You know the saying: One Dallas guy’s man cave is another’s … cocktail den, pizza shop and backyard bar called Kilmac’s.
Maybe that’s not the saying.
But it could be: As the story goes, Oak Cliff resident Ron Patterson lived near West Davis Street. He bought a former mechanic’s garage, and on pleasant days, he’d throw open the doors to reveal the lounge he’d built for himself with TVs, ping-pong and pool tables. Patterson died in 2021, and Dallas bar owner Feargal McKinney — whom Dallasites know as founder of Irish pub The Old Monk — bought Patterson’s home and man cave.
After more than a year of construction and permitting, Patterson’s former hangout is now Kilmac’s. It opens March 25, 2026, yet already has a story to tell.
Restaurant News
Inside the front door at Kilmac’s is a dark room with a big bar.
Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer
The interior is dark, and the Santa Muerte mezcal drink garnished with a jalapeño feels just right under a low-lit candelabra. But out in the garden, it’s like a sunny seat in the Hill Country where a bartender might toss a High Noon out of the 1966 refurbished Airstream trailer parked in the corner.
The vibe here — young, but open to all — feels like an Oak Cliff drinking spot Patterson might have liked, the owners said.
“I think he’d pick a favorite stool and never get off it,” McKinney said.
Outside of Kilmac’s is a sunny garden with an Airstream bar.
Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer
Investing in Oak Cliff
One of the first things to know about Kilmac’s is it’s next door to Dallas’ second Old Monk. Some 26 years after the original Old Monk opened on Henderson Avenue in East Dallas, McKinney and his team opened one on West Davis Street in Oak Cliff, hoping to reach a new audience of Dallas pubgoers without watering down the original.
That they opened a second bar next door shouldn’t be a surprise: This team picks a block and sticks to it. On Henderson Avenue, for instance, McKinney opened The Old Monk, then The Skellig, then Spider Murphy’s.
McKinney said his two newest bars in Oak Cliff are “deliberately not competing. They’re complementing.
“Maybe it gives people a reason to drive down and try two places.”
What to eat and drink
The cocktail list is 70% classics, said operating partner Charles Reis, a visionary behind Kilmac’s.
Co-owner Charles Reis (left) and general manager Cameron Westmoreland are two of several who created Kilmac’s in Oak Cliff.
Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer
Options include a daiquiri with toasted coconut rum that tastes like summer ($16); and an old-fashioned with a Guinness beer reduction ($17), a nod to the Irish pub next door.
Martinis continue to be popular, Reis said, and Kilmac’s version is an ice-cold mix of gin with hints of saffron, plus vermouth and a touch of sweetness from Cocchi Americano. The $17 cocktail is the result of dozens of iterations to find the best martini recipe to suit Kilmac’s, Reis said.
“There are a million different ways to make a martini. We made so many.” (Vodka drinkers, Kilmac’s will make a martini for you, too, though the gin martini will be the bar’s signature.)
At happy hour from 5 to 7 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays, cocktails cost $9.
For food, Kilmac’s offers about a dozen pizzas, from straight-ahead pepperoni to drunken pepperoni with vodka sauce and jalapeño, each $19. Reis expects bargoers to order a 12-inch pie and share it. The crust is thick enough to hold a slice in one hand — important, when there might be a drink in the other.
The Piccante pizza at Kilmac’s is topped with soppressata (Italian pork salami), Calabrian chiles, tomato sauce, mozzarella, whipped ricotta, Mike’s Hot Honey and basil, $19.
Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer
Dallas pizza consultant Lee Hunzinger is behind the New York-inspired pizzas. Customers can also order Hunzinger’s garlic knots served with warm marinara ($12) as a snack.
A small neon sign outside of Kilmac’s welcomes customers to the bar. The longtime building on West Davis Street in Oak Cliff was once a mechanic’s garage, then a man cave.
Elías Valverde II / Staff Photographer
To make this bar come to life, in-house creative Anne Combs traveled to the Hill Country and to New Mexico. The room also has hints of Ireland, where McKinney was born and where his team has traveled for R & D.
Kilmac’s has some similarities to The Skellig on Henderson Avenue, but it was created specifically for this Oak Cliff neighborhood.
“We all feel really confident about what it is,” Reis said.
Kilmac’s is at 814 W. Davis St., Dallas. Open Wednesdays through Sundays. Evenings only, for now.