New O'Malley's Club

Description

New O'Malley's--featured as one of "Dallas's Most Authentic Dive Bars"--is a singlewide-sized bar on a sliver of land wedged between Zang Boulevard and Interstate 35 in the heart of Oak Cliff. And whatever change prompted the addition of the word "New" to the club name on the painted brick column that has served as the dive's sign since the '60s, it has long been forgotten. Nothing about the place--not the evil-looking leprechaun mascot by the door, not the faded orange siding on the exterior of the club, not the "Free Drinks Tomorrow" sign hanging above the liquor bottles, not the gray-haired barmaid--looks new. O'Malley's hits every dive-bar stereotype as if it runs through a checklist every morning before opening. Eight-liner video slots? Check. Lingering cigarette stench? Check. Undersized, cramped bathrooms? Check. Leather-faced old-timers who look as if they've been perched on the same spot at the bar since the Nixon administration? Check and check. The club welcomes the Irish--and anyone else. Despite the name and the leprechaun, this is no pub. It doesn't even serve Guinness.