Where to Eat

Where to eat in Fort Worth right now: 5 new restaurants for April

Tweezer action at Katei Omakase.

Photo courtesy of Katei Omakase

The arrival of April brings a new edition of Where to Eat, CultureMap's monthly column with recommendations on the best restaurants to try. The theme for April is new experiences — whether that's a newly opened place, a spinoff, a new offering within an offering, or a restaurant moving into a new location.

Here are five new places to seek out in Fort Worth right now:

Beren Meze & Grill House
Mediterranean restaurant just relocated from the Near Southside to the former Maiden space, bringing its taste of Turkey (which earned them a nomination in CultureMap's 2026 Tastemaker Awards). Kebabs are a signature, including their trademark adana kebab, featuring seasoned ground lamb and beef with onion, paprika, garlic, and onion. They do a classic Turkish breakfast of scrambled eggs with tomato, bell pepper, and onion, and a historic Turkish dish called "Hunkar Begendi," with lamb and eggplant puree. Baklava is offered in multiple varieties including chocolate baklava, walnut baklava, and pistachio baklava.

Butter My Brunch
DFW has a seemingly unlimited capacity for brunch, which is good news for this family-owned concept that debuted in Grapevine in January. They're serving a bountiful menu straddling breakfast and lunch, with pancakes, omelets, benedicts, burgers, sandwiches, and salads. They have it all: steak & eggs, breakfast tacos, migas, avocado toast, Cuban sandwich, Caesar salad, smashburger, patty melt, Philly cheesesteak, even a Monte Cristo. Their signature is their flavored butters — strawberry, blueberry, raspberry, and cinnamon honey — which can be applied to pancakes, biscuits, toasts, or anywhere you think a flavored butter would be a plus. Butter My Brunch has the essential ingredient that all these brunch places have: a full bar with mimosas.

Cafe Mirador
Ladies-who-lunch spot newly open in Fort Worth's Cultural District is a spinoff of the similarly-named Mirador which debuted in downtown Dallas in 2017. It's open for lunch and brunch with a menu that's nearly identical to the Dallas location, with tomato soup, deviled eggs, lobster roll, and the ladies-who-lunch must-have chicken salad sandwich. Like the Dallas original, it's located inside fashion boutique Forty Five Ten (which also opened a location in Fort Worth), from the Headington Companies, led by developer Tim Headington, who owns a big chunk of downtown Dallas including the Joule Dallas hotel.

Katei Omakase
Last year's omakase trend in Dallas hits Fort Worth via this newcomer, now open in the Tower building downtown from Azteca Concepts, a Dallas group that also opened Polanco, the upscale Mexican restaurant, in the same building; in fact, to get to Katei, you must enter through Polanco. They're taking a similar approach (and high price) as Sushi Bar in downtown Dallas. Dinner starts out in Palanco's VIP section, then moves to a small room where diners are served appetizers such as oyster on puffed rice, before being escorted to the sushi bar for sushi and nigiri. The total is 20 courses for $185, which does not include drinks or tip.

Star Cafe/Devil's Den
When Stockyards restaurant and bar Star Cafe changed hands in 2024, chef Victor Villarreal came on board to tweak the menu, adding steaks, sides, salads, and specials such as April's burger of the month, a bacon cheddar burger with jalapeno jam. In February, Villareal introduced Devil’s Den, a monthly(ish) installation which serves as a platform for his creative efforts and a spotlight for fellow chefs. The next event, which takes place on April 28, is a chef-driven six-course collaboration between Villarreal & chef Tuan Pham, founder of Four Sisters – Taste of Vietnam, the Mansfield eatery which earned a Tastemaker Awards nomination in 2025 for Best Neighborhood Restaurant. Details on the menu are still TBA, but the dinner will be accompanied by Socorro Tequila cocktails and live music.

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Ice Cream News

Extra creamy frozen custard chain Whit's opens ice cream shop in Aledo

Whit's

Whit's Frozen Custard, now open in Aledo

A new ice cream shop has made its Texas debut, with a first location in Aledo: Called Whit's Frozen Custard, it's a growing regional chain that just opened at 119 S. Ranch House Rd. #800 Willow Park, in the heart of the Aledo/Willow Park corridor, just off I-20, across from Railhead Smokehouse BBQ, where it celebrated a grand opening April 3-4.

Founded in Granville, Ohio in 2003, Whit’s Frozen Custard specializes in slow-churned frozen custard made daily. They started out as a family-owned chain before being acquired in 2025 by businessman Bill Aseere who serves as CEO and is helping grow the brand which currently has 92 locations across 10 mostly southeast states in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, North & South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Ohio which has 38 shops.

They use a traditional recipe with eggs, cream, and sugar, served at a higher temperature (26 F) than typical ice cream, which results in a denser, creamier texture. Flavors include vanilla and chocolate, plus a rotating weekly flavor, available by the cone, in a sundae, or in a Whitser, a blizzard-like shake blending custard and toppings.

They rotate a new flavor in every week. April's flavors include mocha custard with crushed cookies 'n' cream, peanut butter swirls & fudge swirls; butter pecan; vanilla custard with brownie bites, fudge swirl, & caramel swirls; and lemon custard with blueberry swirl.

The Willow Park location will introduce a special locally inspired flavor called Bearcat Madness, featuring chocolate syrup, peanut butter, and Reese’s Cups, named in honor of Aledo’s Bearcats. Other favorites include the Brownie Blitz, Banana Split, and grab-and-go pints.

One scoop is $5, while two scoops are $6.50. Toppings including fruit, candy, nuts, cookies, and cake are $1 each. Whitsers come in four sizes, priced from $6 to $9.25.

Bringing Whit’s to Texas is a local ownership team led by Brent King, who will serve as the day-to-day operator. Alongside managing partners Jack Thornton and Connor Huffman, the group combines restaurant experience with a long-term vision for more stores in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

"We’re excited to create a place where families can slow down, sit together, and enjoy something simple and really good. That’s what Whit’s is all about," King says in a statement.

The space is designed with families in mind, blending a preppy Americana feel with French bistro touches, featuring indoor and patio seating for 30 and a Texas-themed mural that reflects the local community.