Where To Eat Now

Where to eat in Fort Worth right now: 10 restaurants with fresh new things

For many Fort Worth restaurants spring marks an end and a beginning. Gone are the thick, heavy, gluttonous winter dishes, scrubbed in favor of more light-on-your-feet fare, ideal for springtime nibbling.

Here are 10 Fort Worth restaurants with new spring offerings:

Aventino's Italian Restaurant
It's not always easy to eat light at an Italian restaurant. At classy West Side spot Aventino's, you'll find some of the city's best lasagna and pasta with a menu of a dozen sauce options, from alfredo to marinara. But owners Chris and Erica Hight typically include a fish dish for lighter appetites. This spring, it's orange roughy, pan-fried over sauteed spinach and mushrooms and served in a pool of not-too-heavy white wine butter sauce.

Cannon Chinese Kitchen
Just shy of a year old, this hip Chinese restaurant, whose kitchen is manned by executive chef Scott Kaiser, has rolled out several new dishes for spring. Among them: baby bok choy in "XO" sauce, sweet steamed buns filled with Niman Ranch pork, sauteed mushrooms wrapped in soy paper in a rich truffle broth, and a citrusy chicken salad spiked with pea tendrils and persimmon and topped with crispy noodles.

Clay Pigeon Food & Drink
Acclaimed farm-to-table restaurant from chef Marcus Paslay has unveiled a handful of spring-inspired dishes. There are seared diver scallops served with potato gnocchi and house-made bacon, as well as lightly fried risotto balls with charred green onion pesto. Special attention must be paid to the wood-grilled duck breast, sliced into medallions and served over a bed of wild rice, quinoa, spring veggies, and finished with a bourbon reduction sauce.

Horseshoe Hill Cafe
The latest restaurant from chef Grady Spears is themed as an homage to his signature dish, chicken-fried steak, and it's true he has that covered. His basic menu features chicken-fried steak done five ways. But it's not all about CFS. For spring, Spears has introduced several new items including cute egg salad sliders, a salad with green beans and blue cheese, and fried asparagus in a crunchy Shiner Bock batter.

La Perla Negra
Downtown restaurant-bar has expanded its cuisine from Cuban to Latin American and has a new chef in Fabian Alvarado, who previously was at Bearded Lady and Le Cep and who once manned a food truck for chef Tim Love. Alvarado has only been on the job a few weeks but has already revamped the menu, introducing such items as a Peruvian pepper chicken sandwich, redfish tacos, and an avocado jammed with seared tuna.

Le Cep
Top-rated contemporary French restaurant from husband and wife David and Sandra Avila recently unveiled a new and very spring-like eight-course discovery menu. Among the highlights is an unusual savory crème brûlée with seafood, containing snow crab, onions, Parmesan, and lobster. There's also a smaller four-course menu, featuring some of the same dishes, available every night except Saturday.

Lili's Bistro
Quaint, eclectic, Near Southside bistro from chef-owner Vance Martin has thrived for seven years, due in no small part to its willingness to keep the menu in a constant state of flux. Comfort dishes come and go with the seasons and Martin's whim. This spring brings several newcomers, some heavy, some not: coffee-crusted salmon, double lobster ravioli, and light-on-the-tongue duck sausage bites.

Mariposa's Latin Kitchen
Since opening their charming west side spot four years ago, mother-daughter team Irma Gamez and Crystal Padilla have stuck to what to what they do best: tamales, enchiladas, and tacos, stuffed and topped with imaginative ingredients. Sunday marks a new beginning, as the gals are launching brunch on Sundays from 11 am-3 pm with an exciting menu that includes eggs Benedict with house-made arepas in place of boring ol' English muffins, plantain pancakes, migas, and a cactus-filled frittata.

Thirteen Pies
Formerly a branch of Fireside Pies, this gourmet pizzeria has weathered changes in name and ownership (and its sibling in Atlanta recently closed), but it remains a West Seventh hot spot. Its pizza menu has literally 13 pies, one of which changes from month to month. May's featured pie is the El Cubano, a Cuban sandwich in pizza form, made with an unusual sauce of mustard ricotta, flecked with whole grains of mustard, topped with pork and ham, Gruyere cheese, and diced bread and butter pickles.

Waters
For light spring grazing, seafood's a no-brainer choice, and Jon Bonnell's West Seventh ode to the sea is often the first place Fort Worth diners consider when they're in the mood. In addition to fresh oysters, ahi tuna tartare, and other breezy bites are new-to-the-menu dishes such as market fish with cherry tomatoes and herbs, and Arctic char with lemon herb couscous, cucumber-fennel salad, and paprika yogurt crème fraîche.

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Market fish with cherry tomato at Waters.

Photo courtesy of Waters

Market fish with cherry tomato at Waters.

where-to-eat

where to eat

Where to eat in Fort Worth: 9 restaurants to take your holiday guests

Manny Rodriguez

Chumley House

The holidays draw near and for many of us, that means one thing: family’s coming to town. Cook your heart out for them, yes, but take advantage of Fort Worth’s thriving restaurant scene and show off some of our city’s finest places to eat.

For our annual December edition of our monthly Where to Eat feature, we offer suggestions for where to take the family, with a list that accommodates every type of eater — from the Tex Mex lover to vegans to big splurges.

Here's Where to eat in Fort Worth right now:

Best barbecue: Goldee’s Barbecue
Lauded by The New York Times, recently high-fived by Michelin, and ranked No. 1 on Texas Monthly’s best barbecue list, Goldee’s remains the top ‘cue choice for many in Texas and beyond. Part of the experience of eating here is the wait. Chances are, you’ll stand in line (or sit; you can bring chairs) for a good two or three hours, but with the wait comes a sense of community - and isn’t that what the holidays are all about? Maybe? You can’t go wrong with the expertly smoked brisket, huge beef ribs, or housemade Lao sausage. Be sure to get a couple slices of bread; it’s made in-house.

Best Tex Mex:Fiesta Restaurant
Fort Worth of course is well known for its Mexican cuisine, and zeroing in on one spot for all to try can be difficult. Open for more than four decades, this charming, uncomplicated restaurant on the south side is a good choice: Its menu is more expansive than others, offering dozens of varieties of enchiladas, nachos, chimichangas, and other Tex Mex staples. It’s one of the few restaurants in the area to offer parrillada, sizzling platters of chicken thighs, steak, pork, and veggies that are perfect for sharing. On weekends, there’s an all-day breakfast menu with items such as menudo, chilaquiles, migas, and breakfast tacos.

Best Hot New Spot: The Chumley House
This exquisite new European-inspired steakhouse in the museum district is definitely one of the toughest tables to get right now. A spinoff of the original location in Dallas, The Chumley House offers a variety of European-inspired dishes, chef-inspired takes on American classics, and homages to global cuisine, in a handsomely designed space. Dishes include butter chicken pie with coriander-glazed roots and ginger yorgurt, herb popovers with salted butter, the signature Beef Wellington, a center-cut tenderloin and spinach crepe hidden in a puff pastry, and a halibut “porterhouse” with chimichurri. Steaks include a NY strip and bone-in ribeye. For dessert, there’s salted caramel Biscoff trifle with sweet mascarpone and icebox pie with blackberry cobbler crumble.

Best Outdoor Space: La Cabrona
Patios may definitely be an option for Christmastime dining - remember, this is Texas and typically it’s nice this time of year. This new high-end Mexican restaurant in the W. 7th area has a real beauty for a patio - it’s festively decorated and overlooks all the W. 7th activity. The Monterrey-inspired menu includes dishes such as mole chicken enchiladas, pan-roasted cactus tacos, and carne asada, as well as lighter options such as shrimp cocktail, ceviche, and aguachile, a dish comprised of shrimp cured in a lime and serrano pepper marinade. Great selection of margaritas, cocktails, and beers, too.

Best for a Large Group:Tannahill’s Tavern & Music Hall
With a spacious dining area that spans three rooms and a bar area, Tim Love’s restaurant/music venue combo in the Stockyards is a good option for large groups. As if it were made for indecisive diners, the menu is incredibly varied, with an emphasis on classic American cuisine. Appetizers include grilled fish tacos, raw oysters, smoked crab and green chili dip, and tuna tostadas. Main dishes feature a dry-aged beef double cheeseburger, smoked baby back pork ribs, brisket enchiladas, beef stroganoff, and smoked chicken. A kids menu includes a cheese quesadillas and chicken tenders with fries. The restaurant and music venue are in separate areas, so there’s an additional cost to see the concerts.

Best Late Night:Pho 95
Late-night dining is becoming a thing of the past in Fort Worth - thankfully, Ol’ South is still around. But in Arlington, after-hours grub is still easy to find. Pho 95’s east Arlington location, at 2525 E. Arkansas Ln., is a good option for night owls craving Vietnamese classics, like bowls of piping hot pho, beef stew and other hearty soups. It’s a fun, no-frills atmosphere in which the tables and chairs are pushed so closely together, you’re bound to make a friend or two.

Best splurge:Bonnell’s Fine Texas Cuisine
With some dishes hovering in the $60-$70 range, Fort Worth chef Jon Bonnell’s namesake restaurant is definitely on the upper end of the splurge scale. But this southwest Fort Worth restaurant is a truly unique experience, in that your guests may never eat food quite like this again. Among the entrees: pepper-crusted buffalo with whiskey cream, ancho chile-rubbed elk backstrap, made from a premium cut of meat that runs along the spine, and a larger-than-life tomahawk pork chop, rubbed with a special barbecue seasoning, with mascarpone whipped sweet potatoes. Appetizers include crispy quail legs and elk tacos - only in Texas.

Best on a budget: Sunny’s Cafe
Opened earlier this year in the space once occupied by Bavarian Bakery & Cafe, this second location of the Sycamore School Road staple offers breakfast and lunch essentials, made to order and priced inexpensively. For breakfast, try the excellent pancakes - pillow-y on the inside, with nicely browned edges on the outside. Home fries - cubed fried potatoes cooked with onions and peppers - are a must. Rotating lunch specials include chicken-fried steak, pork chops, Shepherd’s pie, and chopped steak, and come with your choice of two sides, usually for less than $12.

Best quintessential Texas: Dayne’s Craft BBQ
Though just a year old, Dayne’s Craft Barbecue has all the hallmarks of a quintessential Texas restaurant: It’s located in a small town (Aledo, about 20 minutes west of Fort Worth), it’s housed in a historic building that’s nearly a century old, and the dining room looks out onto railroad tracks. You can enjoy your terrific brisket sandwich or excellent smashburger while watching the trains chug by; that’s about as Texas as you can get.

bests holidays where to eat