"If it isn't Monday morning and your neighbors aren't sleeping, we're probably open." That's how the Dallas Observer summed up The Wild Detectives' hours in September. The line used to describe one building on West Eighth Street. It now covers two.
The second one, Wild Detectives Ideas, opened quietly on Sept. 11 in the old Sketches of Spain space at 321 N. Zang Blvd., a short walk from the original store. Now there are two event rooms. From tonight through mid-November, the bookstore holds the Monday-through-Friday evenings, and the district's outdoor events take the weekends.
Fiction on Eighth Street, Nonfiction on Zang
Both stores split their shelves by subject. The original location is now called Stories. Per the Observer, it carries fiction: novels, poetry, Spanish-language literature and children's books. Ideas holds the nonfiction: history, philosophy, journalism and culture.
| Wild Detectives Stories | Wild Detectives Ideas | |
|---|---|---|
| Address | 314 W. Eighth St. | 321 N. Zang Blvd. |
| Shelves | Fiction, poetry, Spanish-language, children's | History, philosophy, journalism, culture |
| Kitchen | Bar menu | Full kitchen, breakfast and lunch |
| Before September | The only Wild Detectives store | Sketches of Spain |
The kitchen matters most for the hours before the evening crowd. KERA reported that Iñaki Betran, the chef from Sketches of Spain, will run a bigger daytime menu at Ideas. Owner Javier Garcia del Moral told KERA the menu won't copy the Spanish restaurant. It will serve breakfast and lunch, which is more than the original store ever offered during the day, and at night the space goes back to the familiar books-and-bar setup. The Observer adds that the current bar menu stays, and the chef plans to add breakfast and seasonal dishes to the sandwiches and sweets already on it.
As of the Observer's Sept. 14 report, hours are 10 a.m. to midnight Tuesday through Sunday and 2 p.m. to midnight on Mondays. On weekdays from 3 to 6 p.m., buying a book gets you a free drink.
Six Months From Conversation to Open Door
The expansion moved fast. Garcia del Moral told KERA that he and his wife started seriously talking about a second space in March, and it opened about six months later. Space was the reason. The original store wanted more events and a bigger book selection than one building could hold. He had also seen more customers picking up nonfiction to make sense of the news, and that shaped what the new store would stock.
The Dallas Morning News reported that Sketches of Spain would close July 19 so The Wild Detectives could expand into the space. Garcia del Moral was a co-owner of both businesses. KERA said work on the bookstore had already started by the time the restaurant closed. The opening itself was a last-minute call. "Honestly we made the decision about 24 hours before," Garcia del Moral told KERA. A proper opening weekend came later, Oct. 2 through 4, with the store's "Happy Book Hour" deal running all day.
Hay Festival Was the First Big Test
The festival weekend that just ended was the first real test of running two buildings. D Magazine credits Garcia del Moral with bringing Hay Festival Forum Dallas to the city. Sessions ran over the mid-October weekend at The Wild Detectives, the Texas Theatre, Whose Books, the Oak Cliff Cultural Center and other Bishop Arts venues.
The festival schedule mostly followed the shelf split. Ideas hosted "NBF Presents: The Heart of Nonfiction" at noon Saturday and "From Records to Books: Music, Literature & Independent Publishing" on Sunday. Stories hosted "Suffering Jukebox: The Music & Poetry of David Berman" on Friday night and "Back for Blood: Never Whistle at Night Part II" on Sunday afternoon. The split isn't strict, though. Saturday night's "Bar Politics Presents: An Evening with Former Dallas Mayors" was held at Stories, on the fiction side.
With up to four sessions a day in each building, the festival showed the setup can run two programs at once. The regular calendar that follows uses the same arrangement on a smaller scale.
Weeknights Now Run Across Two Addresses
All of the bookstore events listed between now and mid-November fall on weeknights or Friday nights. On the Wild Detectives event directory, most fiction and poetry events are at Stories and the talks are at Ideas:
- Thursday, Oct. 22, 7 to 8 p.m., Stories. Will Clarke launches The Pentecostal Home for Flying Children, with live music by Matt Bull.
- Friday, Oct. 23, 7 to 8 p.m., Stories. The First Rodeo poetry reading series, hosted by Hannah Smith and L. A. Johnson, with Saddiq Dzukogi, Kathy Fagan, Jenny Molberg and Tarfia Faizullah.
- Tuesday, Oct. 27, 7 to 8 p.m., Stories. The Dallas launch of Once Wild with s b del llano, Susan Ayotte Norman and LaToya Watkins.
- Monday, Nov. 9, 7:30 to 8:30 p.m., Stories. WD Book Club No. 110 discusses You Glow in the Dark by Liliana Colanzi.
- Tuesday, Nov. 10, 7 to 8 p.m., Ideas. Karen Olsson on Dear Thorns, in conversation with Sonia Smith.
- Wednesday, Nov. 11, 5:45 to 8 p.m., Ideas. "Doctor vs TikTok," a silent reading and health talk with 101Media and Methodist Dallas Medical Center. Free with RSVP.
The directory is a live page, so check it before you go.
Thursday, Oct. 29 puts everything on one night
The Thursday before Halloween is the clearest example of the two-building setup. Three things overlap within a few blocks:
- 6 to 9 p.m. The Bishop Arts Merchants Association's Wine Walk moves through the district's shops. Simply Bella at 301 N. Bishop Ave. is listed as the location.
- 7 to 10 p.m. Say It With Your Chest DTX hosts "Get Schooled!" trivia at Stories.
- 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. "Where To Find A Ghost with Brad Ford Smith" at Ideas, free and open to the public.
The merchants association describes the Wine Walk as a last-Thursday-of-the-month event that skips November and December. That would make Oct. 29 the last regular walk of the year, although the same listing also shows a Dec. 6 date.
The Weekends Belong to the Street
Saturdays and Sundays look different. None of the listed bookstore events between now and Nov. 14 fall on a weekend. The district's bigger outdoor events fill those days instead.
Bishop Bazaar, Sunday, Oct. 25. Fall Season Part 1 runs 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at 200 N. Bishop Ave., at Ninth Street and Bishop Avenue. The event listing counts more than 120 vendors.
Día de Muertos Oak Cliff, Sunday, Nov. 1. The annual celebration takes place at CocoAndré Chocolatier & Horchateria, 423 Centre St. Visit Dallas says it was founded by CocoAndré co-owner Cindy Pedraza and features traditional performances, local vendors, food and drinks, face painting and altar displays. Times haven't been posted yet, so check CocoAndré's site before you go.
Blues, Bandits, and BBQ, Saturday, Nov. 14. Go Oak Cliff presents its 18th annual festival from noon to 4 p.m. at Kidd Springs Park, 1003 Cedar Hill Ave. The organizers describe it as a fall festival "that celebrates the blues in the place that raised Stevie Ray Vaughan," with neighborhood BBQ teams, live music and cold beer. It's family and pet friendly. Bring your own blankets and chairs. Go Oak Cliff's team registration details give the dates as Nov. 13 to 14, but the public festival is listed for Saturday afternoon.
From Oct. 22 to Nov. 14, the district hosts outdoor gatherings on weekends while the bookstore's two event rooms carry the weeknights. The old Sketches of Spain kitchen also gives the block a breakfast-and-lunch spot during the day. Before September, all of the bookstore's programming had to fit inside one building on Eighth Street.
If the new Zang Boulevard store has you thinking about which nearby streets put both Wild Detectives buildings, Kidd Springs Park and the Bishop Avenue shops within a short walk, Hewitt+Saucedo knows those North Oak Cliff blocks one street at a time. Ask for a free home valuation, or ask about off-market opportunities near the Eighth and Zang corner.
