ve been to Europe, Mexico or most any college town in America, you’ve probably been handed a flyer for one of the notorious Pub Crawls or Bar Crawls. The concept: Run around from bar to bar “Sampling” the fare at each location.
This was great for a young 20-something who hasn’t a care in the world about the way they’ll be feeling the next day, but as an adult with children who rely on me, Pub Crawls are the thing of my past!
Long gone are the days of drinking my dinner, instead I actually want to eat now…and I want to eat well and enjoy my meal slowly!! Thankfully, there’s a new business in town who has taken the concept of pub crawls and turned it into an awesome night out on the town!
A few weeks ago, Dishcrawl offered my husband and I an opportunity to participate in their Uptown Gourmand crawl. Not exactly sure what to expect, we decided to take a chance and try something new! I’m so glad we did because our night with Dishcrawl was a blast and I can’t wait to do another event soon!
If you love food and enjoy meeting new people, Dishcrawl Dallas is the perfect event for you to try!
So, what is a Dishcrawl?
If a Foodie and Socialite where to create their dream evening, you’d have Dishcrawl.
We here at Dishcrawl aim to provide you with a premier culinary social experience by bringing together neighborhood restaurants, local chefs, regional food producers and fellow food enthusiasts.
Your local Dishcrawl ambassador will work with a Dallas neighborhood or suburb and come up with 3-4 restaurants that will be featured during a food “tour.”
Restaurants are typically kept a secret leading up to the event with surprise announcements along the way. But I promise, you won’t be disappointed with their choices! For our Uptown Gourmand crawl, we visited 3 restaurants I’d never dined at before, and maybe wouldn’t have even known about, but have definitely added to my list of “must return” to try their menu in more detail!
At each location, the chef will have prepared a sampling from that restaurant (sometimes paired with a wine if the restaurant chooses) and will usually provide a brief explanation of what they’ve prepared along with a brief history of the restaurant.
While you’re enjoying your sampling, you’re sitting with a large table for you to get to know others. When we arrived at our first restaurant, we were instructed to put on a name tag with our first name and the last name of our favorite celebrity. This name tag sparked conversation at each location we visited and made the awkwardness of being strangers disappear.
Once you’ve finished your course at one restaurant, you start out with the group on foot to the next location!
What neighborhoods do they visit?
Dishcrawl is still fairly new to Dallas, but so far they’ve had events in Bishop Arts, Knox-Henderson, Uptown, Greenville, and have even taken on the food trucks at Klyde Warren Park.
I’m a picky eater. Will I enjoy it?
Going into a Dishcrawl event, you do have to be a little open-minded. Obviously coordinating 3-4 chefs to prepare meals for a special group is difficult enough. They do their best to provide a variety of samples so if you’re a vegetarian or have a gluten allergy there should be at least 1 thing for you to try even if you’re not able to enjoy the full meal. And if you contact your ambassador at least 48 hours ahead of time, they might be able to accommodate even more! But, just know there might always be something that aren’t to your tastes since you’re not ordering off a menu.
My advice would be to choose a Dishcrawl that best represents your tastes and personality!
How much does it cost?
To find out the Dishcrawl’s that are coming up on their calendar, head to Dishcrawl Dallas’s website. From there, you’ll be able to find what neighborhoods they’ll be touring next, and you can sign up for the crawl of your choice!
Depending upon the restaurants you’ll be visiting, ticket pricing ranges between $35-$85/ person. Some locations may also require you to pay for parking at your initial location. Tipping isn’t expected and is actually included in your ticket price. Remember, you’re not just paying for a meal, you’re paying for a unique experience that you won’t forget!
If you sign up for a Dishcrawl, we’d love to know how your experience went!
** For the purpose of this post, I was provided with 2 complimentary tickets from Dishcrawl to try out one of their events. All opinions in this post are 100% my own!
