Besides a favorite corner of my private backyard, the Frisco Rail District is truly my favorite place in Frisco to spend time. While we are lucky to have world-class sports stadiums and arenas to hang out, plus an endless choice of restaurants to dine, drink, and gather across the city, there is something about the historic heartbeat of Frisco that keeps me coming back.

The construction might be a challenge for now, but the merchants are operating business as usual, and some amazing people and places deserve a shout-out as hidden gems.   

I encourage you to take the time to discover their individuality and explore all they have to offer while visiting our historic downtown.

Nack Theater

Officially opened in 2021, the Nack Theater was built from scratch as a brand-new building to provide good old-fashioned entertainment. Located on the corner of Oak and 2nd Street, there is no mistaking this beautiful old-style theater venue. Standing out in red and black, Nack Theater is complete with a vintage-style ticketing booth and lights.

It holds 210 seats in an intimate setting with high-end sound and acoustics and provides entertainment for all in the form of comedy, plays, concerts, talent shows, dance recitals, improv, and more. This year a big effort has been made to expand their programming by introducing significantly more shows with nationally recognized talent, including a Honky Tonk series with artists from Nashville.

For a full list of events see https://www.nacktheater.com and drop by the venue any time for a great photo opportunity at their 25-foot-tall train engine mural.

The Game Show Experience

It's game time in downtown Frisco! The old Countdown 2 Escape space has been reimagined into the next exciting chapter of entertainment called The Game Show Experience. It’s a fully immersive experience for any group, team-building exercise, family gathering, or celebration that brings people together for pure laugh-out-loud fun, and a dollop of competitiveness thrown in.

The private studios are reserved exclusively for your party of 6 to 16 people featuring several rounds of familiar games like ‘Drop-O-Rama’, ‘The Spin-Off’, and the ‘Survey Showdown’ along with mini-games in-between for a full 60-minute experience. Think high energy, non-stop fun from beginning to end!

The boutique-style venue also has a wonderful breakout reception room where you can BYOB and enjoy some downtime and team strategy before the big event.

During their first year of business, The Game Show Experience has already won three awards for ‘Rising Star Business’, ‘Best Place to Host a Birthday Party’, and ‘Frisco’s Best Entertainment Experience’!

They are now taking reservations for corporate Christmas parties and festive gatherings with an all-new holiday edition launching in mid-November. Book your game at www.thegameshowexperience.com.

Storied Roots

Nestled on North County is the Rail District's one and only furniture store, Storied Roots. It’s a family-run, locally owned business offering a range of furniture and home décor products in teak and rattan, plus a line of elegant stone statues. Each piece is carefully selected from vendors in Indonesia. The name of the store was inspired by the root-type pieces that are highly unique, and all have their own individual story.

Owner Kevin Ady describes the pieces as “Made by Mother Earth and prepared by skilled craftsmen”.

Items for sale in the store include a variety of tables, chairs, loungers that can be used both indoors and outdoors, statues, and bespoke wall art. When you find that perfect item but can't get it back home easily, Storied Roots' local and national in-home delivery comes to the rescue. Whether you live in Washington state or Maine, someone will pick up your new item from Frisco and delivery it safely into your home!

Many items are sold to interior designers, and for use in commercial businesses, and some have been placed in hotels in Miami and Mexico. Pieces have even been used in a Marvel TV Series.

The unique wooden products are created using salvage wood, including roots from felled trees, railroad ties, and old decommissioned fishing vessels. Statues are produced from solid pieces of green lava stone or Indonesian river stone.

Explore online at storiedroots.com or in person to see the beauty and variety of items–you won’t be disappointed.

Cibo Kitchens

Cibo Kitchens provides a professional kitchen space for budding chef entrepreneurs to prepare, practice, and curate meals and innovative dishes. Cibo is the Italian word for food or ‘grub’.

Opened in May 2022, the kitchens provide state-of-the-art equipment and regularly host many chefs who use the space to grow and scale their culinary businesses. Unlike anything else in Frisco, as a fully licensed commercial kitchen, Cibo serves as a prep space, pop-up restaurant, storefront, culinary studio, and event space by request. You can find a variety of cuisines cooking up at Cibo Kitchens, including Frisco local and popular pop-up restaurant Stefania's Empanadas. Keep an eye on Cibo Kitchen's Instagram for updates when pop ups are happening.

Owner Brooklyn Calloway describes it as an “incubator for small food businesses." Calloway says, "It’s a place we want to see culinary businesses practice recipes, provide taste tests, and ultimately grow and scale their business.”

To hire the space for a one-off event or celebration, Cibo can connect you with a list of fully vetted Member Chefs to design your menu and host your ideal private gathering. Request a tour and walkthrough of the kitchens and get cooking at Cibo at cibokitchens.com.

Maker’s Gym

Despite the word gym in the title, this business has nothing to do with fitness! Makers Gym is a unique facility in the creative space. It’s a haven for organizations and individuals who want to elevate their ideas in podcasting, photography, social media, video, and beyond, in a co-working type of environment. Creatives can have access to state-of-the-art amenities in the form of various types of studios, production equipment, visual and sound studios, plus conference and meeting rooms.

Visiting Frisco and need a temporary workspace? A Day Maker Pass gives you one day of access to common spaces and eight hours of time credit for meeting rooms and hot desks.

Maker's Gym is a great creative workspace resource with a bright, airy, modern vibe, open to the public daily. And speaking of vibe, check out Maker's Open Mic Night and other events. 

Find Maker's Gym on the 3rd floor of Patios at the Rail and enter via elevator access from the roof garden. 

The Refind Closet

Do you have a love of thrifting and finding a good deal? How about trying a completely elevated experience of boutique thrifting at The Refind Closet?  

Owner Cathy Alvarez, a former local teacher, is thrilled to welcome you to a one-of-a-kind experience both as a shopper and vendor. “With this economy, people are looking for alternative ways to shop,” she explains. “I hope I can provide an alternative to using FB Marketplace or other thrift stores.”

Alvarez has created a space where people can rent out closets at a very reasonable price and provide a more efficient way to sell gently used items.

Located in a refurbed historical home on Pecan Street, the minute you walk in the door you get a sense of warmth and feel right at home. The first room is just like someone’s living room with beautiful displays of home décor for sale and then passing through the home each room has something different. There is a dedicated baby and kids’ area and then two more rooms of on-trend, high-end apparel with some big-name brands. Even the restroom area has some cute relevant décor.

Located on the corner of Pecan Street and 5th Street. Learn more at refind-closet.com.

Magnolia Terrace

Like a secret garden in the heart of Frisco, this beautiful indoor/outdoor private event venue tucked is away from the hustle and bustle of the city outside.

The outdoor area provides a gorgeous colorful backdrop of lush gardens and landscaping, and their indoor reception room becomes a magical place surrounded by glass, subtle lighting, and chandeliers. There is also an attached covered patio which can be used as a dance floor or alternate ceremony space, and should bad weather occur on the day of your event this can be fully enclosed.

Popular event choices include wedding and anniversary celebrations, vow renewals, graduation parties, milestone birthdays, bridal showers, baby showers, and more.

Highlights include private parking, dressing rooms, a prep kitchen, elegant outdoor lighting throughout the garden, indoor and outdoor bars, and multiple photo op locations, plus staff are on hand to help you curate and plan your preferred style event. See Magnolia Terrace at themagnoliaterrace.com.

Make Plans to Visit

This sampling of rare finds in Frisco is just the beginning. Plan your visit to make the most of your time shopping, dining, and finding unique entertainment.