The indoor lounge area is a study in midnight. If people eat in here, they likely read the menu with flashlights and clutch plates on their laps. Red velvet shrouds the overhang, and leather couches laze about the periphery. An outdoor patio proves much more amenable to dining, with wrought-iron tables and chairs. The back wall anchors an impressive slate waterfall, creating tranquility among the McKinney Avenue high-rises.

Republic excels at frozen cocktails. A frigid take on a cosmo enhances the original's sweetness. A frozen mojito delights with its thick sugarcane swizzle stick and invigorating lime-rum-mint iciness. American tapas are the antithesis of "super-size": two bites of textbook-perfect miso-glazed sea bass. A creamy artichoke spread, heavily doused in cream, spread easily on browned toast rounds. Tasty baked cremini mushrooms are topped with jaunty caps of feta and spinach. For dessert, try the chocolate cake.