With a name like that, you know it has to be good. The Wild Detectives bookstore (which is also a pub and venue!), located at 314 West Eighth Street in Dallas, takes its name from a loose translation of Los Detectives Salvajes, a 1998 novel by Roberto Bolaño about a group of bohemian poets in Mexico. This bookshop, a true Dallas gem, is small, but it carries a “well-curated selection of the best new and vintage fiction, art books, and more,” according to The Dallas Morning News. The store’s website describes its stock as “a selection of Fiction and Poetry and untranslated Spanish Literature that lends itself to discovery.” The Wild Detectives also offers a small section of records.
In addition to the media for sale, The Wild Detectives is noted for its edible offerings. Its coffee is purchased directly from the growers and roasted in Dallas’s Oak Cliff neighborhood, and the tea is also local. Its breakfast tacos and pastries are all locally produced. For later in the day, the menu features “tostas” (various combinations of meats, cheeses, and vegetables on toast) and “plates” (a variety of appetizers), which feature Mediterranean ingredients and the Mediterranean idea that food should be an accompaniment to time spent with other people. The Wild Detectives also serves locally brewed beers, international wines, and locally designed cocktails. Happy Hour is from 4:00 to 7:00 PM on weekdays.
In an excellent intiative that combines The Wild Detectives’ passion for books and good drinks, the shop features a service called “Buy a Book. Get a Drink.” Because its stock is limited, The Wild Detectives offers an online form through which customers can order books that are not ordinarily in stock. The order will be delivered to the bookstore, the customer will receive an email notification, and when the customer comes in to pick up the order, he or she will receive a drink from the cafe on the house! Another creative intiative is “The Bookmark Game,” in which customers fill out bookmarks with a book recommendation and their contact info. The filled-out bookmarks are then distributed to other customers who make purchases, with the hope that the receiving customer will read the recommended book and then start a conversation with the customer who made the recommendation. Staying true to their commitment of cultivating community, The Wild Detectives hosts book readings, signings, wine tastings, DJ sets, movie screenings and other unique events, and anyone interested in collaborating with the store can propose an idea through the website.
The Wild Detectives is the result of a “long conversation” between Javier Garcia del Moral and Pablo Vinque, two friends who shared their passions of books, wine, and food as they traveled the world for their career as civil engineers. Now they are able to share those same passions with a much wider audience, and to “curate all those things that matter, those serious pleasures which turn life into experience.”
As a small local business ourself we are proud to promote local businesses that indeed help turn life into experience.