What to Do This Weekend: Cat Cafe, Donkey Shots, and Much More

It's a question nearly as old as time itself: "What should we do this weekend?" How about Sunday brunch, tiki drinks, late-night fried chicken and cocktails, eating some of DFW's best ice cream or snow cones, or hiding from the sun at a dimly lit bar? Here's seven more ideas, too, from a cat cafe to drinking tequila with a donkey (no, really).

Friday

UPTOWN—You probably got paid today and are feeling flush with cash, so what better time to check out the new Whole Paycheck — err, Whole Foods Market — on McKinney Avenue? Besides all the usual stuff, there's also a bar with a ton of craft beer (and cold-brew coffee from a bourbon barrel) on draft, pizza and taco stations, a cupcake bakery, and an espresso bar. They can even chill a bottle of wine while you shop so it's ready to crack open when you get home. (Bonus: Make the trolley your designated driver.)

RICHARDSON—90s hip-hop devotees probably shouldn't miss the new film Straight Outta Compton; it's now showing at Alamo Drafthouse, and of course there's a themed menu to go along with it. Menu items include NWA (Nachos with Avocado), Snoop's Gin and Juice, and Eazy's Gimme That, Gimme That, Gimme That Nutella shake. Bravo, Drafthouse. Showtimes tonight are 8:10 and 10:25.

Saturday

DEEP ELLUM—Neighborhood gem Glazed Donut Works will celebrate two years in business on Saturday. Join them in the morning for $2 ice cream sandwich sliders, $2 strawberry-stuffed doughnut sliders, and $2 cold-brew latte slushies. Then when they open for late-night service, Dude Sweet's Katherine Clapner will be on hand making "The F-Word" doughnuts — bourbon chocolate yeast doughnuts filled and topped with two different kinds of Valrhona chocolate.

LOWEST GREENVILLE—This Saturday, some prime Instagram opportunities will be going down at Truck Yard. In addition to watermelon kegs filled with margaritas (priced at $69 and available for groups of five or more), Pete the Donkey will be on hand from 6 to 9 p.m. giving out free samples of Tres Agaves tequila. (The watermelon kegs will also be available on Sunday.)

NORTH DALLAS—Can't wait till cat cafe mania officially hits DFW? Check out a pop-up at pet supply store/cat hotel The Cat Connection from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday. There will be adoptable cats from local no-kill shelter Operation Kindness to play with, plus free drinks and locally made snacks.

Sunday

DESIGN DISTRICT—The biggest and best food festival of the year, Chefs for Farmers, doesn't go down till October, but in the meantime they're throwing a "Mix Off" at DEC on Dragon. Eight bartenders will duke it out to create the best summer punch, and four sous chefs will compete to prepare street food from a farm-to-table angle. For more details, including a list of participating chefs and bartenders, go here; tickets are $55.

DOWNTOWN—Don't want to face the brunch crowds and crazy-hot daytime temperatures? Check out the Beggar's Banquet at Lark on the Park: It's a three-course chef's menu with a wine or beer pairing for just 35 bucks, offered every Sunday night from 5 to 10 p.m. The price may be cheap, but the food isn't: Last week the menu included beet agnolotti with herb mascarpone and lobster.