Where to Eat Now

Where to eat in Fort Worth right now: 10 hottest new restaurants for April

Waters Bonnell's Coastal Cuisine oysters

Fried oysters are on the menu at Waters Restaurant in Sundance Square.

Photo courtesy of Waters

Things are cooking in Fort Worth. So many new restaurants have opened in the past few months, we need a list to keep track. But which are the hottest? So glad you asked. For our April edition of Where to Eat, we offer our guide to the 10 hottest restaurants to open in and around Fort Worth.

Americado
At this new mercado-inspired spot at 2000 W. Berry St., you line up at different stations to order tacos, chicken, fish, and booze. Standing in different lines takes some getting used to, but the food is worth the hassle — especially the queso, spiked with fried oaxaca cheese, and the al pastor tacos, whose pork fillings are pulled straight off a trompo. Freshly made agua frescas include flavors such as tamarindo and coconut horchata. The space itself is exquisite, outfitted with rustic-industrial tables, chairs, and barstools, along with an attractive patio.

Chop House Burgers
Nearly three years after the "coming soon" sign went up, this Dallas burger-and-shake mini-chain finally opens in downtown, next to two other Dallas imports, Wild Salsa and Avanti, in the City Place complex at 300 Throckmorton St. Not to be confused with nearby Mercury Chop House or Chop House Burgers in Arlington, CHB offers carefully constructed burgers in the vein of Hopdoddy, with "better burger" toppings such as arugula and truffle sauce. Other options include a turkey burger, a tuna burger, and a veggie burger, whose patty is made of falafel and tzatziki. Shakes come in flavors such as Cookies and Cream and Malt Balls.

Good Food Co.
A nice change of pace from expensive gourmet burgers are the old-school ones you'll find at this new breakfast-and-burger dive at 2929 Race St., in the city's burgeoning Riverside area. Chef Evan Williams, last seen at the all-night Black Market Bakery & Cafe that operated out of Nonna Tata, does simple but good burgers made with hand-formed patties, secret seasonings, and Mrs. Baird's buns. Salads are worth getting, too, just so you can sample the housemade dressings.

Great Harvest Bread Co. Bakery & Cafe
Bakery and cafe chain from Montana makes its Fort Worth debut in a small, cozy spot at 1305 W. Magnolia Ave. Great pride is taken in the many varieties of the housemade whole-grain bread, sold by the loaf or via a sandwich. Samples of it are given at a tasting station, where you can also try out the bakery's pastries. A small lunch menu includes a roast beef sandwich topped with chimichurri sauce and a ham and brie sandwich with Dijon honey spread.

Istanbul Grill
Downtown's Mediterranean-food prayers have been answered, courtesy of the second location of this North Texas fave. The downtown location at 401 Throckmorton St. mirrors the Arlington original, with lunch specials that feature an appetizer, entrée, and drink for $10.95. Among the selections: zucchini-feta pancakes, fried borek cheese pastries, gyros, hummus, and baba ghanoush. There's also a full bar.

Loveria Caffe
Attractive new Italian restaurant at 5615 Colleyville Blvd. from husband-wife duo Andrea and Stefania Mattieucci specializes in dishes native to Italy's Emilia-Romagna region, from where the Matteuccis hail. Chef Michele Ragazzini's small menu features taglierino antipasti, made up of meats and cheeses from Emilia-Romagna; housemade pastas such as lasagna alla Bolognese; and soups and salads. A separate lounge area, outfitted with snug couches, is good for sipping and lingering.

M Bistro
Another restaurant opens in the seemingly doomed Montgomery Plaza spot at 2600 W. 7th St., where five others have come and gone. But this one will break the curse, right? Named after owner Steve Mitchell, who spent time at Lucile's Stateside Bistro and The Harbor restaurant on Possum Kingdom Lake, M Bistro focuses on American comfort-food classics with gourmet flourishes. Shrimp cocktail is given a twist with poke tuna and deep-fried green olives, while a grilled cheese comes with brie, provolone, Texas goat cheese, and bacon. Entrées range from $20-$40 and include tempura-fried prawns, chicken-fried rib-eye, lobster in a garlic broth, and bacon-wrapped scallops. Craft cocktails and healthy wine selection, too.

Mughlai Fine Indian Cuisine
Tarrant County scores big with a second location of this Dallas Indian restaurant from husband-wife team Javeed and Sonia Khan. Located at 3311 E. State Hwy. 114, this Southlake branch has everything Dallas has, including an outstanding lunch buffet jammed with biryani, paneer jalfrezi, freshly made naan, and a dozen more items. The regular menu is huge and includes some hard-to-find dishes, such as lentil donuts and stir-fried goat.

Red Sea Fish
New York transplants Nihal Hashem and Sam Gouda had NY in mind when they recently opened this tiny spot at 200 W. Pipeline Rd. in Hurst. It's a combination restaurant/fish market that pays homage to like-minded places in New York. You buy the fish, which is laid out on ice in display cases à la Central Market; they grill, fry, or bake it on the spot. Take it to-go or eat it then and there, at a small bistro table. Salmon, shrimp, and tilapia are among the choices, but so are less common octopus, milk fish, and mullet. Sides include a Greek salad and white rice seasoned with cumin and coriander.

Waters Restaurant
Downtown's new restaurant activity climaxes with the reopening of Jon Bonnell's ode to the sea, which moved from W. 7th to the space at 301 Main St., most recently occupied by Mercury Chop House (now located in the Tower, a few blocks away). Here chef Anthony Felli serves seafood, seafood, and seafood, from flights of Eastern Seaboard oysters to a crawfish roll to Alaskan halibut with sweet potato gnocchi.

where-to-eat

Fresh Pasta News

Where to eat in Fort Worth right now: 6 hottest new restaurants

Bocca Osteria Romana

Twirling the pasta at Bocca Osteria Romana

Restaurants seemingly open and close in waves, and right now, they’re opening. Over the past few weeks, there’s been an influx of new restaurants in and around Fort Worth, from a cool new Italian spot to high-end Tex Mex to Texas’ favorite cuisine, barbecue.

For this month’s Where to Eat, we take a look at six of the area’s latest restaurants.

225 BBQ
This beloved craft barbecue food truck has finally opened its first brick-and-mortar, at 601 E. Main St. near downtown Arlington. 225 fans will recognize the new restaurant's location: It was where owner/pitmaster Rene Ramirez operated temporarily last year, sharing the space with a bar. After the bar moved out, Ramirez took over the building, transforming it into a full-fledged barbecue restaurant. Ramirez’s menu includes ‘cue essentials such as moist brisket and meaty pork ribs, along with several Mexi-cue-inspired dishes that have become his calling cards, like excellent birria ramen, brisket elote, chipotle chicken nachos, and brisket quesadillas. His burgers are great, too.

Bocca Osteria Romana
New Italian restaurant in the South Main area, at 411 S. Main St. #104, specializes in housemade pastas, freshly made focaccia, and beautiful salads filled with seasonal ingredients. The restaurant comes from a trio of Texans - brothers Alfonso and Alessandro Salvatore and their cousin Eduardo Mariel - who have lived and cooked all over the world, including Puerto Rico, where they opened the original Bocca Osteria Romana. Pasta is their thing, and it comes in several forms, from spaghetti alla carbonara, made with guanciale, percorino romano cheese, and crushed black pepper, to the bacon-studded bucatini all’amatriciana, to a plate of classic cacio e pepe. Entrees include lamb chops, osso bucco, and gorgeous seasonal salads.

Los Guapos Mexican Street Food
Newly opened at 2708 West 7th St., Los Guapos Mexican Street Food is the latest concept from Angel Fuentes, the well-known Fort Worth chef who made a name for himself at the original location of Mariachi’s Dine In and Guapo Tacos, two Mexican restaurants born inside an east side gas station. Los Guapos is Fuentes’ first full-on brick-and-mortar. His menu includes many of the dishes he’s known for, like superb birria tacos, pozole, huge burritos, and a wide range of veggie dishes. New to his menu are street food-inspired items like huaraches, oblong-shaped pieces of fried masa dough topped with smashed pinto beans, vegetables, and proteins, and alambre, a traditional Mexican dish comprised of chopped meats and vegetables, held together with melted cheese, and served with tortillas.

Juicy Dumplings
The handmade Chinese dumpling trend hits the Fort Worth suburb of Euless, courtesy of this sleek new spot, originally called Home of Juicy Dumplings, in the Glade Parks shopping center. It’s a state-of-the-art restaurant where robots help deliver your food and the immersive decor is designed to make you feel like you’re under the ocean. There’ll be lots of oohing and ahing. But it’s not all show: Hong Kong natives, owner Rixin “Jimmy” Zheng and head chef Bosco Seung, offer a vast selection of Chinese dishes, including nearly a dozen variations of Chinese dumplings, including pan-fried pork buns, har gow (shrimp dumplings), Sichuan-inspired spicy wontons, vegetable dumplings, and soup dumplings. Elsewhere on the menu, there’s peking duck, Mongolian chicken, several noodle dishes, and cool desserts such as mango pancakes, made with razor-thin crepes layered with a mango-infused cream.

La Cabrona Cocina Mexicana
Long-awaited, high-end Mexican restaurant from Adam Shanaa and Jalal Chanaa, owners of the soon-to-reopen Terra Mediterranean, takes over the West 7th-area space originally occupied by Tillman’s Roadhouse at 2973 Crockett St. It’s a family-run spot whose kitchen is led by Rosario Ortega, a chef from Monterrey, Mexico, who’s using recipes passed down through generations. His menu includes dishes such as carne asada, camarones a la diabla, chile relleno, and whole fried snapper. There are plenty of tacos, made with your choice of skirt steak, slow-cooked pork, pan-seared tilapia, or grilled shrimp, and appetizers such as shrimp cocktail and ceviche. The restaurant is beautifully decorated with hand-painted murals and colorful furniture; there’s also a nice patio.

Tokyo Mizu
New sushi spot in North Arlington, at 2390 E. Lamar Blvd., in the space previously occupied by Take a Bao, puts a unique spin on the all-you-can-eat concept. Instead of going through a buffet-style line and loading up your plate, your server brings you five items at a time, all freshly made. When you finish those, you can order five more, and so on. Selections include a vast array of cooked and raw sushi, nigiri, tonkotsu ramen, pork dumplings, bulgogi bao buns, calamari, soup dumplings, and various fried rice dishes. The prices are a steal: $19.99 per person for lunch, $29.99 for dinner.

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