Want some live music with your food hall experience? Legacy Plano is the move. The bar up on the second floor has a fantastic perch to look down over the live music area and stay out of the commotion. The vendors are constantly rotating to keep the experience fresh, but there are always good options for barbecue, Tex Mex, and fried chicken. And this food hall doesn’t shirk on desserts—there are always multiple vendors with a sweet treat.

Harvest Hall is attached to the Hotel Vin next door and an outdoor public plaza that is part of the Grapevine Main project, offering plenty of space to ramble. The food options aren’t numerous and tend to repeat spots you’ll see franchising to other food halls—you can get a solid bowl from Monkey King Noodle Company or Chick & Biscuit platter here. Coming for the train-inspired decor, a novelty in this part of the world, and the access to Grapevine.

As the Village expands its restaurant offerings, of course a food hall was on the menu. This one is small and has limited parking—it seems designed to service inhabitants of the nearby apartment complexes rather than inviting the whole city over. But it’s a nice hang for a sunny day with multiple porches overlooking their soccer and softball fields, plus a massive bar that services raw seafood and has 360 views of the fields and the entire hall. 

Trinity Groves has been on the struggle bus throughout the pandemic. Its mission statement of collecting new restaurant concepts in an incubator seems to have stalled out. But, the new direction featuring numerous outdoor bars with extensive lawn seating, games, and TVs to watch those games seems to be going swimmingly. Beto & Sons keeps expanding and is still one of the best spots for Mexican in Dallas. A few new vendors have opened up as spring comes on, and it is jockeying to become one of the places to see and be seen in South Dallas again.

The Farmer’s Market is a favorite of the neighborhood, servicing the apex of Downtown, Uptown, and Deep Ellum. With so many stalls, it offers more choices than almost every other food hall in the area. Grab a coffee at Market Provisions or do the weekly shopping at the multiple on-site butchers—or Rex’s Seafood. And, of course, the Shed is open on weekends for a proper farmer’s market shopping experience.

Arlington weighs in with a food hall with the tagline: “sports watch capital of Texas.” No matter what your sport is, they’re playing it somewhere. Plus, grab a plate from Lockhart Smokehouse or just a slice and a taco to go with your Revolver Brewery beer. Of course, there are multiple bar options to root for your favorite team from and watch some live performances.

Slip into a bespoke food hall in Arlington, where all the vendors offer Asian food and drink, with the decor reflecting a largely Chinese spirit. From Vietnamese coffee to traditional dim sum and bao buns, this is a very civilized, if limited, take on the idea.