Bites of Restaurant News

Reopenings rocket in this roundup of Fort Worth restaurant news

Apple doughnuts at Batter and Beans

B&B

In this edition of restaurant news around Fort Worth, we have more than the usual quota of remodelings and reopenings. Everyone's sprucing up. There's also news about Mexican food, pizza, and doughnuts.

Here's what's happening in Fort Worth restaurant news:

The Flying Carpet Turkish Café, a beloved Turkish restaurant, has reopened at 1223 Washington Ave. The restaurant, which had been open off and on since 2009, closed in 2023 after sustaining damage in a fire. Now it's been brought back by chef Can Karataş who also owns Istanbul Cuisine in Flower Mound and Southlake.

El Garambullo Mexican Restaurant is a new-ish restaurant that opened at 109 W. Harwood Rd., in Hurst in May, which is pleasing local diners for its good food at a reasonable price, with dishes such as ceviche, shrimp cocktail, flautas, and sopes. It doesn't have much of an online presence but the Mid-Cities Foodies are swearing by it.

Winslow's Wine Cafe is tiptoeing back into a soft opening, following a month-long renovation. After celebrating their 16th anniversary, they closed on August 31 to update the space. They very quietly opened over the weekend for Saturday and Sunday brunch and will reopen on Tuesday at 2 pm.

Tokyo Cafe, the acclaimed Japanese restaurant off Camp Bowie Boulevard, will close on October 27 for a brief remodel, with plans to reopen in early November. Their post says they'll reopen on November 5, but those things are always hard to predict.

Slice City Pizza reopened in a new location at 7445 Oakmont Blvd., in southwest Fort Worth near the corner with Bryant Irvin, between the Albertsons and Harris SW hospital. They one of the few places that sells pizza by the slice, and also do: gluten free pizza, Neapolitan pizza, thin crust pizza, healthy pizza, stuffed pizza, veggie pizza, and more.

Batter and Beans, the shop at 3548 South Hills Ave. near Bluebonnet Circle, which specializes in made-to-order mini cake doughnuts and gourmet coffee, is doing an irresistible special right now: Warm apple crisp doughnuts, featuring powdered dougnuts topped with apple pie filling.

La Madeleine has new menu items, including vegetable Provençal soupe, an assortment of fresh garden vegetables cooked with a blend of herbs and spices, for $5.39; toasted caprese sandwich, a baguettine with mozzarella, roma tomatoes, and pesto, drizzled with a balsamic glaze, for $8; and beef crêpe stroganoff, a crêpe filled with sautéed beef, mushrooms, onions and Swiss cheese, topped with a sour cream sauce, for $13. The new menu items are available through February 2025.

Postino has new fall menu items including Greek hummus board, caprese panini, and desserts such as the fudgy brownie, crunchy hazelnut bar, and olive oil cake. Plus: French onion Bruschetta, which won the 2024 Battle of The Bruschetta, has been added to the menu. Prices range from 15-$20. Available at the Addison and Southlake locations.

Dillas Quesadillas has a limited-time Frito Pie Dilla with chili cheese Fritos, ground beef, Hatch queso, and red onions packed into a grilled tortilla. It’s offered in a regular size for $10.49 or a gorilla size for $13.49. Available through November 27 at locations in Plano, Frisco, McKinney, Forney, Prosper, and Denton.

El Chico has new Mama's Flavoritos margaritas, including Mr. Fireball ‘Rita, a house frozen ‘Rita made with El Toro Silver Tequila, Fireball Cinnamon Whisky, Mr. Pibb and Finest Call Grenadine; and prickly pear ‘Rita, with Campo Bravo Plata Tequila, triple sec, Prickly Pear Reàl, fresh lime and orange juice. Both drinks are $7.50.

Perry's Steakhouse has launched several autumn offerings, including $14 white bean pork chili and $15 butternut squash. Desserts include $12 pumpkin cheesecake and $18 chocolate jubilee cake. There are Dallas locations in Frisco and Dallas' Park District.

The Capital Grille is bringing back its Wagyu & wine pairing experience starting at $35, featuring three Wagyu burgers and three Duckhorn Portfolio Reds. Pairings include wagyu blue cheese and black truffle burger with Duckhorn Vineyards Napa Valley Cabernet Sauvignon and the wagyu roasted wild mushroom and Swiss burger with Migration Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir. The special is available through November 1.

Truluck's now has its signature stone crab claws from South Florida, available in medium, large, and jumbo options at market price. The crab will be featured through May 1, 2025, at locations in Dallas, Plano, and Southlake.

Fuzzy's Tacos has limited-time items including Diablo shrimp taco, Diablo shrimp bowl, and strawberry Topo ‘Rita. Diablo shrimp tacos and grilled steak tacos are $7, and an 18-ounce Miller Lite draft is $3. The specials are available October 16-November 24.

Landmark Bar & Kitchen Fort Worth is hosting a "name their mechanical bull" contest with a $500 prize. They are looking for the perfect name to give their new Landmark Mechanical Bull. Submit your suggestions as a comment on their post. The deadline is October 26. If your suggestion is chosen, you could win $500 worth of prizes and giftcards from Landmark.

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Raven Jordan contributed to this story.

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Chef News

Fort Worth's Will Rogers Memorial Center welcomes bright new chef

FortWorthtx.gov

Will Rogers Memorial Center

There's a new chef in town: Waylon Cornelius, named executive chef of catering and concessions for Craft Culinary Concepts, the food and beverage provider at Will Rogers Memorial Center.

Will Rogers Memorial Center is the 120-acre entertainment complex anchoring Fort Worth’s Cultural District, owned and operated by the City of Fort Worth. Cornelius will oversee menus for trade shows and other events at the center which bring in more than 2 million visitors a year.

Craft Culinary Concepts is headquartered in Glendale, Arizona, and manages food and beverage programs for entertainment, sports and cultural facilities.

Chef Waylon Corneliusfortworthtx.gov

According to a release, Cornelius joined the team this summer and is already shifting the expectations of guests from a typical “BBQ and beans” menu to a bill of fare satisfying every kind of palate.

“We always have fajitas ready to go, but we also make a beautiful Beef Wellington or baked salmon with a pink salt crust,” Cornelius says in a statement.

For consumer trade shows, Craft and its partners Caribou and Taco Heads offer more choices for the thousands of guests who attend events at WRMC annually.

“Some of our equestrian guests are away from home and here for several days, and they need more than popcorn and hot dogs,” Cornelius says. “Our concessions offer biscuits and gravy, burritos made in-house, strawberry salad, fruit and yogurt cups.”

A native of Mansfield, Cornelius grew up helping in a farm-to-table kitchen. He was raised on a farm with his mother, grandmother, and grandfather -- a Vietnam veteran who enjoyed vegetable gardens and raising hogs and chickens. He studied computer science after high school and holds an associate's degree in Cultural Resource Management and Policy Analysis from Tarrant County College.

He's a 2003 graduate of AIMS Academy of Culinary Arts in Dallas where he was mentored by a number of great chefs. While training as assistant executive sous chef at the AAA four-diamond Grand Hyatt DFW, he worked with Executive Chef Sutti Sripolpa, chef Eric Dreyer (who went on to be Oprah Winfrey’s personal chef), and Chef Jean-Claude Plihon, under whom he honed his French cooking skills.

As executive sous chef at the opening of Perry’s Steakhouse and Grille in Southlake, Cornelius gained expertise with volume. While at HG Sply Co., he learned about gluten-free items and other food allergies.

HG Sply is also where he crossed paths with Chef James R. Schell III, Craft’s general manager at WRMC, who recruited Cornelius to the complex.

"James said he needed someone who can hit moving targets, push the culinary team to be more avant-garde and use locally sourced, seasonal ingredients, so here I am," Cornelius says. "Culinary is a small world."

“I want people to say, ‘When we were in Fort Worth, you won’t believe what we got at Will Rogers!’” Schell says. “Even the celebrities who perform [in the auditorium] are surprised. When Chicago played here recently and we served dinner backstage, they said they felt treated like the Rolling Stones.”

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