Meddlesome Moth

CampusCrew

Florida

4.55/5  rDev +7.6%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4.5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 5 | $$$

Wow.... definitly the fanicier beer establishment I have ever been to. The place it straight up pimped out. At first I was like this place will never make because it obvoius they spent a fortune to start up. But, I found out from the waiter that the Flying saucer owners on this too. So now i no where the backign comes from. They'll be fine....

This palce it top notch fine diding that lives up to menu hype. I had steak frites and it was fantastic but other mates had fish and chips and they said it was superb. Beer menu is way above avergae. Wonderful place and somethign differnt. If you can handle fine dining, thi sis the place for you.

09-17-2010 03:24:31 | More by CampusCrew

HardTarget

Texas

3.95/5  rDev -6.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3.5 | food: 4.5 | $$$

Atmosphere: A nice upscale place, low light, able to have a conversation, crowd seems a bit yuppy Dallasite, not a hippy hangout by any means.

Service: Friendly, professional, but a little lacking in beer knowledge. I've been twice and both times the servers didn't really know much about beer, once bringing me the wrong beer.

Selection: A good, but not great selection. Maybe I've become a little jaded, but I expected to see some more local representation. They did have some Live Oak Hefe, which is always nice.

Food: This is where they shine. Bacon Lollipops were decedent.

Value: Pricey, but worth it. Small plates mean you can get out with a reasonable bill.

Overall: I try to visit whenever in town.

11-25-2011 02:02:28 | More by HardTarget

wolffman17

Texas

4.25/5  rDev +0.5%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 4.5 | $$$

Meddlsome Moth is a gastropub located in the Design District just northwest of downtown Dallas. It seems to be on its own as far as restaurants and bars in an area that otherwise consists of interior design shops and galleries. Owned by the same people that brought us the Flying Saucer chain.

First impression upon entering is that it is clean, modern (but not necessarily trendy, thankfully), and minimalistic. This creates a calm vibe and is a nice change from the usual visual clutter of typical beer bars. "New American" restaurant feel. Hostess seats guests. Tables and booths fill the dining area to the right; long bar area on the left. A long, skinny table in the bar area separates the two spaces. There is also a nice, large outdoor dining area for times when the weather permits. Three large stained glass "windows" are mounted on the sloped back wall of the dining room. Apparently these were acquired from Hard Rock. A mish-mash of reclaimed tiles from the previous occupants make up the floor. One unexpected detail I noticed midway through our meal is that they installed soundproofing foam, like the type you would see in a recording studio, on the ceilings. This seems to really help with the volume level, and my wife and I had no problem hearing each other at normal speaking levels. Big plus considering how loud restaurants and bars can get. A nice place, but not stuffy at all; appropriate for casual on up.

On to the beer. 40 taps, 75 bottles. Keeping with the clean design, the taps themselves are missing the usual brewery specific tap handles and instead use the basic black knob. Beer names are written above the handles on a black chalkboard. Looks good, but finding a particular beer can be more difficult than usual. Draft selection is American weighted including a good local representation. No BMC. Two cask engines. Specialty casks are brought in on a regular basis. Draft prices range mostly from $5 to $7 with some a dollar or two more. On this particular visit, my wife and I enjoyed New Belgium Eric's Ale, Live Oak Pilz, and Old Rasputin (nitro). Excellent, high quality selection and just the right quantity...no need for a dizzying 100 taps, 400 bottles. One big positive note is the available glassware. The regular pints are served in a 16oz nonic pint glass (this is a smaller nonic, not the 20oz British style). There is also 22oz Weizen glasses, 16oz Pilsner glasses, and 12oz (I believe) tulips for Belgians, specialty, and higher ABV offerings. Looks like there is also logo'd glassware for serving certain brands. I cannot state how exciting it is to see that many styles of glasses.

The food menu is where "The Moth" really attempts to separate itself from the typical beer centric spot. "New American" comes to mind again. Salads, mussels, and fish & chips meet artic char, shin of beef, meat pies, and bone marrow. Eccentric and interesting to say the least. The menu lends itself to sharing and makes for a unique meal given the potential for many atypical combinations. Seared tuna salad, mussels & frites, cold potato leek soup make for an unfamiliar yet tasty Saturday lunch, considering the beer focus. Refreshing experience. Prices are appropriate given the quality and originality. This is not the place to go to if looking for an inexpensive outing, relatively (to other beer spots) speaking...three beers and three plates came to a little under $50 pre-tip for lunch. Another lay-out observation: the kitchen is completely open to the bar and dining area. I like this idea a lot and adds positively to the overall experience.

Attentive, seemingly knowledgeable service. Not many downsides to this place, though I wonder how accepting it would be if a patron arrives solely for beer, but can't find a spot at the bar and insists for a table in the dining area.

Overall, Meddlesome Moth is a great addition for beer enthusiasts in Dallas and really, for Texas in general. Biggest pluses for me is the low volume level and large glassware selection. I will definitely attempt to visit any time I'm in Dallas. I think the highest compliment I can give is I wish Houston had its own version of The Moth.

07-26-2010 17:25:45 | More by wolffman17

Daniellobo

District of Columbia

4.78/5  rDev +13%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$$

The Meddlesome Moth is a top notch craft beer locale in Dallas. I might in fact be "the" top notch spot in the city, although I'd need further visits to verify that assumption. In any case it is an upscale beer gastro pub with good brews, nice food, and an overall very recommendable experience.

The local offers a contemporary design, dark, warm, with touches of decoration nodding to the stained glass of an abbey in the main dining area, which sits next to a nice exposed kitchen, located after a nice, and long linear bar.

I visited with local friends during my last visit to Dallas. None of them had been before and were psyched to give it a go.
The beer selection was phenomenal, great rotation of taps with a good broad range, some stimulating specials, and a cask engine. The bottled menu is pretty solid, hitting well most of the classics, with some nice local selections, as well as a couple of rarities. And it did the job rather nicely to please all the very different beer palates that we had sitting a the table.

The place is maybe over the "a bit pricey" bracket, but it is line with similar establishments. Perhaps more so around the food, given the small size/quality ration and how it works on a 5 people table like ours. Main selection is gastro/pub/tapas shareables, with nice choices, well taken care of. And pretty tasty nevertheless, which helped made for a memorable experience.

Staff was very friendly and knowledgeable. We were taken care of by Angelica, which handled a big table, with vocal characters with admirable skill. She knew very well her menu, and when in doubt she recognized so and found the answer, shared useful honest opinions and recommendations, and was always eager to offer splash samples, and take care of our quirkiness. Top notch service. We also had a brief salute with the manager on the way out, very friendly and approachable, and apparently doing the right things to solidify the business.

The Meddelesome Moth is a place certainly worth the experience, and all the locals that I brought on my visit were very pleased, and left sure to keep it on top of their beer agendas, and looking forward to a revisit.

02-15-2011 04:16:09 | More by Daniellobo

coldriver

Texas

4.1/5  rDev -3.1%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4.5 | $$

visited on a Saturday afternoon. A little surprised that they had valet parking going on with the self parking a block away. Great selection of taps with lots of local Texas and other crafts with not a Miller lite in sight. They were in their afternoon to dinner transition and the bar staff situation was very confusing with four different bartenders waiting on us over the course of a few hours, often two (or sometimes none) at the same time. But all-in-all the service was pretty good with very knowledgeable bartenders. Really liked the easy to read chalk boards over the taps - would like to see that elsewhere in the DFW area. A little uneasy on the vibe - it's a beer bar trying to be an upscalish restaurant. Bar area was attracting beer-nerd types with the restaurant (which is open to the bar) attracting a very different cliental. Didn't try the food but it looked interesting. Overall a very enjoyable beer venue.

08-28-2011 22:10:30 | More by coldriver

Onslow

Texas

3.23/5  rDev -23.6%
vibe: 2.5 | quality: 3 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5 | food: 2 | $$$$

Stopped by on a nice quiet afternoon, maybe 20 people in the house .. . cruised the tap chalk board (chalkboard, love that feature for a tap wall) and found only one new brew and it was the one i hoped for, Pecker Wrecker (tasty!) .. . Very upscale feel to this place, not quite pretentious but hell, the food menu is very much so.. shared 2 different pies, not labeled as POT pies but pies, and frankly, they were terrible, the chicken tasted spoiled but the lamb was decent, but muddled.. I don't see the magic of this place at all, just a yuppie bar to me, but if i am there again, i will definitely give it another go just in case,... so many beer guys love it so i do have respect for it.. just didn't gel with me this time..

06-18-2011 01:46:37 | More by Onslow

Mora2000

Texas

4.13/5  rDev -2.4%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$$

Very nice beer bar/gastro pub in the Oaklawn area of Dallas. The bar features 40 taps, with some that rotate and others that stay on permanently. The food is upscale and a little expensive, but most of it is pretty nice. Some of the plates are basic such as fish and chips and burgers, while others are more adventuresome such as sweetbreads with bacon jam and bone marrow. Other offerings such as the cheese plate and pork platter are way overpriced for what they offer. The bar taps rarer casks and kegs on Wednesday. Past tappings have included Stone IRS aged on American Oak. There is also a large wine and spirits menu if that interests you. A newer place, but one that has great potential.

09-12-2010 05:57:12 | More by Mora2000

shoky01

Texas

4.5/5  rDev +6.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 5 | $$$

Visited the Moth for the first time this weekend. It was recommended to us by almost every other place we hit in Dallas. It was relatively easy to find although there was a little construction near it. The free parking lot was a short walk away, would be nice to park close without valet but its nice joint so its understandable.

Walking in we felt a bit underdressed. For a bar/lounge place it was very upscale and trendy. We almost got a table but since we were only interested in the beer we sat at the bar. Very comfy stools btw. The 40 taps or so they had were all nicely arranged with chalk board above to write whatever was on that tap, guess they change them often enough.

We got there during a cellar fest, so they had afew rare and cellared beers either on tap or bottled. I had the Mikkeller Black Hole (red wine), which was really awesome. The beer selection in general was impressive, rivaling that of the Flying Saucer.

All in all i liked the place, but it was a bit pricey and we didnt even eat. Couldnt go there as often id go to the Saucer just for that reason. But for special occasions it would fit just fine.

11-29-2011 02:52:09 | More by shoky01

fragilehearted

Texas

4.33/5  rDev +2.4%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$$

I've been here only once before, and with DFH 120 on tap, it was high time I paid a second visit. Parking is "free" valet (which you obviously would tip, so not free), which I personally can't stand at all, but since it's hip/upscale, I understand. BF & I elected to instead use the plain ol' street parking just a little ways down. I expect there might not be as much of that convenience at a busier time, though, so keep that in mind.

The overall atmosphere/vibe is a great. Slightly upscale and trendy, but still quirky (loved the music) and not snobby. We were both wearing jeans and didn't feel uncomfortable, but it was for an early dinner rather than a night out, so just keep that in mind. Since it was early in the evening, bf and I got a huge comfy booth to ourselves. The clientele appeared to be foodies or beer nerds also wanting that "only served on tap in Texas" DFH 120.

Service was good but nothing extraordinary. Waitress wasn't able to answer a question about an ingredient on the menu, but she was more than happy to run back to the kitchen to check for us. I've had better luck at the bar the last time I was there - those people seem to know their stuff, which is great for a place like this.

Selection is lots and lots of beer. The bottle list is generally what you can get at your craft beer bottle shop (and with the markup, wasn't that interested); however, their taps are great. Love the chalkboard - after all, that tap list is always changing. They do rare/special tappings frequently and post about them on social media (Facebook/Twitter), so it's very helpful if you've got your eye out for something specific and special. The taps are reasonably priced for what you're getting (my DFH 120 was $6 for the glass - again, remember, this is a nice place). No crap beer at this place.

The food is well...I felt like I was eating from menus from Top Chef. It is upscale, no doubt about it. I liked the small plates for sharing, definitely helpful for big groups. The food is in the "a bit pricey" (a bit, not overly) area for what you get. It's fancy food, but the menu is overly complicated in my opinion if I can find several words and wonder "What the hell is that?" It's for foodies, and I'm not that. But the quality was great, I'll give them that. Got my bf to try tofu for crying out loud!

Overall, if you're in Dallas and you like beer, you should try this. However, not really going to be a regular hangout for me, since I don't live in the neighborhood. I'd consider it a special treat type of place.

01-02-2012 08:08:11 | More by fragilehearted

jcipa88

Massachusetts

4.68/5  rDev +10.6%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4.5 | $$$

I was visiting the Moth for the first time, was there on a short vaca. in Dallas. I gotta say - this place has something special.

On the website - this phrase is noted: "Chances are if you've seen it in a commercial, we don't serve it". I absolutely love it, and 100% true. Knowledge about the beer list (tap and bottles) was superb. Great options for the local breweries as well. Had the 512 Pecan Porter and the Jester King Wytchmaker IPA (both from Austin) were very smooth and tasty.

It definitely leans towards the step above your avg. beer bar, and its location is in with other commercial businesses on Oaklawn, about a 4-5 min cab ride from the Dallas Hyatt.

They have an out-door patio set for having a pint and enjoying it between friends. Definitely a cool place to check out.

11-23-2010 19:06:45 | More by jcipa88