My attractive friend LA Kortney was in DFW for an evening and wanted a laid back bar to go hang out, relax and watch the NBA's opening night. "Nothing fancy and definitely nothing in Dallas, I can get that in LA and Vegas" were my specific instructions. Knowing her as well as I do, I also knew she didn't want to go to a dive bar, so this significantly narrowed down my options. </p><p>I had a little internal debate and chose <a href="http://www.houlihans.com" title="Houlihan's">Houlihan's</a> in <a href="http://www.arlingtonhighlands.com/cms/index.php?page=dine" title="Arlington Highlands">Arlington Highlands</a> for a multitude of reasons, including it's proximity to so many other things to do in this huge shopping center that is like Arlington's answer to Southlake Town Square. I could tell when we arrived to a crowded bar and patio area that Kortney was impressed, and once we found a spot by the bar, we were entrenched for the night.</p><p>I like Houlihan's neighborhood bar feel and, since I was paying, I really like the $6 apps, including mini burgers, calamari, goat cheese bruschetta, chicken fingers, and chipotle chicken nachos. Beware: these are happy hour prices (Mon-Fri 4-7 & 9-1:00 am.) We arrived around 9:15, just in time to catch the end of the Mavs (my team) game and the beginning of the Lakers (Kortney's team) game and there were plenty of TVs to go around. Kortney liked the atmosphere and certainly enjoyed her many mini-martinis. </p><p>Pleasing a hot girl from LA is not an easy task by any means, so I must admit, leaving Houlihan's, I did stop and give myself a pat on the back.