Kevin Gray

Most drinkers were unfamiliar with the Ranch Water cocktail until recently. Sure, you can’t walk into Texas bars without tripping over one, but now the tequila-spiked drink has spread to other states across the country.
The cocktail is even appearing in cans, sold on retail shelves from the likes of Texas companies like Ranch Rider Spirits, Lone River, and RancH2O. Las Vegas is in the game, too, with Texas Ranch Water, which no...

Drop into the middle of Downtown Austin or your average Dallas nightlife strip, and you feel like you could be anywhere. The cities both cater to international business and tourism, and half the residents you meet are California expats.
Show up to the Stockyards neighborhood in Fort Worth, though, and there’s no question you’re in Texas. The Stockyards are what most people from outside Texas imagine when they think of the Lone Star state: western shops and steakhouses, cowboy hats and boots i...

The food style mashup has deep roots in Mexican-American cooking.
Texas barbecue and Tex-Mex are beloved cuisines that, like many things in Texas, have a larger-than-life reputation. Visitors come from the corners of the world to sample Central Texas brisket, and Tex-Mex is imitated—sometimes even successfully—all over the country.
It’s apples and oranges (or more like burnt ends and tomatillos) to compare the two food styles, as they’re both diverse and nuanced, deserving their own spots in ...

Break up your drive with 72-ounce steaks, a picturesque canyon, and graffitied Cadillacs.
Route 66, which stretches more than 2,400 miles from Chicago to Santa Monica, has been calling to American travelers ever since it opened in 1926. In its early years, it connected middle America to the West Coast and expedited Westward Expansion. Today, it serves as hallowed ground for road warriors from all over the world looking to experience our big country’s small town culture alongside an endless st...

The sun: shining. The birds: chirping. The al fresco drinking situation: robust. You don’t need a calendar to tell you that summer is nigh—that’s evident all around you, as patios and rooftop bars welcome people in with the promise of fresh air, icy cocktails, and scenic views. And after spending most of the past year inside our own homes, nothing feels more liberating than cracking open a cold one while soaking up some killer skyline views.
Here are 12 of the best rooftop bars in Dallas to e...

Every guy needs a good pair of boots. Whether you're trudging through snow, walking the city streets, or heading into the office, there's a boot for every occasion. We're currently right in the middle of boot season, so there's never been a better time to stock up on popular brands like Ugg, Timberland, and L.L.Bean.

You might think that using banana peels to make a syrup or infused liquor sounds like a dicey proposition. Ash Miyasaki can confirm it. She jumped on the banana bread bandwagon during the novel coronavirus shutdown, and she was left with an abundance of banana peels...

Totaling 9,000 bottles and 2,000-plus miniatures, Pat’s Whiskey Collection is the single largest private collection of whiskeys ever brought to auction.
Hosted by Whisky Auctioneer, the auction is live now, but it ends October 5, so you’ll want to peruse those bottles soon. If you’re unable to snag something you want, don’t fret—additional bottles will periodically go up for bid between now and June 2021 to spotlight special bottles in the collection.
Pat’s Whiskey Collection is the result of...

The pandemic has spurred a lot of new businesses, as entrepreneurs and do-it-yourselfers turned their talents into companies geared for the new normal. Out-of-work chefs launched ghost kitchens and niche delivery services; bartenders plied their trade online, hosting virtual happy hours. And one Lakewood resident turned her hobby of dehydrating fruit into a DIY cocktail infusion company called Mixy.
Meredith Levesque started making drinks at home in January. It wasn’t serious — she just wante...

Since 2011, the number of American craft distilleries has increased at a clip of almost 700 percent. In 2019, there were 2,210 active craft distilleries (and plenty more in the works) in the United States, according to IWSR Drinks Market Analysis. Much of that growth has been centered in California, New York, Texas, Washington and Colorado, with the latter now housing nearly 100 distilleries, up from single digits just one decade ago.

When you see someone carrying a metal briefcase, it’s usually because they’re transporting cash. Or an antidote. Or something else that can’t cook ribs.

But that’s all beginning to change. Because now, when you see someone carrying a metal briefcase, it might be a Nomad Grill, the 28-pound portable cooker that just hit the market thanks to a couple of Bishop Arts-based entrepreneurs.

The pandemic has been touted as a harbinger of doom for hospitality businesses. The industry has been unduly affected by COVID-19 fallout, and dozens of bars and restaurants have closed across Dallas-Fort Worth. But one sector refuses to go down quietly.

There are plenty of reasons to get away for awhile.
The current state of the world comes to mind. But also: The increasing ability to work from anywhere means that location is often no longer tied to one's job.
So, it really makes you consider whether you want to live through another harsh winter, or continue rubbing elbows with strangers in a crowded city.
If you'd like to leave town for an extended period of time without actually buying or renting a new place, that can be arranged. Hotels a...

As seasons change, so do our drinking habits. Warmer weather tends to bring out the Aperol Spritzes, Gin & Tonics and white wines, while peaty scotches and big, bold cabernets are shelved for a later date. The same reality applies to beers, with lighter styles like pilsners and lagers favored over coffee stouts and boozy imperial IPAs during the hot summer months. But hop heads looking for more sessionable lower-ABV beers can still get their fix.

After 15 years working as an attorney, including 10 spent practicing civil litigation in Fort Worth, Markus Kypreos took the next logical step in his career — he started a distillery.