Outpost American Tavern, Dallas

If the bar on Cheers was where everybody knew your name, then Outpost American Tavern is where everybody knows you. That's because the neighborhood spot—dreamed up by Christopher Zielke, Christopher Jeffers, and Tim Byres—cultivates the personable feel of long-broken-in taverns where patrons bellied up to share drinks, stories, and fringe political opinions on how to wear red, white, and blue together. Byres, also the chef, created the menu, which brims with small, sharable plates that bolster the eatery's homey vibe.

As diners sample steamed mussels and grilled flatbread or split a griddled onion cheeseburger, they can chat with the bartenders who mix up cocktails brimming with Ketel One vodka, Jameson whiskey, and Jim Beam Kentucky bourbon. Before you know it, everyone might start chewing along to the soundtrack of the bar's live tunes, which ring out from the tavern most nights of the week.