bah, west end is too touristy..
deep ellum is an "artsy" disctrict in downtown, with the coffee-shop bean-head liberal types proliferating all the weird cafe's and tatoo parlor's
check out a couple of months ago there was an article in Maxim men's magazine about where to go in my original home town of Dallas.
btw - after a long night at the bars you HAVE to go have breakfast at Cafe Brazil.. it will be packed but its well worth the wait