One of the hottest acts in country music is singer-songwriter Parker McCollum, a two-time nominee for this year’s the 59th Academy of Country Music Awards, set for May 16 at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco. It’s the second year in a row the venue has hosted the star-studded event, this year emceed by Reba McEntire and featuring performances by Miranda Lambert, Cody Johnson, and Jelly Roll. McCollum’s nominations for Single of the Year and Visual Media of the Year for his hit "Burn It Down" – a painfully passionate song about ending a relationship – are his first since winning the ACM A ..read more

Latin grocery chain El Rio Grande Latin Market is launching a heroic campaign to win a world record. From May 3-5, the Dallas-Fort Worth chain will transform its location southeast of White Rock Lake into an "avocado wonderland" to set the Guinness World Record for largest avocado display. To do that, they've brought in 260,292 avocados, which is 86,764 pounds. Located at 3035 N Buckner Blvd., the store will kickstart its campaign on Friday May 3 with a Guinness World Record judge and a community celebration from 10 am-6 pm with mariachi bands, DJs, giveaways, a scholarship presentation, sch ..read more

A new handbag boutique is opening at the Dallas Galleria. Called Deseri, it's a Black-woman owned luxury handbag brand created and owned by UT Dallas alumna and Dallas native Deseri Kelley, and it's opening on Level 1 near Gucci, Gregory's, and Tommy Bahama, with a line of clutches, totes, wallets, regular handbags, and jewelry. Kelley, who launched Deseri in 2022 as an online shop, says she welcomes the opportunity to have a destination for customers as well as the chance to interact with customers one-on-one. The storefront became a reality after Galleria Dallas reached out, expressing int ..read more

A coffee shop with a charitable mission is opening in Dallas: Called Be Kinder Coffee, it will open its first shop at 6500 Greenville Ave. this summer. The brand, which currently sells at Denton Farmers Market, is a nonprofit whose goal is to give underserved people, mostly refugee women from Afghanistan and Ukraine, the chance to get a job, good pay, and learn the language. The organization empowers people with job opportunities and education outside of the shop as well, through classes to help them learn English as a Second Language. Owner is Jane Huong Nguyen Gow, a refugee from Vietnam h ..read more

For a profession that has been integral to the movie industry from the very start, it’s kind of strange what little public attention stunt performers get. By design, their faces are rarely seen and despite a push by some big names in Hollywood, they have yet to get recognized in a category at the Academy Awards. If the new movie The Fall Guy has anything to say about it, that will soon change. Inspired by the ‘80s TV show of the same name, the film stars Ryan Gosling as Colt Seavers, a longtime stuntman who is currently the double for action star Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). As the film ..read more

Dallas is swimming in omakase, the exclusive sushi experience served at some Japanese restaurants, featuring a series of bite-size courses presented up-close-and-personal by the chef. Nearly a dozen restaurants specializing in omakase have opened around Dallas in the past three years, and Dallas is not alone. Demand for omakase is surging across the country - the harder-to-get-in, the better. Khoa Nguyen, a project manager for a Dallas aerospace company and sushi aficionado, has pretty much tried them all. "The local sushi scene has exploded," he says. "DFW has seen a big influx of newcomers ..read more

Texas burger chain Whataburger is honoring the heroes of education with free food and some possible funds. During National Teacher Appreciation Week, the brand is rewarding the hard work of all school employees across its 15-state footprint with free breakfast and the chance to earn a grand for their school. According to a release, teachers can show their school ID on May 6-10 from 5-9 am and score the following: A free Taquito, Breakfast on a Bun, or Honey Butter Chicken Biscuit A WhataTeacher lanyard In addition, 63 teachers will be selected to receive a $1,000 grant for their school, fo ..read more

Usually we here at CultureMap limit the weekend event roundup to anywhere between 10-15 events so as not to overwhelm you, dear reader. But there are some weekends that are so jam-packed that such a limitation is impossible. With multiple festivals, a big golf tournament, bold-name concerts, and a plethora of local theater productions, we're breaking with form and listing events by category instead of date this week. Below are the best ways to spend your free time this weekend. Want more options? Lucky for you, we have a much longer list of the city's best events. Sports The CJ Cup Byron Nel ..read more

The countdown is on for CultureMap Dallas' 2024 Tastemaker Awards, our annual awards event honoring the best in Dallas food and drink. Restaurant industry stars have been nominated for awards in 10 categories, spotlighted in a special editorial series. We've already celebrated candidates for Rising Star Chef, Pastry Chef, Neighborhood Restaurant, Patios, Bars, and Bartender of the Year, as voted by our panel of esteemed judges. There is also our Best New Restaurants category, the only one where the winner gets decided not by judges but instead by readers, in a bracket-style tournament where ..read more

Much like how May is kind of an in-between month, weather-wise, this month's theater lineup is just as split. Many productions look to the past — like the founding of America, the Civil Rights movement, and even the fall of the Persian Empire — while others are all about the dystopian future that might be ahead of us. In order of start date, here are 13 local shows to watch this month: Patti & Theo Ochre House Theatre, through May 18In this new dark comedy with music that's written and directed by artistic director Matthew Posey, Patti and Theo are struggling artists in Brooklyn, New Yor ..read more