Strangeways

Strangeways has poured beer at 2429 North Fitzhugh Avenue in East Dallas for well over a decade. When The Dallas Morning News reported in September 2023 that it planned to close after 12 years, the paper described a bar that had served bottled beer and bar snacks in a welcoming atmosphere. It is still trading from the same address, with current hours and a current draft list on its own site, and it serves dinner as well as drinks.

The draft list is the main event: numbered taps grouped into IPAs and hoppy beers; Belgians, wheats, pilsners, lagers and cider; sours; and dark and barrel-aged beers, all available in a build-your-own flight of five. The list moves with the seasons: when checked it ran from a Denton County Earl Grey IPA to Oktoberfest märzens and a Celestial peanut imperial stout. Non-drinkers get a shorter but real list. Five of the house cocktails are marked as available in a non-alcoholic version for $9: the Cucumber Cooler (cucumber, lime and soda), the Pineapple Upside Down (pineapple and ginger), the Paloma (grapefruit), the Tom Collins (lemon, sugar and soda) and a hibiscus Moscow mule. The menu files them as zero-proof mocktails under the line 'No alcohol, all fun', and also lists Malta, a sweet malty soft drink with a hint of molasses, and Topo Chico at $5.

Two things to know. The hibiscus mule's regular build uses Fruitlab Hibiscus, which is a liqueur, so ask how its zero-proof version is made or pick one of the other four. And the posted draft list does not include a non-alcoholic beer, so ask what is in the fridge rather than expecting one on tap. Orders are taken at the bar. Strangeways opens at 4pm, or 6pm on Mondays, and stays open until 2am every night; it closes on Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.