...here are a few things you should know. 1. The Cotton Bowl is a dump. 2. It is in a really crappy part of town 3. If you do not have a parking pass, you will likely be parking on someone's lawn who will charge you $10. For an extra $5, they'll promise not to block you in. After the game you will be blocked in. 4. Regardless of the forecasts now, it will be freezing cold. This is an immortal truth - it is absolutely freezing inside the Cotton Bowl on January 1st - regardless of the weather in Dallas. 5. If you are getting there the night before, which I assume you will be since the game starts at 10 freakin' am, here are some good areas to go drink and hang out. (Just ask the concierge at your hotel and they can get you to any of these areas.) Deep Ellum - About a million years ago when I was hanging out in Dallas this was a collection of a few bars in a run down warehouse area. Now it is a collection of a million bars where the young and pretty go to strut and drink. Pay a few bucks to park and walk from bar to bar. Or even better, get a cab to and from. The West End - This is a very touristy area with a lot of theme bars and such. Kind of a 'canned fun' type of area. Sing along Piano bars and the like. Good walking area where you can go from bar to bar. Greenville - A low key area where locals hang. Near SMU. Lot of good bars, but not really the place to go if you want to walk from bar to bar. You'll either have to pick a place and stay or get in your car a bunch of times.
In BR you can get into most bars at under 21(still not legal to drink). Is there anywhere like that in Dallas?
Not really. A "regular bar" will not let you in the door unless you are 21. Any of the bars that I'm thinking of would not let anybody under the age of 21 in the door. However, I recall that some dance bars (discos? I don't know what they're called really) have a different set up, where they card you and wrist-band you at the door. However, I haven't been to club like that in a long, long time so I couldn't even begin to tell you where they are or are not. Good luck. Be safe.
