Ok y’all… I think Texas might be one of my new favorite places! I had the best time in Dallas and Fort Worth this past weekend. I had a ballet audition at Texas Ballet Theater on Sunday, so we decided to turn it into a little girls weekend! It was just my mom and me, and we spent most of our time with a Gigi, family friend that goes to TCU. We got an incredible tour of the campus, the sorority houses, the dorms, and of course, their dance program! It is such a beautiful college. Shopping and food were at the top of our itinerary, so I think we hit all of the best places! We stayed in Fort Worth for the majority of the time, and then spent a day in Dallas. Although we were only there for three days, I felt like we conquered it all!
~Stay~
We stayed at the Hyatt Place in Fort Worth which was perfect because it is right next to the TCU campus! It is a newer hotel. We had a great experience there; our room was nice and the service was on point! It’s location was great as well, we were so close to restaurants, shopping centers, the Fort Worth zoo, and other tourist attractions, and of course, TCU, which was in walking distance of the hotel! We never ate a meal there, but we did get some of their grab-and-go snacks and drinks. The rooftop bar is gorgeous. I had the perfect view of the sunset! I would recommend staying at the Hyatt Place if you are planning on touring TCU or spending any time on campus, or if you are looking for a central hotel in walking distance of many shops and restaurants, this is the place for you!
The Hyatt Place – Fort Worth, Texas LINK to website
~Restaurants~
Breakfast/Brunch
For brunch on Saturday, we ate at Gemelle, a fun Euro-American pizza and pasta place! It is a Tim Love restaurant-the famous Fort Worth chef and restaurateur. Gigi had eaten there before, for dinner, and loved it; but their breakfast/brunch menu was very different, so we wanted to try it! We were the only people there at our 9am reservation, lol, but the atmosphere was so cool! They have indoor seating, a heated patio, an outdoor bar, and outdoor seating in the back with the most fun chairs, sofas personal seating areas and bocce ball courts. The outdoor area would be incredible in the summer, but it was too cold to sit out there in January! Our waitress was fabulous, and the overall service was great! I ordered the Avocado Toast made on toasted focaccia with avocado, lemon yogurt, arugula, a poached egg, and crispy salami. It was so good! I subbed out the poached egg for scrambled eggs, and that was perfect. It was a great light meal to eat right before the dance class I had afterwards! My mom ordered the Steak and Eggs, and Gigi ordered the Eggs Benedict. Everyone was happy with their meals. And of course we had to get pictures in front of their famous love sign!
Gemelle LINK to website
Lunch/Grab-and-Go
By far, my favorite restaurant in Fort Worth was Mamaka Bowls. They serve delicious smoothies, smoothie bowls, oatmeal and coffee. I love that type of food to begin with, but I had never had any that good! We ended up going there for lunch on Friday AND Saturday, and I got two different smoothie bowls. I ordered the Pipeline bowl the first day. The smoothie base is made of acai, strawberry, banana, chocolate almond milk, and peanut butter, topped with strawberries, banana, cocoa nibs, and their homemade granola. This is their most popular smoothie bowl and I understand why. It’s amazing! The second day I ordered the Mamaka bowl. The smoothie base is made of acai, strawberry, banana, mango, blueberry, and your choice of almond milk and orange juice (I got almond milk), topped with strawberries, banana, blueberries, and their homemade granola. This one was very good as well. It was a lighter meal without the chocolate almond milk and peanut butter, but I was definitely hungry in the afternoon! The smoothie bowls come in two sizes, the small and the regular. The regular is HUGE! I got the small both days and was very full afterward. My mom got the oatmeal, which is rolled oats topped with Nutella and strawberries, on the first day and the Salted Caramel Bowl on our second trip. She loved both of them. If you are traveling to Fort Worth, I would recommend stopping here! They are pretty quick too, so it’s a great grab-and-go meal!
Mamaka Bowls LINK to website
For lunch on Sunday, we ate at Torchy’s Tacos, a Texas favorite! They now have restaurants all over the country, but the original is in Austin, Texas. We went to the Fort Worth location after my dance audition and it was very good! When you go, you order at the counter, find a table, and then they will bring your food to you. We got an order of the chips and queso to share, and then I ordered two tacos for myself. Their queso is unbelievable! It is homemade, and definitely spicy! The hot cheese surrounds their homemade guacamole in the center, and mixed all together is just incredible. I got two of the Democrat tacos, which has barbacoa, avocado, cotija cheese, cilantro, onions, and a lime wedge with tomatillo sauce on a corn tortilla. They were delicious, but I wish I had gotten two different tacos, rather than two of one. My mom got the Avocado taco and the Green Chile Pork taco. The avocado had fried avocados, refried, pinto beans, pico de gallo, lettuce, and cheddar jack cheese with poblano sauce on a corn tortilla. The Green Chile Pork had pork carnitas, green chiles, cotija cheese, cilantro, onions, and a lime wedge with tomatillo sauce on a corn tortilla. She loved both, but I think her favorite was the Green Chile Pork Taco. Gigi had the Green Chile Pork Taco, too. All of their sauces are homemade which makes the tacos even better! The tomatillo sauce on mine was delicious! This is another more casual lunch place (you can go there for dinner as well) that was so quick, easy, and yummy!
Torchy’s Tacos LINK to website
On our way to the airport when we were coming home, we stopped at the Eatzi’s in Fort Worth, a grab-and-go market and bakery. It is such a cool place to walk around in, and look at all of the yummy foods! They serve anything from made-to-order omelettes, pasta, grilled salmon, custom salads and sandwiches, sushi, and their famous mac-n-cheese to wine, fresh produce, on-the-go packaged meals, and their made-from-scratch desserts. Gigi and I both ordered a custom salad with a side of fresh fruit. They mix and chop the salad in front of you so all of the toppings and dressing are spread out through the whole salad. One of my biggest pet peeves is when toppings and dressing only cover the very top of salads, haha! I also ordered a chai latte, and we split one of their homemade cookies! It was gooey and soft, and GINORMOUS!! My mom got a custom turkey sandwich, and loved it. They also had the cutest Texas-decorated cookies that we brought home to my dad and sister. Eatzi’s was the perfect meal to snack-on at the airport, and on the flight home! It is a MUST to stop here when you are in Fort Worth!
Eatzi’s LINK to website
Dinner
Friday we spent the day in Dallas. The drive from Fort Worth was not bad at all! It took about 40 minutes without any traffic. We shopped ’til we dropped, and then enjoyed dinner at Gloria’s, a Tex-Mex/Latin cuisine restaurant. We met my dance teacher who moved to Dallas there, and it was so special! I loved the atmosphere, and the food was delicious. All four of us, Gigi, my dance teacher, my mom, and I ordered the same thing, haha! We all got the Chile Relleno, which is a stuffed pepper served with an enchilada, black beans, and Spanish rice. It was huge! And of course we had to have plenty of chips, salsa, queso, and guacamole too! We had great service, and it was hopping all night long! It was busy, busy, busy! I would definitely put this on your list of Dallas restaurants to get your share of really good Tex-Mex!
Gloria’s LINK to website
Last but certainly not least, we went to Doc B’s restaurant and bar in Fort Worth with Gigi’s friends, Saturday night! It was a blast! I wish I could have ordered everything on the menu, it all looked so amazing. We ordered the Housemade Guacamole with sweet potato chips as an appetizer and it was yummy! The chips were the perfect balance of crispy and slightly soft, and pairing them with guacamole was phenomenal. I got the California salad with grilled chicken as my meal and then we headed across the street for dessert. My Mom has the Cobb Salad and most of Gigi’s friends got salads and burgers. According to them, those are the two best sections of the menu!
Doc B’s LINK to website
Dessert!
This section is not super exciting, we only made it to one dessert place all weekend! Joy Macarons was the perfect little sweet treat. I got the Cereal Milk Ice Cream Sandwich Macaron, one of their most popular items, and we tried the Salted Caramel Macarons.
Joy Macarons LINK to website
I truly do not have anything negative to say about our food experience in Texas. It was amazing! Gigi took us to all of the best places!
~Shopping~
The shopping in Texas is spectacular! We spent most of our time shopping in Dallas. We hit several different shopping centers, went to the Koch House, and made it to the mall as well. The Koch House was incredible! It’s this cute little house with a royal blue door and a light up sign inside that says, ‘Koch House’. It’s crazy to think that they run the entire business just in that house! We saw where they shoot all of their photos, their entire year plan of collections and releases, fabrics and samples of upcoming items, and their inspiration board, too. The salespeople were so generous to show us behind the scenes of their business and give us a sneak-peak of what’s to come in the next year. I would definitely ask for a house tour when you go!
Koch LINK to website
The second place we stopped at was Highland Park Village. It is very high-end shopping, so we did a lot of just looking around! My favorite stores in that shopping center were LoveShackFancy and Lele Sadoughi. I found the cutest headbands at Lele, and the store was so fun and colorful! Here are some pictures of what it looked like!
Highland Park Village LINK to website
The third place we shopped at in Dallas was Snider Plaza. This shopping center had mid-level stores compared to high-end Highland Park Village. My favorite store was L Barlett; we spent an hour in there! All of their clothing is aimed toward teens and college students, and at a great price too! I got the cutest gold shimmery one-piece bathing suit, and I felt like I could have walked out taking the entire store with me, haha! Below are a couple pics of the bags I am OBSESSED with that they carry! We also stopped at a great bookstore, Gemma (a jewelry store), and Dear Hannah, the most adorable girls and teen clothing store. They carried some of my favorite brands! And, there is an Impeccable Pig in Snider Plaza- that is for sure one of my all-time favorite shopping stops!
Snider Plaza LINK to website
Our last stop in Dallas was the NorthPark Center Mall! We were pretty exhausted by then, so we only made it into the Outdoor Voices and the Lululemon. They had tons and tons of great stores that we just didn’t have the time or the energy to check out! If I could go back and and do the shopping day in Dallas again, I would have gone to the mall first so we could spend more time there.
NorthPark Mall LINK to website
We did end up making a quick stop at University Park Village on Sunday in Fort Worth to grab our food from Eatzi’s, and then we ended up walking around a bit. They have some fabulous stores as well! We had fun looking around in the Fabletics, the Free People, the Free People Movement store, the Lululemon, Kendra Scott, Madewell, Altar’d State, American Threads, Francesca’s, Athleta, The Impeccable Pig, and Sephora! So many great spots!
We also stopped at the Monkee’s in the ClearFork shopping center. It was an awesome Monkee’s with lots of my favorite lines! I would definitely recommend going there to shop late-afternoon, and then eat dinner at one of ClearFork’s restaurants. It is such a nice place and it was absolutely beautiful at night.
University Park Village LINK to website
Clearfork Shops LINK to website
That’s about it, my friends! It was such a special trip, my audition went well, and I loved everything about TCU, Fort Worth, and Texas in general! I hope this guide to food and shopping inspires you to take a long weekend trip to this fun city! Enjoy!
xoxo, Joanna
