Steakhouse News

Hoffbrau Steaks to build its largest location ever in Mansfield

Your classic steak and a baked potato.

Hoffbrau Steak & Grill House

Fort Worth's loss is Mansfield's gain: Hoffbrau Steak & Grill House, the small Dallas-based steakhouse chain, is opening a location in Mansfield, on what was previously farmland across from Mansfield ISD's Vernon Newsom Stadium.

The restaurant will be located at 1101 N. Holland Rd. and will comprise 8,000 square feet, which will include a 6,000 square-foot restaurant building plus a 2,000-square-foot air-conditioned patio and a parking lot with 100-plus spaces.

It'll feature party rooms to accommodate groups of all sizes for private events and business meetings, and an expanded bar with a happy hour.

Aron Fogiel, who owns and operates Hoffbrau Steak & Grill House with his family, says in a statement that this will be the largest Hoffbrau ever built. They currently have locations in Amarillo, Granbury, Haltom City, and Benbrook, which they opened in 2019.

They did have a location in Fort Worth on South University Drive, which had been there for 38 years, but it closed in 2020 when they couldn't come to terms with the landlord.

They closed another longtime location in Dallas' West End in 2016, which had been there for 23 years.

"We are family-owned and operated restaurants founded in 1978 that serve quality steaks, chicken, seafood and burgers, cold beer, famous margaritas and friendly smiles," Fogiel says. "Our family is excited for our expanded indoor/outdoor patio-bar and dining, and to welcome guests from Mansfield and its surrounding areas."

Their menu includes steaks as well as chicken-fried steaks, smoked sirloin, fried catfish, burgers, chicken tenders, and Dr Pepper BBQ chicken. Entree prices are $15 to $30. They have three salads, a bunch of sides, and starters such as fried pickles, candied bacon, and jalapeno poppers (which they call Texas Pesos).

Construction on the Mansfield restaurant is expected to begin in early 2022 and is projected to take 10-12 months to complete. The restaurant is projected to open in early 2023.

The Mansfield Economic Development Corporation worked with the Hoffbrau team to bring it to the city, says Richard Nevins, Director of Economic Development, in a statement.

"Hoffbrau has a long history of pleasing its patrons with high-quality food in a family-friendly environment, and I am sure Mansfield residents will soon make Hoffbrau a local favorite," Nevins says.

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Chef News

Fort Worth's Will Rogers Memorial Center welcomes bright new chef

FortWorthtx.gov

Will Rogers Memorial Center

There's a new chef in town: Waylon Cornelius, named executive chef of catering and concessions for Craft Culinary Concepts, the food and beverage provider at Will Rogers Memorial Center.

Will Rogers Memorial Center is the 120-acre entertainment complex anchoring Fort Worth’s Cultural District, owned and operated by the City of Fort Worth. Cornelius will oversee menus for trade shows and other events at the center which bring in more than 2 million visitors a year.

Craft Culinary Concepts is headquartered in Glendale, Arizona, and manages food and beverage programs for entertainment, sports and cultural facilities.

Chef Waylon Corneliusfortworthtx.gov

According to a release, Cornelius joined the team this summer and is already shifting the expectations of guests from a typical “BBQ and beans” menu to a bill of fare satisfying every kind of palate.

“We always have fajitas ready to go, but we also make a beautiful Beef Wellington or baked salmon with a pink salt crust,” Cornelius says in a statement.

For consumer trade shows, Craft and its partners Caribou and Taco Heads offer more choices for the thousands of guests who attend events at WRMC annually.

“Some of our equestrian guests are away from home and here for several days, and they need more than popcorn and hot dogs,” Cornelius says. “Our concessions offer biscuits and gravy, burritos made in-house, strawberry salad, fruit and yogurt cups.”

A native of Mansfield, Cornelius grew up helping in a farm-to-table kitchen. He was raised on a farm with his mother, grandmother, and grandfather -- a Vietnam veteran who enjoyed vegetable gardens and raising hogs and chickens. He studied computer science after high school and holds an associate's degree in Cultural Resource Management and Policy Analysis from Tarrant County College.

He's a 2003 graduate of AIMS Academy of Culinary Arts in Dallas where he was mentored by a number of great chefs. While training as assistant executive sous chef at the AAA four-diamond Grand Hyatt DFW, he worked with Executive Chef Sutti Sripolpa, chef Eric Dreyer (who went on to be Oprah Winfrey’s personal chef), and Chef Jean-Claude Plihon, under whom he honed his French cooking skills.

As executive sous chef at the opening of Perry’s Steakhouse and Grille in Southlake, Cornelius gained expertise with volume. While at HG Sply Co., he learned about gluten-free items and other food allergies.

HG Sply is also where he crossed paths with Chef James R. Schell III, Craft’s general manager at WRMC, who recruited Cornelius to the complex.

"James said he needed someone who can hit moving targets, push the culinary team to be more avant-garde and use locally sourced, seasonal ingredients, so here I am," Cornelius says. "Culinary is a small world."

“I want people to say, ‘When we were in Fort Worth, you won’t believe what we got at Will Rogers!’” Schell says. “Even the celebrities who perform [in the auditorium] are surprised. When Chicago played here recently and we served dinner backstage, they said they felt treated like the Rolling Stones.”

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