It’s a West Davis Street takeover. The team behind the Old Monk, Spider Murphy’s, and the Skellig expanded their Oak Cliff footprint in March with the opening of Kilmac’s, right next door to Old Monk Oak Cliff. Unlike its sister concepts, Kilmac’s isn’t a pub—it’s a cocktail-forward spot with a focused food program and a concept that’s been three years in the making.
“We started looking at properties down here first in 2018, and so we’ve been a part of the plan for a long time, and we really have loved it,” operations manager Charles Reis says.
The group first arrived in Oak Cliff with Old Monk Oak Cliff in fall 2024, quickly carving out a neighborhood following for its walkable pints, pub fare, and Old World atmosphere. Kilmac’s builds on that momentum, but shifts the energy entirely. Where Old Monk leans cozy and familiar, Kilmac’s is moodier and more stylized, centered around cocktails, pizza, and a sprawling patio built for lingering late into the night.
Inside, the candlelit dining room and covered patio seat just under 100 guests, while another 150 can spread out across the lush cocktail garden. Firepits, hanging lights, greenery, and an Airstream converted into a full-service bar give the outdoor space an Austin-like ease that already feels broken in. “We really like the neighborhood; such a community feel down here,” Reis says.
The concept first began to take shape in 2023, though city delays slowed the opening timeline. By late 2024, Spider Murphy’s general manager Cameron Westmoreland joined the project, helping sharpen the bar’s direction with his experience from Parliament and Clover Club. Together, Westmoreland and Reis spent the next 18 months building a program rooted in classics and executed with precision. “I really like the fundamentals of using balanced, proven sort of builds, and then trading in for some more interesting flavors,” Reis says.
That philosophy shows up throughout the menu. The Tarragon Clover Club reworks the pre-Prohibition classic into something softer and cleaner, swapping in vodka alongside tarragon for a subtle hint of licorice. The Smoked Guinness Old Fashioned quickly became an early favorite, while the Toasted Coconut Daiquiri is a tropical surprise that incorporates two rums.
Kilmac’s most ambitious drink may be the Freezer Martini, which took nine months to finalize after Reis and Westmoreland attended a martini seminar led by cocktail writer Robert Simonson in New York. Inspired by the freezer martinis popularized in London hotels during the 1980s and ’90s, the drink arrives ice cold, intentionally spirit-forward, but remarkably smooth.
“It’s really hard to invent something totally spontaneously new,” Reis says. “What you can do is you can create flavor and add in ingredients that make sense, and layer on top.”
The more experimental side of the menu comes through in drinks like the Santa Muerte, Westmoreland’s smoky-spicy mix of mezcal de pechuga, peach, Amaro Montenegro, lemon, and serrano hot honey. Meanwhile, the Fern Handshake leans funky and herbaceous—a cocktail aimed squarely at Fernet devotees and mushroom enthusiasts.
The food menu was developed with Lee Hunsinger, the New York native pizza master behind the development of Cane Rosso, Zoli’s, and Thunderbird Pies. Kilmac’s team tracked him down to craft Kilmac’s pizza program. The resulting pies land closest to New York-style pizza, though Reis says the dough has a softer texture and more chew thanks to a 72-hour fermentation process.
“It’s not a real traditional New York style, but it’s definitely closest to New York style,” says Reis. “It has a little bit more chew, a little bit more softness.”
Rather than overload pizzas with toppings, Kilmac’s focuses on restraint and ingredient quality. The menu ranges from a simple Plain Pie to more layered combinations like the Davis Street, topped with pepperoni, Italian sausage, roasted mushrooms, caramelized onions, and peppers in a nod to the neighborhood.
The Drunken Pepperoni has emerged as an early hit, thanks in part to Old Monk’s candied house-pickled jalapeños, while the Piccante balances whipped ricotta, Calabrian chilies, and hot honey. And for veggie lovers, the Spinach and Mushroom is a sleeper hit. Reis credits the vodka sauce—his favorite.
The Prosciutto pizza is light and fresh, made with 18-month prosciutto, blistered grape tomatoes, and arugula tossed in lemon oil. Kilmac’s sources prosciutto and Italian sausage from Jimmy’s Food Store, a Dallas institution. “We tried a million different sausages,” Reis says. “Jimmy’s is still the best. You can’t beat Jimmy’s.”
The garlic knots were added at Hunsinger’s insistence. They are soaked in his signature “schmutz,” a mixture of olive oil, confit garlic, Italian herbs, and Parmesan, then baked a second time so the flavor is absorbed into the dough. Like the cocktails and pizzas, even the bar snacks feel considered rather than incidental, reinforcing Kilmac’s larger goal: creating a place where guests want to stay awhile.
That approach seems to be working. Just two months after opening, Kilmac’s has already emerged as one of Oak Cliff’s busiest new gathering spots, with the patio filling up nightly for martinis, pizzas, and late-night cocktails under the string lights.
Kilmac’s, 814 West Davis St., Dallas, kilmacsoakcliff.com
