Long-awaited Dallas bar-restaurant Desert Racer is open on Lower Greenville — and it’s a stunner

The carefully-designed space has at least six vehicles parked inside and on the patio.

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Though Desert Racer is a sit-down restaurant, the menu has plenty of snacks for customers who want to hang out at the bar or on the patio. Loaded tater tots, pictured, can come piled high with brisket, a shallow pool of queso underneath.(Sarah Blaskovich/Staff)

Step inside Desert Racer on Greenville Avenue and it’s easy to forget you’re in Dallas. The long-awaited patio bar from Dallas restaurateur Nick Badovinus feels like a curated Santa Fe home, with its rust-colored rugs and funky choices in cacti. But there’s fun around every corner, like the Ducatis parked inside the restaurant as if somebody’s hopped off to grab a Ranch Water and a plate of tacos.

The expansive 8,000-square-foot patio is encased in cinder-block walls, which is curious from the outside: It’s as if the shenanigans during a game of cornhole or foosball will forever be a secret to anyone who didn’t come in for a drink.

When the weather warms, this patio will be one of the hottest places in Dallas for a cocktail and a plate of loaded tater tots.

Badovinus’ signature touches are all over the menu and restaurant decor. The many vehicles inside and out — including a full-sized van and a white bug — remind of Badovinus’ steakhouse Town Hearth, where a ’60s-era MG is parked inside underneath sparkling chandeliers. The five burgers on Desert Racer’s menu show anyone paying attention that Badovinus operates Off-Site Kitchen, a burger joint in West Dallas. The art is a little bit like his Perfect Union Pizza Co. in Highland Park: Instead of walls lined with prints of buses and surfers, Desert Racer has photos of cars and a neon-lit motorcycle helmet.

See the full Dallas News article

 

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8:43 PM on Dec 18, 2019

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