Go Rangers!

Best Dallas-Fort Worth bars and restaurants to watch the Rangers in the World Series

It’s a “happy fall, y’all” indeed, because our very own Texas Rangers are going to the World freaking Series.

The American League pennant winners will take on the Arizona Diamondbacks in a best of seven series, with Game 1 set for 7:03 pm Friday, October 27 at Globe Life Field. But with sky-high ticket costs, most fans will be priced-out from attending the game itself. (Standing room only for $350-plus? Yikes.)

Luckily area bars and restaurants have scrambled to plan watch parties, many with cheaper-than-dirt deals on food and drinks to draw crowds. While every sports bar in town will likely have the games on, here are some of the best places offering watch parties and game-time food and drink specials around DFW, including options for dining-in or grabbing food to-go. (The list will be updated as more are announced.)

Whether watching from a barstool or from the comfort of the couch, cheers to the Rangers’ red-hot post season run. Go and take it.

Texas Live
Perhaps the next best thing to being at the actual game at Globe Life Field is watching it from right next door at Texas Live. The food, drink, and entertainment complex is anchored by a 100-foot big screen in the middle of the Shift 4 Arena, surrounded by booth seating, bar-height tables, and views of the multi-level facility. But reservations are required for those coveted seats (with a $250 food and beverage minimum per party of four, plus 20 percent gratuity), and spots are already full for game-time reservations.

There is still limited availability for away game reservations, but perhaps the best bet is to show up early for first-come, first-serve access to the other venues inside Texas Live, including Sports & Social, Rangers Republic, Troy’s, Lockhart Smokehouse, and more. Regardless of final destination once inside, the place is sure to be hopping with excitement. Stay for after parties at PBR Texas and live music in the Backyard.

Live! by Loews
The luxury Arlington hotel next to Globe Life Field will be a hub for game-goers. The hotel’s outdoor lounge Clover Club will host a pre-game barbecue from 3-7 pm on Friday and 2-7 pm on Saturday, weather permitting. Prices range from $16 for a brisket dog and a side to $32 for a barbecue plate with two meats and two sides. They'll also be pouring World Series-themed cocktails. The game will be shown on the big screen here, as well as at Bar Bourbon, the hotel’s 360-degree lobby bar.

Specials at Bar Bourbon during away games next week include 20 wings and a bucket of beer ($50 for domestic, $55 for imported), pizza and a bucket ($45 for domestic, $50 for imported), a party pack of 20 wings, two pizzas, and two buckets ($85 domestic, $90 for imported) and the all-game pack of 40 wings, 4 pizzas, and three buckets of beer ($135 for domestic, $145 imported).

(Now, in alphabetical order across DFW...)

Barrel & Bones
The craft bar and smokehouse, which has locations in Dallas, Carrollton, and The Colony, will give patrons 15 percent off their check during game time. Mention “Texas Rangers” any time, an hour before game time through the final pitch.

B&B Butchers & Restaurant
Every World Series game day there’ll be specials in the bar at B&B, including ballpark-themed bites with an upscale spin. Partake in meatball sliders ($5), mini crab cakes ($12), pigs in a blanket ($9 for a half-dozen), a gourmet hot dog with steak fries ($12), and more.

Birdie’s Social Club
There’ll be $20 buckets of White Claw and High Noon seltzers on special during the games, plus new fall-themed drinks and eats debuting at the indoor-outdoor Fort Worth bar. All ages welcome, as well as dogs on a leash.

Bigs Bar and Grill
Find cheap drinks at this Bedford sports bar during game time, including $3 wells and $3 domestic drafts. Stay fueled with wings, burgers, fajitas, quesadillas, and fried pickles.

Cantina Laredo
The modern Mexican restaurant, which has locations in Addison and Frisco, will offer complimentary Queso Laredo made with ground sirloin and pico de gallo with the purchase of two entrees. The deal is good for both dine-in and carryout.

Community Beer Community
The Dallas brewery will have the game up and the sound on for the World Series. Food specials include $15 burgers or wing bundles, and there’ll be discounts on beer, too.

Dough Bro’s Italian Kitchen & Bar
Fill up with two large pizzas plus a dozen wings for $29.99 at this local pizza and Italian chain. There are locations in Dallas, Plano, and Bedford. The World Series deal is good for dine-in or to-go.

El Chico Rockwall
The Rockwall location of this time-honored Tex-Mex chain will offer complimentary Top Shelf Queso with the purchase of two entrees. Made with chili con queso, spicy taco meat, pico de gallo, and diced tomatoes, the shareable appetizer deal will be available for dine-in or carryout orders. (Excludes purchases made online.) Just mention the Rangers “World Series Special.”

Lava Cantina
Here’s a watch party with plenty of cheap deals, but only for Game 3 of the series, which takes place Monday night. The entertainment venue in The Colony will offer $2 draft beers, $3 house margs, $5 hurricanes, $15 domestic beer buckets, $7 wings, $8 cheese pizza, $10 pepperoni pizza, and $12 supreme pizza. Admission is free. Note that doors open at 6:30 pm, not long before game time.

Luckys
The Oak Lawn home-cooking diner, which does have TVs, will offer 20 percent off your tab during game time, whether dining in or ordering to-go. (Excludes purchases made online.) Just mention the “Rangers World Series Special.” Don’t miss the “Breakfast All Day” menu, which includes sweet potato hash, breakfast tacos, and banana cognac pancakes.

The Mad Hatter Neighborhood Pub
Wings for a dollar each, Fireball shots for $2, and $3 Yuengling Flight drafts are the game time specials at this Richardson pub.

Monument Realty PGA District at Omni PGA Frisco
With the exception of Game 2, the World Series will be broadcast on the 900 square-foot screen outdoor screen at this expansive, golf-themed entertainment district. Find it right next to The Dance Floor, the country’s largest natural grass putting green. Grab food and libations at Ice House restaurant and bar, located within viewing distance.

The Rabbit Hole Pub
This Fort Worth watering hole will harken ballpark vibes with dollar hot dogs for its “1…2…3 Strikes You’re Out Rangers World Series Watch Party.” Patrons can also partake in $2 Fireball shots and $3 Yuengling Flight drafts.

Scout
The sports bar located inside downtown Dallas’ Statler hotel will feature $25 domestic beer buckets, $15 pitchers of beer, and $8 highballs during the World Series. Food specials include brisket sliders ($9), Scout nachos ($16), and the Scout party platter ($24), which comes with one pound of wings, seasoned fries, onion rings, and mac and cheese bites along with ranch dressing and Scout sauce.

Stagecoach Ballroom
Pair line dancing with line drives during this World Series watch party at the Stagecoach Ballroom in Fort Worth, one of Texas’ oldest dance halls. Line dance lessons will start at 7 pm followed by a live country band and a Halloween costume contest. There’ll also be snacks and plenty of cold beer. Admission is $5.

Facebook/Texas Live

Fans will find World Series watch parties all over DFW.

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Chef News

Fort Worth's Will Rogers Memorial Center welcomes bright new chef

FortWorthtx.gov

Will Rogers Memorial Center

There's a new chef in town: Waylon Cornelius, named executive chef of catering and concessions for Craft Culinary Concepts, the food and beverage provider at Will Rogers Memorial Center.

Will Rogers Memorial Center is the 120-acre entertainment complex anchoring Fort Worth’s Cultural District, owned and operated by the City of Fort Worth. Cornelius will oversee menus for trade shows and other events at the center which bring in more than 2 million visitors a year.

Craft Culinary Concepts is headquartered in Glendale, Arizona, and manages food and beverage programs for entertainment, sports and cultural facilities.

Chef Waylon Corneliusfortworthtx.gov

According to a release, Cornelius joined the team this summer and is already shifting the expectations of guests from a typical “BBQ and beans” menu to a bill of fare satisfying every kind of palate.

“We always have fajitas ready to go, but we also make a beautiful Beef Wellington or baked salmon with a pink salt crust,” Cornelius says in a statement.

For consumer trade shows, Craft and its partners Caribou and Taco Heads offer more choices for the thousands of guests who attend events at WRMC annually.

“Some of our equestrian guests are away from home and here for several days, and they need more than popcorn and hot dogs,” Cornelius says. “Our concessions offer biscuits and gravy, burritos made in-house, strawberry salad, fruit and yogurt cups.”

A native of Mansfield, Cornelius grew up helping in a farm-to-table kitchen. He was raised on a farm with his mother, grandmother, and grandfather -- a Vietnam veteran who enjoyed vegetable gardens and raising hogs and chickens. He studied computer science after high school and holds an associate's degree in Cultural Resource Management and Policy Analysis from Tarrant County College.

He's a 2003 graduate of AIMS Academy of Culinary Arts in Dallas where he was mentored by a number of great chefs. While training as assistant executive sous chef at the AAA four-diamond Grand Hyatt DFW, he worked with Executive Chef Sutti Sripolpa, chef Eric Dreyer (who went on to be Oprah Winfrey’s personal chef), and Chef Jean-Claude Plihon, under whom he honed his French cooking skills.

As executive sous chef at the opening of Perry’s Steakhouse and Grille in Southlake, Cornelius gained expertise with volume. While at HG Sply Co., he learned about gluten-free items and other food allergies.

HG Sply is also where he crossed paths with Chef James R. Schell III, Craft’s general manager at WRMC, who recruited Cornelius to the complex.

"James said he needed someone who can hit moving targets, push the culinary team to be more avant-garde and use locally sourced, seasonal ingredients, so here I am," Cornelius says. "Culinary is a small world."

“I want people to say, ‘When we were in Fort Worth, you won’t believe what we got at Will Rogers!’” Schell says. “Even the celebrities who perform [in the auditorium] are surprised. When Chicago played here recently and we served dinner backstage, they said they felt treated like the Rolling Stones.”

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