Happy August, y’all!

I have a college friend who just moved to North Texas, and she needs your advice. While I think I have great expertise in the nuances of this area, good advice is subjective and ever-changing. I’m sure you know someone who’s moved here recently—what do you think they need to know about the area? Your advice can cover traffic, shopping and food recs, homeowner tips, dealing with the weather, parent hacks, unspoken rules, and so much more.

So friends, hit me with your best advice for mastering the metroplex in 2026. I’d love to share your answers out in one big list, so we can all benefit from the expert knowledge in our community. Write me here.

The historic Cabana Motor Hotel was recently converted into mixed-income housing. (Renelibrary/CC BY-SA 4.0)

By Sam Cohen

The famed Cabana Motor Hotel is ready to start its new life as the Cabana Design District. 

The hotel first opened its doors to visitors in 1963. It was a place of bustling activity back then. Many of the most popular touring musicians at the time would stay at 899 N. Stemmons Freeway when passing through Dallas, as would famed writers and politicians.

Actress Raquel Welch, best known for her roles in movies like “Fantastic Voyage” and “The Three Musketeers,” worked there as a cocktail waitress before heading west and making it big in Hollywood. 

In the 1980s, though, the building was repurposed into a jail, which remained operational for the next two decades. It reinvented itself several more times before its eventual purchase by Sycamore Development in 2023.

John Oliver, host of “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” talked about Buc-ee’s history of suing companies for copyright infringement in a July 26 episode. The gas station chain has filed more than a dozen lawsuits over cartoon animal images and phonetic naming systems used in other brands’ marketing.

Oliver thinks the suits are ridiculous and called the company a bully, because, he said, the brands they sue don’t have the resources to fight against the billion-dollar beaver—but Oliver’s network, HBO, can.

So the comedian released a line of merchandise, which he’s called the Buc-off Shop, donning a cartoon rodent mascot—no really, the items are actually for purchase! All the proceeds from the sales will go to Hunger Free America. In the meantime, Oliver and HBO wait to see if Buc-ee’s will bite and sue. So far, there’s been no word from the brand.

Drunk Shakespeare is running ten shows a week through Sept. 20. (Joi Louviere/Courier DFW)

We can thank our DFW political reporter, Katie Serrano, for introducing me (and now you) to Drunk Shakespeare. She invited me to her show for her birthday recently, and it was so much fun. A group of super talented actors has figured out a way to make Shakespeare even more entertaining and dramatic than it already is by mixing in modern elements—and about six shots of tequila—to give the classic “Romeo & Juliet” a new twist.

Here’s how it works:

Showing at the Deep Ellum Art Co., the production starts with one of the five actors taking four shots of their chosen poison before the cast begins the story. The outfits are modern, the jokes are timely, and a few hijinks make the story different for every show.

One plot twist: An actor can pause the play to introduce a character whose personality is taken from their “hear me out” list—people you find attractive that others may not. That’s how Dobby from “Harry Potter” made it into the version I saw.

Another twist is that VIP guests in the Royal Experience seats can ring a bell at any time and demand to test the shot-takers’ drunkenness by having them recite a random Shakespeare sonnet. If they perform it too well (which they absolutely will), they must take another shot. These fun twists really made the show more fun than I could’ve expected.

There are QR codes at your seat that make it easy for you to order drinks throughout the show without getting up. The stage is in the center of the room, giving everyone the best view, and the interaction with the audience made our show feel like it could never be replicated. This is one of the most surprisingly fun activities I’ve done in Dallas, therefore putting it at the top of your must-try list.

Don’t sleep on this too long; the hilarious troop is only here through September. Find tickets and all the details here.

Don’t Sleep On is a weekly series where I shout out DFW events and businesses I think you should try. Have a suggestion? Reply to this email.

Thanks for reading. This newsletter was written by Joi Louviere with reporting by Sam Cohen. It was edited by Paula Solis.

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