76 September 19 - 25, 2024 dallasobserver.com DALLAS OBSERVER CONTENTS | READERS’ PICKS | SHOPPING & SERVICES | ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT | FOOD & DRINK | SPORTS & RECREATION Best Place to Watch Lowriders Jefferson Boulevard, Oak Cliff For those of us who love cars, what’s cooler than a lowrider? Someone takes an otherwise unimpressive car, slaps on fresh paint, a clean interior and a lowered suspension, and creates a new, beautiful project. We love to watch ’em cruise, and on some Saturday nights you can take a little trip and see them rolling up and down the 200 block of Jefferson Boulevard by The Texas Theater. It’s a great place to catch rolling works of art and see someone’s passion project. Best Place to Spot a Celebrity Dolly Python Dolly Python in Old East Dallas and its sister Bishop Arts location have long held real estate on our annual Best Of Dallas issue as recurring recommenda- tions. The shops have an outstandingly curated collection of vintage clothes and excitingly weird curiosities that make it worth the visit every time. And now they offer more glitzy sightings than Los An- geles’ Chateau Marmont’s bar on a Sat- urday night. Dolly’s legend has spread to Hollywood (no surprise, Vogue recently named it one of the best vintage shops in the world), and it’s become a destination for celebrities visiting Dallas. Just this past year, it attracted big-name shop- pers such as Mad Men star Jon Hamm, Kanye’s nemesis Pete Davidson and in- die melancholy-pop queen Lana Del Rey. So keep your camera charged if you’re looking for a sick selfie to go with that vintage concert tee. 1914–1916 N. Haskell Ave., 214-887-3434 315 N. Bishop Ave.,214-998-0506, dollypy- thonvintage.com Best Indoor Patio The Grapevine When The Grapevine moved from its long- time Oak Lawn location to a new space in the Medical District last year, patrons quickly learned to love the place for what it is now. The dive bar is still as delightfully sexually ambiguous as Harry Styles (Is it a gay bar? A straight bar? The owners say it’s both, so yeah, it’s a bisexual bar) and has kept its best feature: the patio. The new location is much larger and still has a rowdy, large outdoor space, but it also has an indoors-ish courtyard patio where you can have the freedom to smoke without the punishment of the heat — because your body has been punished enough through smoking. We’re also happy to say that the foosball, pool tables and strangers-to- make-out-with are all still there. 2213 Butler St. 214-522-8466 Best Music Studio Luminous Sound Audio engineer Tre Nagella has four Grammy Awards, an absurdly long list of renowned clients and a bouquet of flowers he once received from Taylor Swift (which she sent after canceling a session, so Tay- lor). The producer and mixer has worked with seemingly everyone who’s relevant or even talented — from Lady Gaga, Lil Wayne, Ed Sheeran, Christina Aguilera and Ariana Grande to local heavyweights Erykah Badu and Kirk Franklin. Nagella’s Dallas studio, Luminous Sound, has become the on-speed-dial destination especially for big-time artists on big-time tours who are on a big-time deadline to get a record or song out, and for 25 years it’s been a go-to for sound mixing for TV and film. There are many sound (pun in- tended) reasons behind Luminous Sound’s popularity: It’s a state-of-the-art studio in a 6,500-square-foot space designed by a master acoustician, and most important, it holds Nagella’s unfailingly expert ear. 17120 Dallas Parkway, No. 100 972-331-7040, luminoussound.com Best Rooftop Pool The Joule The luxury Joule hotel is best known for its giant outdoor eyeball sculpture, its cool underground bar Midnight Rambler and its lower-level Taschen bookstore — Caroline Pritchard Dolly Python // BEST PLACE TO SPOT A CELEBRITY
