Nodding Donkey was...fine. But that's about it, and there is definite room for improvement. The very first impression I got was trying to speak to a rude bartender, who was more interested in talking to his friends than engaging with new customers, only informing me of the open seating policy after multiple attempts to speak to him. Once seated, our waiter was a much friendlier change of pace, though again, seemed very disinterested to be there. We ordered brunch on a slow Sunday with a mimosa and a bloody mary. The food was good, but the drinks were TINY and very watered down. We were seated outside with our dog and asked for a bowl of water, which didn't come until the very end of the meal after asking twice. I can't think of any better way to describe this place than "just fine". It wouldn't be my first choice, if anything I'd go primarily for happy hour drinks (hopefully not 75% water), but for the area of Uptown they are in, there's plenty of other options with better service and tastier drinks. read more

Great spot to hit for brunch. We stumbled upon this place and were happy we did. Got seated right away and the food was delicious. Highly recommend the brisket tacos! My boyfriend got the eggs Benedict and was very pleased. Staff was nice and attentive. Next time I will try the BBQ grilled cheese Only taking away a star because the table was very sticky and bothered me the whole time. read more

Nodding Donkey Uptown - Eggs Benedict from the brunch menu! - Barbeque Near Me - Dallas, Texas

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Good drinks, good food, good service, good tv setup. Whoever controls the aux cord plays only father daughter dance songs.

Great spot to watch some games on a Sunday afternoon - Open layout, good drinks and eats. I went with "donkey balls" because you can't not order something with a name like that! Could have used a couple more tv's in the area by the kitchen, my entire side of our table had no game view but overall a good experience. read more

Nodding Donkey Uptown - Donkey Balls - Barbeque Near Me - Dallas, Texas

Waited 30 min at a table no service. Was a frequent customer but I won't be back now.

Boy oh boy has this place changed since I was last here. Service is horrible! Mind you the servers are so nice but it's like they are ridiculously short staffed. We went a good 30 minutes without drink refills (water and alcohol). Food is absolutely horrible. My boyfriend got a burger. I took a bite and it tasted like it was microwaved meat. No grill flavor. My chicken sandwich was ok but it was ridiculously small. I'm a meal prepper and I weigh my food weekly to prep. This chicken breast was maybe a 4 oz piece. Standard at a restaurant is 6 oz. It came with lettuce, lots of cheese, one tiny tomato piece and a mayo dressing. The waffle fries were the best part of the meal. When we got our tab I couldn't help but laugh. $10 for a house wine yet it's $7 for a Titos and water. The house Chardonnay I got had a bad bite. Not a fan. Valet here stinks. And I mean that literally. The guy is so lazy. We pulled up and he didn't move. I had to walk up to him and ask if he was even valet before he said oh ya I'll take your car. When we are leaving I had to tap him on the shoulder and ask him to get out car. It took him more then 5 minutes to bring our car. He seemed out of it and we should have known better than to trust him with our keys. Overall I'm upset with how this place has fallen. Judging by the current clientele it's become a place for people to eat mediocre food and just get wasted. If you're looking for a place to hangout on a patio and eat good food I suggest looking elsewhere. read more

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First time Nodding Donkey guest. Rhonda the bartender was absolutely amazing. The service was incredible and the drinks were delicious. I will be taking all my friends here for the next happy hour. Great people great music fun for everyone. read more

Worst service ever. This place isn't even deserving of one star. My friends and I walked in, sat down and it took us 20 minutes before we finally got up and walked out. Not a single person came to our table. What made it worse was multiple waitresses walked by our table multiple times and didn't even acknowledge us. They all had RBF and looked miserable to be working there as well. Such a cold group of employees. Unless you can get a seat at the bar, pass on this place. read more

Went to watch football today. The door guy said they were at capacity and wouldn't let me in. Then while I was standing there a cute girl walked up and he let her right in. read more

Love this place! Lola and Logan were the best servers ever! Attentive, kind and efficient! Love the happy hour deals! Get the chicken tenders- they are amazing! read more

I needed a place to watch my World Cup. They have tons of tv and Open door patio. They also have Dallas blondes. This is a beer place and not where you get fancy cocktails. Perfect place to see any game. read more

Nodding Donkey Uptown - Barbeque Near Me - Dallas, Texas

Fun to stop by here and watch the NCAA games last week. They have some great bites and a large drink selection. read more

Nodding Donkey Uptown - Barbeque Near Me - Dallas, Texas

Watched the super bowl here! The atmosphere was very fun. A classic dimly lit sports bar with the beer logo signs along the walls and large TVS that can be seen from all tables. They even have a nice outdoor patio that has a large TV visible and cornhole to play. Located on a cute townhome street and feels like a safe area. Also across the street from another bar I have yet to visit so might be fun for bar hopping! Overall great service, waiters were very attentive and friendly, and a great sports atmosphere with lots of large tables to accommodate big groups as well as small ones. I enjoyed my time! read more

This is the best sports bar in the world!!! I've been coming to the Nodding Donkey for 4 years and it never disappoints. You never know what you're gonna get at the donkey except for one thing: the bartenders. I've been here before and have seen guys drinking beers out of their boot. I've had a buddy order a Michelob Ultra and be served a ranch dressing instead. I've seen people throw ice across the bar at opposing fans. Throughout it all, the bartenders have always been amazing and the food surprisingly good. Johnny, Rhonda, Ashton and Gabe always have a smile on their face and take care of their customers to the max. Best bartenders I've ever had. This place is awesome. There is no better place to watch a sporting event. They have a million TVs and show all the games on an NFL Sunday. When the weather is nice the exterior doors are up and you get a nice sunny day breeze and the vibe of both an outdoor patio and a Texas saloon. read more

Carmen took such great care of us on an extremely busy OU TX game day. She made her we had waters at times and were taken care of on the drink and food front. You would never have known she was super busy! Thank you Carmen!!!! read more

Chicken quesadilla: I've never had a better quesadilla at a bar. I'm impressed by the refried black beans and tortilla quality in particular. 10/10 recommend. read more

Nodding Donkey Uptown - Chicken Quesadilla - Barbeque Near Me - Dallas, Texas

Terrible bar staff. Most of them look like they hate their lives. Went to watch a KU game and left at half because they were terrible to everyone around the bar. Clearly switched up their food a bit to save money and now won't be getting anymore of mine. read more

great ambiance and great crowd. our server and food runners were incredibly nice and quick on saturday, considering there was a huge crowd for the game. but the bartenders need to get a grip. they were incredibly rude. i understand it is busy and not an easy job, but kindness, or even tolerance, goes a really long way. not long after giving us our drinks a male bar tender walks up to us and tells one of our friends 'make sure you tell all your friends, that if they don't want to tip well we won't serve yall well' with the rudest tone. I understand a 15% tip is not a 20% tip, but in no way did it warrant a man walking up to us and yelling at one of our friends. normally i hand a cash tip to our main bar tender at the end of the night but i decided against it for that night and gave it to our waitress. this put a really bad taste in my mouth and we were ready to leave. we will more than likely not be back because of this experience. wildly inappropriate. read more

Cool bar in Uptown. Stopped in to catch one of the NBA finals games. Outside patio wraps around the side/front - with some cornhole games on the one side. There are several tvs throughout the bar area - wish some of them were a little bigger, since there were different sports on different screens, otherwise you would have to sit strategically to try to get a good view of your game. (Ok admittedly I am half blind, BUT what looked like primarily 29" maybe 32" screens attached high on the walls were not helping me ). There were some random bigger screens interspersed. Staff was friendly. Service was prompt. Good energy level throughout the bar for the game. To eat, Had a Brisket Grilled Cheese on wheat - Pretty Tasty! Drinks were actually good - I had the Twisted Mule, and the Twisted Mimosa also caught my eye (classic Mimosa with vodka added). Biggest disappointment - drinks specials normally offered during the week were not valid on game days! So 2 drinks ran me $20! With a couple of other fave sports bars in the vicinity, (all with great drink specials) I think I'll pass on this one for sports event viewing, BUT not opposed to going back on a regular day to have some HH drinks with the friends. read more

Great bar and wonderful service. Leslie took amazing care of us and our pizzas were phenomenal. I

We had a group of 13 from out of town. We were so well taken care of by Ashley! On top of the wonderful service we received, the food was amazing! I would highly recommend this place. read more

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Terrible service. The waitress are extremely rude and it took 10 mins to not get served and we had to order at the bar which smelled very sour. May 7th @ 7:35 read more

Nodding Donkey is one of my favorite sports bars in Dallas! My football team is often blacked out in our market (go Steelers!) but I know the Nodding Donkey at least will always have their games. Plus, they play sound which is surprisingly rare here for some reason! The drinks are strong and good (I love their summer beers), and the food is delicious, especially the wings and pizza - definitely not your typical half-hearted sports bar fare! The only negative is when it gets packed, it can take forever for your server to come by each time however on less busy days the service is usually great - I just think they need to hire more people for game days, however I understand that's pretty difficult to do nowadays unfortunately read more

This is a nice spot that I'd probably frequent if I lived closer. We were just there on Saturday night doing a live draft for our fantasy football league. We had a whole back area all to ourselves which was nice. Glad they could accommodate us. It was a little loud, but overall it worked well. I didn't eat any of the food there, but I did drink. The waitress was attentive. The atmosphere of the restaurant was nice. It seems like it'd be a good spot to hang out and watch a game. I suggest this place to anyone who is looking for a nice sports bar or a place to do a fantasy draft. It has the perfect vibe. read more

Nodding Donkey Uptown - Back room where we did our fantasy football draft. Perfect spot for that. - Barbeque Near Me - Dallas, Texas

Awesome place to watch football..every game is on..volume where it should be...on the Cowboys! errrrrrrrrr. wait. let me rephrase this. If you are hot natured this is a great place. Was here on a Sunday and I was fine and cozy, till they decieded to "unzip the restaurants front wall". omg. it was freakin freezing. I was miserable. the table next to me with 2 guys told him not to zip it, he obliged then he came to our table... and my fiancée asked him no to unzip it. and he said well I kinda have to?. . you kinda? or you have to? which is it? needless to say they unzipped it and my fiancée made the 5 block trek to the car to bring me a hoodie and I was still cold even with that. FOOD: I ordered the brisket grilled cheese.. gross. Idk how this thing is so highly regarded. the meat had BBQ sauce so it made it very soggy and thus made the bread one big soggy sponge, gross. it was just gross. the french fries were good however, and at those to compensate for the lack of crunch the grilled cheese should have had. I had looked forward to this place since dining in the area a few months back and I just couldnt wait to get out of there to be honest. read more

I loved living in State Thomas Uptown, having local bars and restaurants in walking distance. Nodding Donkey just wasn't my style. Nodding Donkey is your spot in the neighborhood if you're ready to *party* and go hard watching sports games. I stopped in a couple times, attracted to the energetic crowd. However, I was disappointed because the service was slow and the drinks were meh. Maybe I'm bougie or maybe I'm a donkey but I'll just be nodding hi as I walk right on by. *nodding donkey is boozy not bougie* read more

Great place to watch a game with friends and grab some food. It was really busy last time we went but had a table for us. The food was great especially for the about of people in the place. read more

i used to hate this place when it was new but now most of the D-bags have moved to Katy Trail Ice House, thank goodness... I like the food the smokey guacamole is awesome they have the silver bowl salad from state&allen lounge which i love and they have tv's everywhere! the service is good can get a little overpacked for comfort on the weekends but a good neighborhood ice house read more

Great place to catch some NFL games on Sundays. Friend and I got stuck in a corner table that was awkward to get to and the TV's were right over your head. We asked to move tables when one opened up. Get the Donkey Punch pitcher! You think it's all fun and games until you try to stand up and feel it. Parking is tough in this area. Valet here was 5 bucks or something? read more

Nodding Donkey is my favorite spot in Dallas to watch sports. I've always had great service and a great experience. Watched Gabe bend over backwards to find a game on tv that wasn't even advertised to be on that channel. The last couple times I've come here, I've had Cori as a server and the service is always top tier! read more

Stopped by here for happy hour with a friend and we absolutely loved it! Pros: + Great Happy Hour Deals +Ziegenbock on tap! + Plenty of indoor seating + Decent choice on appetisers +Wine specials for those who aren't beer fans Cons - difficult to access from main road - limited parking All in all, decent spot for a quick drink read more

I love the setup of this place...it's all outside, well at least when I went to watch the NBA finals. The mist fans kept us cool and there were TVs everywhere. We sat at the tables on the sidewalk and we still had a good view of the game. I will definitely say that the restaurant itself is the best part. Our waiter though...he was O-K. He didn't seem very happy. He wasn't exactly THE friendliest. As far as the food and drinks are concerned, they are definitely A-ok. I ordered the Donkey Punch to start off with *blank stare* tasted like pineapple juice and, well that's it LoL. Gave me NO buzz AT ALL. To eat, I had the Texas Baja Salad w/ the Champagne Vinaigrette, which had NO taste, so I tried the Red Ranch, which was THE BEST. Such a great smokey flavor! Probably the best part of the salad, BESIDES the smoked chicken that I substituted with the grilled chicken and the warm, whole wheat flour tortillas that came on the side. I did try the The Stacked Up Nachos off of my friend's plate, now THEY were good. Lots of goodness on top! Now, I'm not going to give up on The Nodding Donkey just yet, because I heard that the brunch is GREAT. Like EVERYTHING on the menu. So, I will be back for that, probably for a Sunday Funday. read more

Great food, got amazing wings and a Turkey melt. Good spot to watch NFL games on a Sunday.

Nodding Donkey is a great sports bar to watch sports games (especially if you want to watch multiple games at once)! The staff is super attentive and the bar food is pretty amazing and unique in my opinion. This place has become one of my regular spots for sports! read more

I was visiting a friend who lived in the area, so Nodding Donkey was a short walking distance. I was pretty exited when I saw that it was the kind of sports bar that was pretty open to the street, and the weather was pretty good that day. We went for happy hour and I was honestly expecting a little bit more... My group ordered a few ciders, and it turns out they weren't part of the specials - something that our waitress did NOT do a good job of informing us even when we asked her about happy hour specials. So when the checks came, we were a wee bit surprised... She wasn't very attentive to use as time went on, which I can understand since it was a bit busy, but I still hold it against her for the lack of info prior to ordering. Also, they don't have any specials on appetizers (which blew my mind, because I'm used to happy hours with food...), so I wouldn't come here if you're hungry. I settled for a large order of Stacked Up Nachos ($11.95), which were still decent. The place still does really well though - large groups come here to drink I suppose. The drink specials look pretty good (but I'm still a bit bitter about my small mason jar of $6 cider). read more

Nodding Donkey Uptown - Large order of the Stacked Up Nachos! - Barbeque Near Me - Dallas, Texas

Bouncer was on a power trip on New Years eve and denied access to a friend with an Oklahoma ID despite this location being part of a wristband event we were participating in. He was told that despite it being a legal government ID that police accept, does not mean he will accept it. Fair enough, I suppose you can deny access to people you don't like, but that is not how I would run my business. He was banned from the property. read more

Great place for big groups and parties!! Came here with maybe 50 of my classmates for a social and it was very fun! There were plenty of bartenders getting our orders done quickly. I didnt drink but my classmates loved the purple nurple, and the cheap prices during happy hour. We only ordered appetizers for everyone, and I wasn't that impressed with the queso, and thought the nachos were pretty bad (as did everyone else; they were left untouched). Parking here, especially if you have a group, is hard, so carpool/Uber!! Overall, fun place for a drink, but the food is eh!! read more

Bar is Ok. Food in the to go realm absolutely sub zero!! Wings came with no sauce after asking for it on the side and burger came with NO fries. Guys, it's not hard to satisfy. During Covid you need to work extra hard as you're fighting for dollars!! Very disappointing!! read more

The most rude servers I have ever experienced. They brought us out the wrong appetizer, we said we didn't order that, they placed it on the table and said "welp someone did" and walked away; meanwhile never receiving what we did order, we started eating the appetizer forced upon us since the one we ordered obviously wasn't coming out, when another server came up (as we were eating the fries), grabbed them from us and yelled "those aren't yours!!" and took them away, and reprimanded us. Horrible. read more

For those that are still concerned about Covid protocols, avoid the Nodding Donkey till safer times. Despite their multitude of signs that staff WILL still be wearing a mask, about half of the staff are not wearing them properly. Our sever had his on but never covered his nose. He took it off completely to talk to us. The blonde woman bartender wore hers improperly as well the entire time we were there. This was the second time we had been in one week and our first server did the same- wore it improperly. Food was decent but the service was noticeably slow and the waiters almost seemed irritated we were even there. We weren't looking for fireworks but a smile would have been nice. From reading prior reviews, it seems like a lackluster waitstaff and failure to comply with Covid protocols are known issues. Disappointed because we love supporting small, local establishments but for us, it just isn't enough to get us to go back. It's a shame cause I was looking forward to trying out the rest of the menu. Edit: Amber, thank you for your response. I get- it's been a very stressful time for the service industry. My family owns a small restaurant so I get the pressure for sure. It seems the waitstaff experience has been a consistent issue though. We may try again later when the pandemic has calmed down. (The Baja salad was good!) But, for now, we just didn't feel very safe there. read more