Adair's Saloon
Dallas, TX
I only drink when I'm drunk. But at @adairssaloon, I got a hangover from looking at the walls. Every inch is covered in vile prose, ramblings, and drunken hieroglyphics. An altar to the inebriated and the insane. Like they fed Jackson Pollock acid and let him loose with sharpies taped to his fingers.
It was the Sunday after a long and lawless weekend when I walked in. There was something familiar about the place, like the way car crashes look the same. I immediately got flashbacks from Vietnam. Yes, I fought in 'Nam. I fought for my life on a toilet in Saigon after a night out to an Apocalypse Now-themed club and an ex-pat bar by the docks where I bought nameless drugs. That was 2014. Great trip. Beautiful country.
Anyways, bars that are covered floor-to-ceiling in graffiti tend to look the same and blend together in my memory, but that's okay, because there aren't that many of them out there.
In the case of Adair's Saloon, it's been trucking along since 1963. Ann and S.L. Adair first opened the place on Cedar Springs Rd. Lois and R.L. Adair bought the place from their parents in 1977 and moved it to its current location in 1983. Two regulars, Joel Morales and Marty Monroe, bought it in 2006.
Which is oftentimes a best-case scenario. Better a couple of regulars than future condo developers. Sometimes I think all dive bars are schemes wherein the owners build equity until two regulars finally take it off their hands—crumbling foundation, leaky plumbing, and alcoholic regulars along with it. Helluva scheme, I tell ya.
But I'm glad that Adair's is still around. I eventually realized I was here sometime in 2016, probably hopped up on Four Loko and despair. It was the madness on the walls that sparked my memory. Funny how that works.
Regulars love Adair’s Saloon, and vouch for the burgers and tater tots. There's a shuffleboard table, a jukebox packed with Texas country, and regular live music. The bathroom is derelict. The bartender eyed me like a narc, but served me just the same.
If you’re still reading this, you'll like it. Give it a spin.