Bubbly and brunch

Cheers to top Fort Worth restaurants for New Year's Day 2020 brunch

Now that's hangover food.

Photo by Felix Sanchez for B&B Butchers

New Year’s Day falls on a Wednesday this year, but that’s not stopping these restaurants from celebrating the new decade with their best versions of weekend brunch. Rise and dine with hangover-curing favorites, like eggs Benedict, bloody Marys, and mimosas. One establishment is even hosting on-site rehydration IV treatments. Welcome to 2020.

B&B Butchers & Restaurant
As part of the high-end steakhouse’s New Year’s Day Hangover Cure Brunch, hydrating IV drips will be available on site via HydroPros’ mobile rehydration van. The brunch menu, to include oversized mimosas and a black-eyed pea special, will be available from 11 am-3 pm. Reservations are recommended.

The Bearded Lady
Get lucky in 2020 with bloody Marys made with local Blk Eye Vodka from Black Eyed Distilling, or cure a hangover with micheladas made with lime gose beer. The South Main bar and restaurant will open at 11 am to serve brunch specialties like smoked brisket, biscuits and gravy, home fries with habanero cream gravy and eggs, and the Pigmento sandwich with pimento cheese, smoked pork, and blueberry compote.

Blue Mesa Grill
There’ll be carved barbecue brisket, seared salmon, made-to-order omelets, and an ice cream sundae bar for both kids and adults, along with classic Tex-Mex dishes. The $24 per-person price includes mimosas. Children 6 to 11 years old are $7, and the brunch will run from 10 am-3 pm.

Chef Point
Brunch is now available at both locations, including the large new Colleyville outlet. Start the New Year with bacon bloody Marys, $20 mimosa flights, eggs Benedict, chicken and waffles, and French toast bread pudding. Booking a table is recommended. Brunch will be served from 10 am-2 pm.

City Works Eatery and Pour House
Catch all of the college football bowl game action at the Shops at Clearfork sports bar and restaurant, which will open at 10 am to serve its “Rock ‘n’ Roll” brunch. There’ll be braised short rib hash, jumbo cinnamon rolls, avocado toasts, and brunch cocktails like the Flapjack Old Fashioned, as well as mimosa flights.

Fixture Kitchen and Social Lounge
Reservations are a good idea for this West Magnolia Avenue hot spot, which will open from 10 am to 2 pm to serve brunch favorites. Dishes include shrimp and grits, chilaquiles, and coffee-rubbed short rib hash. Or go for chef Ben Merritt’s ultimate bloody Mary garnished with grilled shrimp, bacon, chicken chicharrones, a bacon-wrapped stuffed jalapeño, crawfish ball, and a duck wing.

Funky Picnic Brewery & Café
Waffle and breakfast sausage sandwiches, veggie quiche, and ham and Swiss on French toast are among some of the dishes to be served from 11 am-3 pm at the Near Southside restaurant. Wash it all down with a michelada, mimosa, or craft beer brewed on site.

Hot Box Biscuit Club
South Main's buzzy new biscuit spot will serve a hangover brunch from 9 am-3 pm. They'll offer $2 off bloody Marys and $5 off bottles of champagne, and the menu will include favorite dishes like The Gary Busey (a biscuit-egg sandwich that's basically a hot mess), Leia's Buns (biscuit dough swimming in TX Whiskey sauce), grits, and black-eyed peas.

Little Red Wasp
The downtown eatery will open from 11 am-4 pm for brunch features like chilaquiles, corned beef hash, and one massive chicken biscuit with cheddar and black pepper gravy. Toast to 2020 with an array of champagne cocktails, like the French 75, Morning Bloom, or Kir Royale.

Righteous Foods
Start the New Year eating righteously with good-for-you dishes like omelets made with uncured bacon and chicken apple sausage served with sweet potatoes and zucchini, or avocado Benedict topped with turmeric-poached organic eggs. There are plenty of juices to detox, or retox if preferred, with organic spirits. The restaurant will open at 9 am.

World of Beer
Everything is bottomless in this brunch, including the food. Go from 11 am to 3 pm for endless beermosas, mimosas, and dishes like avocado toast with bacon and eggs, sweet cream pancakes, and huevos rancheros. The price per person is $14.

lists holidays brunch

Closure News

Tropic Lady restaurant-bar on Fort Worth's Race Street says aloha

Tropic Lady

The dip trio at Tropic Lady.

A chill restaurant and bar in Fort Worth's River East district has closed: Tropic Lady, which opened in the former Fuzzy's Taco space at 2719 Race St. in 2023, has closed.

The restaurant, which closed in mid-December, was a sibling to Bearded Lady, the popular gastropub in Near Southside; their last Facebook post was on December 10. Their phone number is not working, and their website is no longer active. Owner Shannon Osbakken was unavailable for comment, but a Bearded Lady employee confirmed the closure.

Tropic Lady was a tropical-themed gastropub opened by a trio of friends: Bearded Lady owner Shannon Osbakken, her business partner Sarah Allen, and general manager Amanda Yunger. It offered a similar menu as Bearded lady but with more tropical-inspired fare, including shrimp tacos, bacon-wrapped grilled pineapple bites, and guacamole dotted with mango.

For a gastropub, they did interesting food with dishes like watermelon salad with feta and cucumber; or their Dip Trio, with mango guacamole, tomatillo salsa, and queso blanco served with house-made tortilla chips. Definitely not run-of-the-mill. They also had great lunch specials like a smashburger with curly fries for $10.

Food did not seem to be the problem.

Decor featured artwork and murals created by local artists. A beautifully landscaped patio wrapped around the building’s facade. So the setting did not seem to be a factor.

It's tempting to point the finger at its location on Race Street, which has witnessed a round of closings in the past two years including buzzy birria taqueria Caliscience, which closed in February 2024; as well as The Post at River East, a restaurant and live music venue that shut down the same month.

In 2023, three other restaurants on Race Street closed: Tributary Cafe, the Bon Appetit-lauded La Onda, and vegan burger spot Zonk Burger. But separate reasons can also be found for each of those closures, whether that be inexperience or lease issues.

For years, the city and neighborhood advocates have been trying to turn Race Street into a trendy hotspot. As part of the city’s Urban Villages program, the city of Fort Worth invested $5.6 million in revitalizing the area, making improvements to traffic flow, sidewalks, landscaping, and outdoor lighting.

When Osbakken opened the bar, she said she loved the area, stating "it reminds me of Magnolia when were first were on it 10 years ago in our old location. It's a great community and the neighbors have been friendly and reaching out."

And there are still restaurants along the street, including a popular Mexican restaurant called Tesoro, the Dough’d Up doughnut shop, and Kingyo Sushi & Ramen House, as well as a coffee shop, Race Street Coffee.

The Bearded Lady continues to flourish. Osbakken originally opened the popular gastropub on Magnolia Avenue in 2013. Six years later, she moved it to the South Main, where it’s still going strong.

closings