Looking for some cheap thrills? Can't afford anything else? We can help.
Guide sent staffers out to find food and fun in downtown Dallas without breaking the bank, and they returned with these cost-efficient suggestions. Now a night out won't set you back a day's pay.
More cheap dates:
• 5/4/07 - We interrupt this date at Uncle Julio's...
• 4/13/07 - Family Game Night at Lone Star Comics
• 4/6/07 - Lunchtime outing to the Bishop Arts District
• 3/30/07 - Holy Land exhibit leads to another discovery
• 3/23/07 - Sushi and Cher at Sushi Sapporo
In-town getaway leads to a tropical spa and Trader Vic's
Rex C. Curry / Special to DMN
The bar area at Trader Vic’s is a prime location for people-watching in the tiki-themed restaurant.
Our first destination was Tropical Day Spa on Elm Street near Neiman
Marcus. The interior is decked out island-style with yellow, red and
orange paint and silk flowers such as bird of paradise. Tropical
elements are also incorporated in many of the spa's offerings.
We chose the 25-minute classic manicure. We picked out our nail polishes
and took seats at the manicure station, which looks like a beachside
bar. Sitting on bar stools, we soaked our fingertips in plastic
coconuts. Other areas of the salon seemed classy, serene and
understated, like a spa in the tropics, not a Dallas nail salon trying
to look tropical. But the "bar" looked a little cheesy, as if someone
had tried too hard to channel the island vibe (the walls were decorated
with grass skirts and coconut bras). Even so, I felt a hankering for a
fruity drink, perhaps with a tiny umbrella.
As soon as our nails were dry, we jetted to our next port of call:
Trader Vic's, the reopened tiki bar and restaurant in Hotel Palomar. We
were prepared for another campy, grass-skirted hangout. Instead, there's
a hallway of dark woods with floor lamps illuminating the tiki
engravings, definitely more glitz than kitsch.
We snagged a table in the bar with a prime people-watching perch. There
were no coconut bras to be found, but the tiki theme was still
pervasive. Colored glass globes hung from the thatched ceiling,
Hawaii Five-O played on the TVs, and Polynesian masks stood guard.
Though dim lights added to the ambience, they made reading the four-page
cocktail menu difficult. Every drink sounded intriguing, but we finally
settled on the Bahia, a mix of coconut and pineapple with white rum, and
the Dr. Funk's Son, a sweet but tart, rum-filled drink whose glass is
encased in a mound of ice.
Trader Vic's was the perfect place to sink into a chair, sip a potent
beverage and daydream about hiding out in a funky beach shack, even
though we were actually in a strip center just minutes away from Central
Expressway.
The bottom line:
WHAT: A tropical getaway without leaving Dallas
WHERE: Tropical Day Spa, 1322 Elm St. (214-742-2881); Trader Vic's, 5330 E. Mockingbird Lane (214-823-0600).
THE TAB: $61: $36 at Tropical Day Spa (including 20 percent tip), $25 at Trader Vic’s (including 20 percent tip)
THE SCORE: We got a lot for a little (even though we did blow our budget)
– SHANNON SUTLIEF / The Dallas Morning News
Published in The Dallas Morning News: 05.11.07
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