In brief: Four college friends reunite in Dallas for Westlake walks, Irving food stops, downtown lights and a special farewell dinner. Read the personal story, then use our Dallas guides to plan your own weekend.
Four friends, four cities, one long weekend—and enough conversation to keep a restaurant open past closing.
By Atlas Walker | Triyana Diaries
A reunion worth protecting
Once a year, four of us step away from our routines, fly in from different cities, and spend a few days together. We went to college together, and nearly thirty years later, our annual reunion has become a tradition worth protecting.
This year, we chose Dallas.
There was no detailed itinerary and no ambitious list of attractions to cover. Our plan was simple: spend time together, eat well, catch up, and see where the weekend took us. With old friends, that is usually more than enough.
What I appreciate most about these trips is how quickly the years disappear. We arrive with updates about careers, families, and growing children, yet within minutes, we slip back into the easy familiarity of our college days. The jokes resume, the teasing begins, and conversations pick up as though we had only met last week.
Thursday: arriving and catching up
We all arrived in Dallas on Thursday. Rain in the days before our visit had given way to a pleasant mix of clouds and sunshine—just the kind of October weather we had hoped for.
Our base for the weekend was The Ricardo Marriott DFW Westlake, a beautiful property roughly twenty minutes from Dallas Fort Worth International Airport on our journey. One of our friends had stayed there before and recommended it. Located in Westlake, it gave us a quieter setting for the weekend while keeping our outings across the Dallas–Fort Worth area within reach.
We headed to Nizam’s Kitchen, which turned out to be an excellent choice for our first evening. The extensive Indian menu did little to help four hungry people narrow down their order. Having missed a proper lunch, we ordered generously: appetizers followed by fish, mutton, chicken, and paneer preparations.
The food was delicious, and the table soon became the setting for the reunion we had been looking forward to.
Between bites, we exchanged updates about work, family, and everything that had happened since our last gathering. One topic led to another, and before we realized it, it was almost midnight.
We looked around and discovered we were the only guests left.
The restaurant staff were patiently waiting for us to finish so they could close and head home. We had been so absorbed in catching up that we had overlooked the fairly significant detail that everyone else had already gone.
We finally took the hint, paused our conversations, and returned to the hotel.
Friday: Westlake walks and old friends
The next morning, we started with a long walk along the trails and through the neighborhoods around the hotel.
The property itself was spacious, with guest rooms, restaurants, banquet facilities, and nearby shops and an outdoor coffee spot. There was enough around us to make a leisurely morning walk feel like part of the holiday.
Those walks became one of my favorite parts of the trip. Without a table between us or anywhere we urgently needed to be, the conversations wandered as freely as we did. We talked about our families, children in school and college, and what the next stage of life might hold for each of us.
Of course, no gathering of college friends would be complete without pulling one another’s legs. Somewhere between family updates and friendly debates, we also attempted to solve a few of the world’s problems.
Our confidence was impressive. Had anyone taken minutes, we might have produced a policy paper before breakfast. Fortunately for the world, no one did.
We returned to the hotel, where a generous breakfast spread awaited us. After all that walking and international problem-solving, we felt we had earned it.
During breakfast, we remembered that another dear friend from our college days lived in Dallas. We decided to call and see whether he was in town and available for coffee or tea that afternoon.
It was a completely spontaneous call. He was delighted to hear from us and immediately insisted that we come over to his home for high tea.
Just like that, our unplanned weekend had acquired a particularly meaningful stop.
Before heading to Irving Towne Center, we stopped for lunch at Halal Cuts Taco Restaurant, a little hole-in-the-wall spot known for its smoked brisket. It turned out to be a delicious introduction to Texas barbecue and another rewarding food discovery on our unplanned weekend.
There was something fitting about sharing a hearty barbecue lunch with old friends while visiting Texas. Over good food and the usual friendly banter, we had yet another excuse to sit together and keep the conversations going.
After lunch, we spent some time exploring the shops and restaurants around Irving Towne Center before heading to our college friend’s home. We had not seen him in years, and we were excited to meet him and his family.
He, his wife, and his son welcomed us warmly. Then came an unexpected surprise: his younger brother was visiting from another state.
I was seeing him after more than twenty-five years. He did not remember me, but I remembered him from visits to my friend’s home during our college days. Seeing him again brought back a whole collection of memories I had not thought about in years.
For the next few hours, we traveled backward through time.
Over hot tea prepared by his wife and a lovely assortment of snacks, we revisited old stories, laughed at one another’s versions of events, and remembered the fun we had shared. Some stories clearly improved with age—or perhaps we had simply become more enthusiastic storytellers.
There is something special about meeting people who knew you before your career, before your responsibilities, and before life became quite so busy. So little explanation is needed. They remember an earlier version of you, and being together brings some of that person back.
This visit had not been part of our plans, yet it became one of the most memorable parts of the weekend. I was grateful we had made that call.
Downtown Dallas: history and evening lights
By early evening, we said goodbye to our friend and his family and headed toward downtown Dallas and the AT&T Discovery District.
After the quieter surroundings of Westlake and an afternoon in a friend’s home, downtown brought a different energy. We spent the next few hours exploring on foot, letting the streets and nearby landmarks guide us.
One of our stops was Pioneer Plaza, home to the striking bronze cattle-drive sculpture.
The installation features 49 longhorn steers and three mounted cowboys, created by Texas artist Robert Summers. Spread across a landscaped setting, the figures evoke the nineteenth-century cattle drives associated with the Shawnee Trail and offer a vivid reminder of the region’s ranching heritage. (Visit Dallas: Pioneer Plaza, lonelyplanet.com)
What makes the experience engaging is the chance to walk among the sculptures. Surrounded by longhorns, with modern downtown buildings rising beyond them, you get an unusual view of Dallas: its frontier history and present-day skyline sharing the same frame.
For a casual downtown walk, it was a rewarding stop—easy to explore at our own pace, with plenty to look at and photograph.
As the sun set, the atmosphere changed. We continued through the streets, watching the city lights come on and the Mercantile Bank Building’s clock tower glow with color.
These are the moments I enjoy when exploring a city without a fixed schedule. There is time to notice a building, pause at a street corner, or watch the skyline change as daylight fades.
We stopped for drinks at Pegasus City Brewery, which was packed with people enjoying their Friday evening. After a break there, we returned to the AT&T Discovery District.
It looked very different after dark.
The district’s illuminated public spaces and enormous media wall give this part of downtown a distinctly contemporary character. Its 104-foot-tall screen wraps around the corner of a building, turning the surrounding plaza into a shared viewing space. (discoverydistrictdallas.com)
Having walked among bronze cattle earlier, we were now standing amid lights, screens, and the bustle of a downtown Friday night. In one evening, we had experienced two very different sides of Dallas.
Eventually, dinner called.
Our college friend had recommended a Thai restaurant, and we were glad we followed his suggestion. The food was delicious, the service was impeccable, and it was a satisfying way to end a full day.
By then, we were ready to return to the hotel and call it a night.
Saturday: slowing down in Southlake
Saturday began with what had already become our weekend routine: a morning walk around Westlake, breakfast, and another long conversation.
There was something comforting about that rhythm. We had nowhere urgent to be and no pressure to fill every hour. For friends who live in four different cities, simply having that much uninterrupted time together felt like a luxury.
In the afternoon, we headed to Southlake Town Square.
With its upscale shops, restaurants, coffee spots, and welcoming streets, it suited the relaxed pace of our trip. We spent a few hours window-shopping, wandering around, and settling into local coffee shops to continue our conversations.
Southlake offered a different outing from downtown Dallas. Here, the pleasure was in slowing down: strolling past storefronts, finding somewhere comfortable to sit, and letting the afternoon pass without watching the clock.
By this stage of the weekend, I was reminded that we never really run out of things to discuss. Give us a walk, a meal, or a cup of coffee, and the conversation finds its own way.
A farewell dinner at The Liam’s Steakhouse
For our final evening, we had planned a special dinner at The Liam’s Steakhouse, recommended by another friend who had recently visited Dallas.
We arrived hungry and ready to enjoy a proper evening of drinks and dinner. The welcome was warm, and once we were seated, the drinks selection gave us plenty to consider.
We began with a variety of seafood appetizers. Everything was delicious, but the bread soaked in garlic butter deserves its own mention. It was the sort of bread you keep reaching for even while reminding yourself that a steak is still on the way.
Our main courses included porterhouse, ribeye, and a seafood dish. Each added to an evening that was already shaping up to be a highlight of the trip.
A steakhouse dinner felt like a fitting way to spend our last night in Dallas, and Liam’s gave us the combination we had hoped for: a welcoming atmosphere, attentive service, and a meal worth lingering over.
We enjoyed the food so much that we asked whether we could meet the chef and thank him personally.
I am glad we did.
He came out to meet us and recommended desserts, including one he was still experimenting with. We tried two selections, and both made the evening feel even more special. After such a generous meal, dessert might have seemed unnecessary—but we were very happy to make room.
Meeting the person behind the food added a personal connection to the experience. We left delighted with the meal, the ambience, and the hospitality, with the chef’s contact information and every intention of returning on another Dallas visit.
Nearly thirty years of friendship
After dinner, we took one last walk through the city before heading back to the hotel. All of us had early flights home the next morning, and our reunion was drawing to a close.
That final evening always arrives a little too quickly.
We had come to Dallas with no particular agenda and were leaving with plenty to remember: a dinner that continued until the restaurant was ready to close, long morning walks, a hearty Texas barbecue lunch, an unexpected reunion over tea, bronze longhorns in the middle of downtown, colorful city lights, Thai food, coffee-shop conversations, and a final meal that deserved every compliment we gave it.
Dallas and its surrounding communities had given us a varied and welcoming setting for the weekend. Westlake offered quiet mornings, Irving fitted easily into our afternoon plans, downtown brought history and evening energy, and Southlake gave us space to slow down.
But the most meaningful part was having my friends beside me through it all.
Nearly thirty years after college, our lives have taken us to different cities and through many different chapters. These annual trips give us the chance to hear the fuller stories behind the occasional phone calls and messages—to ask another question, share another memory, and stay at the table a little longer.
The next morning, we exchanged hugs and goodbyes before heading off to catch our flights.
Another reunion was over. Another set of memories had found its place in our diaries.
And somewhere between those last goodbyes and our journeys home, there was already something to look forward to: the next time the four of us would meet again.
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