Holiday Dining

These are the 8 best New Year’s Eve dinners in Fort Worth

Ellerbe Fine Foods Fort Worth patio Magnolia

Ellerbe Fine Foods will serve up a New Orleans-style New Year's Eve dinner.

The end of 2017 is almost here, and it’s not too late to plan for a delicious New Year’s Eve. Make reservations now at one of these festive fetes, which range from an outdoor barbecue with live music to a casino-style buffet complete with gaming. Then head out to one of the many great parties, shows, and concerts around town. Cheers to 2018 and many more food and drink events to come.

Bird Café New Year’s Eve Celebration
Sundance Square now hosts its own version of a Times Square New Year’s Eve, and Bird Café provides for a bird’s eye view. Make reservations for the restaurant’s four-course menu, which starts with grilled oysters and moves to a winter salad followed by a choice of roasted pheasant, bone-in Wagyu ribeye, golden tile fish, or a vegetarian dish of greens, mushrooms, and sweet potatoes. Choose from spiced raisin toffee cake or red velvet cake for dessert. The $90 per person price doesn’t include tax, gratuity or beverages, but there will be champagne toast for everyone at midnight.

New Year’s Eve Prix Fixe Menu at Chef Point
There are actually three nights (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) to enjoy the Watauga gourmet gas station’s three-course dinner, which comes with a bottle of bubbly. Choose from leek soup or fennel salad to start, and then stuffed chicken, sautéed halibut, or New York strip for the main course. Dessert is tiramisu topped with homemade whipped cream and chocolate shavings. The $100 price per couple does not include tax, gratuity, or additional beverages. Dine from 4 to 10 pm each day.

Tunes, Bubbles & BBQ at Woodshed Smokehouse or New Year’s Eve at Lonesome Dove
Enjoy Tim Love’s tasty creations two ways. At Woodshed Smokehouse, patrons can pay $75 each (before tax and gratuity) for a barbecue meal under the stars, as well as live music and a champagne toast at midnight. In the Fort Worth Stockyards' Lonesome Dove Western Bistro, a special five-course menu includes a tapas platter with a Gulf Coast oyster, wild boar rib and a hamachi tostada; choice of salad; grilled langostino; choice of entrée including garlic-stuffed beef tenderloin, Berkshire pork chop, or seared swordfish; and Love’s surprise dessert. Reservations are $95 per person, plus tax and gratuity.

New Year’s Eve Las Vegas Style at Fixture
Reservations go fast for the Magnolia Avenue restaurant’s annual casino-style bash, which includes an indulgent buffet from chef Ben Merritt and a champagne toast at midnight. Try your luck at blackjack, craps, and roulette before toasting to the new year. Doors open at 7 pm, and gaming will run from 7:30 to 10:30 pm. Tickets are $125.

NYE at FnG: New Year’s Eve Dinner
There are two seating times — 6:30 and 8:30 pm — for chef Bob Stephenson’s three-course dinner at the popular Keller eatery. Menu highlights include shrimp bisque, filet Oscar, bacon-wrapped scallops, and flourless Kahlua chocolate ganache cake. Reservations are $65 per person, plus tax and gratuity.

Bonne Année – New Year’s Eve with Ellerbe
It’s a New Orleans-style New Year’s Eve at Ellerbe Fine Foods (bonne année means "happy new year" in French), and patrons are in for a three-course treat. Choose from turkey and andouille gumbo or shrimp Arnaud; then blackened redfish, steak with spicy hollandaise, or duck confit; along with powdered sugar-dusted beignets for dessert. The meal itself is $85, plus tax and gratuity, but wines can be added for additional $35.

Go Out in Style: New Year’s Eve at City Works Fort Worth
The brand new restaurant in the Shops at Clearfork is offering the total package: drinks, bites, tunes. The $87.94 ticket price includes tray-passed apps like tuna tartare tacos, pork belly sliders, fried barbecue ribs, and stuffed French toast, along with a four-hour premium bar from 9 pm-1 am, and a champagne toast at midnight. Bottles of bubbly will be available for $20.18.

holidays dinner

Holiday Dressing

Glam up and party like it's 1989 on New Year's, says Neiman Marcus fashion guru

Photo by Priscilla Dickson

Shoulder pads always make a bold statement, and Ken Downing says they are coming on strong for 2018.

It seems fitting that we should head into 2018 with shoulder pads in our jackets and a strong red lip. Fashion’s proverbial time warp is coming back around primarily to the '80s, where shoulders are powerful and paired with slim leggings, catsuit and yes, even the questionable stirrup pant.

This New Year's Eve, go ahead, make an entrance, and take a stand in velvet, tassels, embellished heels, and shoulder-grazing earrings. These are throwback pleasers that will escort you quite nicely into what’s next, says Neiman Marcus Fashion Director Ken Downing. Here's more of his advice for going into the new year with retro-glam style.

Red hues have certainly never been known for their demure qualities, and that’s all for the better. Start with a red lip, a rosy frock, or earrings that pop. Downing is a proponent of the color and infused it into many of the looks shown at a fall 2017 fashion presentation.

“Red likes red and makes a beautiful story, so go ahead and pair it together,” Downing said. For those who prefer a more low-key holiday look, drink in rich Bordeaux colors, including raspberry, mulberry, and plum. Soft blush pinks play nicely, too.

If you’re pushing the easy button with a LBD but still want some NYE sizzle, then it’s all about the ear. Big, bold, colorful earrings amp up denim or a dress in an instant, as well as give a girl a bit of a boost.

“Big earrings are better than Botox and far less painful,” Downing said. “In fact, it’s time to take out your jewelry and bring it into the light of day. We leave it at home and it's not having any fun.”

Festive feet are another step into the future. Velvet, boots, pearl-encrusted heels, embroidery, and spikes are top picks for shoes that are the ultimate attention-grabbers. Downing sees no reason to leave velvet of any kind tucked away until the evening.

“Shoes that have a lot of personality want to go out during the day," Downing said. "Velvet doesn’t know what time it is.”

For a modern multidecade look, casually slide on a denim jacket with architectural shoulders and reach for denim crops, or even bellbottoms.

And if the '80s conjured up nothing but neon and parachute pants, Downing likes the Studio 54 vibe of a sequin pantsuit or tuxedo.

Note for anyone still clinging to your shoulder wrap. Put. It. Away.

Runway models and street style darlings haven’t wrapped up or slid their arms in a jacket in years, and Downing is equally averse to the dated look. Mixing up and creating the unexpected is the best part of fashion, so why not put a biker jacket over a beaded gown?

As we revel in the new year, celebrating with gold, red, velvet, and tassel accents, let’s keep an eye on spring, where yellow is going to be everywhere. We are planning our bold lip options now.

Shoulder pads always make a bold statement, and Ken Downing says they are coming on strong for 2018.

Photo by Priscilla Dickson

Shoulder pads always make a bold statement, and Ken Downing says they are coming on strong for 2018.

shopping holidays