This week in gluttony

Fat Tuesday tops 12 best food and drink events in Fort Worth this week

Razzoo's Cajun Kitchen always lets the good times roll.

Razzoo's Cajun Kitchen

Mardi Gras, aka Fat Tuesday, marks the end of the festive and gluttonous Carnival season before the austerity of Lent starts on Ash Wednesday. While Fort Worth is more than 500 miles away from the Mardi Gras-mecca New Orleans, several local restaurants and bar will let the good times roll this Tuesday with food and drink specials, live music, and lots of beads. Also on this week's list, a margarita competition at a newly revamped rooftop bar, a chili and beer pairing, and collaborative dinner featuring five local chefs.

Tuesday, February 17

Mardi Gras celebrations:

Bourbon St. Bar & Grill. The mid-cities destination for Cajun cuisine will kick off the party at 11 am with live entertainment, beads, and drink specials like $7.99 hurricanes, $10.99 sazeracs and Madame Leveau Margaritas, and $2 Jell-O shots. The party will run until midnight.
Cocodrie’s Bayou Kitchen. The new destination for authentic Cajun fare comes from “The Wild Cajun” Jesse Gibson, a Louisiana transplant with a background in shrimping and seafood. The festivities kick off at 11 am with crawfish all day, drink specials, and whole gator cooked over an open flame starting at noon. The Squeezebox Bandits will play from 6-9 pm. Gibson is also known for selling Cannata’s King cakes straight from Louisiana, which can be ordered in advance here.
Crystal Springs Hideaway. The River District beer garden will offer $6 hurricanes. The party will continue Wednesday with a jazz band from 6:30-9:30 pm and a $40 special on charcuterie and cheese boards for two, which comes with bottle of wine.
Landmark Bar & Kitchen. The north Fort Worth sports bar and restaurant will feature $10 po’ boys, $2 hurricanes ($5 after 7 pm), fresh crawfish boil while it lasts, and DJ music after dark. The party starts at 11 am.
Razzoo’s Cajun Kitchen. All locations of the longtime Cajun favorite will host live DJ music starting at 5 pm, boiled crawfish for $9.99 a pound, and featured cocktails including Swomp Thang, HurryCane, and Mardi Rita.
Rock & Brews. The Grapevine outlet of the KISS-themed restaurant owned by Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley will feature all-you-can-eat crawfish boil starting at 5 pm for $34.99, including jambalaya, strawberry fields salad, and Purple Rain Drop beignets.
Rockfish Seafood & Grill. All locations of the seafood chain will feature $8.99 shrimp boil, $5 off Voodoo platters, $10 off Ragin’ Cajun platters, and $5 hurricanes.
Tulane’s. The Foundry District bar will host its sixth annual Mardi Gras party with drink specials, live music, tarot readings, and beads upon beads.
Walloon’s. The second annual event will feature live jazz music and specials including gumbo, oysters, beignets, and hurricanes. Masks encouraged and walk-ins are welcome.

Wednesday, February 18

Marg-Off at Escondite
The second annual margarita competition, sponsored by Fort Worth-backed La Pulga Spirits, will pit eight local bartenders against each other to determine who mixes the best marg. Participating bars include Atlas, The Amber Room, Sidesaddle Saloon, The Usual, Maria’s Mexican Kitchen, La Cabrona Cocina Mexicana, Bowie House, and Escondite, the recently revamped rooftop bar atop Tinie’s Mexican Cuisine. Entry is free and the event will run from 6-10 pm.

Thursday, February 19

Gourmet Chili Flight at Maple Branch Craft Brewery
The Foundry District brewery will feature another unique flight pairing, this one with four types of chili. The lineup includes Texas red with Money Business Hefeweizen, Southwestern chicken chili with My Way IPA, roasted pork chili verde with Una Cerveza Mas Mexican lager, and Cincinnati chili with Springfire Winter Warmer. The pairing is $24 and will be available Thursday through Sunday.

Metamorphosis at The Fort Worth Club
The Fort Worth Food & Wine Foundation will host this collaborative dinner experience featuring five top local chefs: Michael Arlt of The Mont, Rodrigo Cárdenas of Don Artemio and Dos Mares, Tim Prefontaine of The Fort Worth Club, and Craig Walter and Jared Harms of The Chumley House. Four courses will be paired with wines in the elegant setting of the Fort Worth Club. The evening will culminate with a presentation of the Walter Kaufmann Lifetime Achievement Award to Ben E. Keith Foods. Tickets are $250 and the event begins with a champagne reception at 6 pm.

mardi gras fat tuesday dinner chefs food events

Bubbles & Bites

Fort Worth toasts 2026 Stock Show & Rodeo at bubbly brunch bash

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On Sunday, February 1, about 600 hungry brunch-goers descended on Will Rogers Memorial Center for the tastiest event of the 2026 Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo: the Bubbles & Bites food and wine extravaganza.

Dressed in their Western-chic best - colorful boots, cowboy hats, turquoise jewelry, and fur vests and coats (there was a lingering chill in the air from the recent "ice-pocalypse") - attendees eagerly queued all the way down the corridor outside the Round Up Inn before the event began promptly at 11 am.

The sold-out tasting event featured not only brunchy bites from top local restaurants, but winning wines from FWSSR’s second annual Vine 2 Wine international wine competition held in October 2025.

After picking up their souvenir wine glass and posing for pics at a step-and-repeat, the first stop for most folks was the Pommery Champagne station, where they got their first pour of the day. (It was also the first to run out.)

Attendees could enjoy unlimited wine tastings from more than a dozen wineries from Texas and around the world, along with gourmet noshes from 15 local chefs and restaurants. While Fort Worth's acclaimed barbecue and Tex-Mex restaurants were well represented, there were also bites of Asian cuisine, seafood, and elevated takes on traditional breakfast foods like waffles, French toast, and biscuits.

Participating restaurants and their dishes were:

Lettuce Cook Gourmet on the Go: Candied bacon jam topped with Texas heat pimento cheese on crackers
Joe T. Garcia’s: Chimichangas and flautas
Funky Town Donuts: Lemon raspberry filled doughnuts, pomegranate doughnuts: and vanilla, mulled wine, and dark chocolate toffee doughnut holes
The Meat Board: Wagyu smash burger with Caesar salad topping
Roy Pope Grocery: Toasted pecan buttermilk biscuit with chipotle, candied bacon, peach rosemary jam, and goat cheese
Hao’s Grocery & Cafe: Birria dumplings
Heim BBQ: Bacon burnt ends
Bricks and Horses: Warm brown butter crab rolls
Oak & Third at the Crazy Water Hotel: Tiramisu French toast with espresso custard, espresso syrup, and vanilla whipped Chantilly cream
Rex’s Bar & Grill: Loaded breakfast casserole with Muenster cheese, sweet potato tot, and jalapeno gravy
Ol' South Pancake House: French toast baguette with fresh goat cheese, fig jam, and crispy bacon crumbles
Terry Blacks BBQ: Beef rib bites with macaroni & cheese
Magdalena’s: Chicharron taco with handmade tortilla, chicharron, cajeta, jicama-coconut slat, and chile torreado
Local Foods Kitchen: Green goddess chicken salad
Tinies: Amaranth & chocolate waffles

The award-winning wineries represented included:

Photo courtesy FWSSR

Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo's 2026 Bubbles & Bites event took place Sunday, February 1.

Fairwinds Estate Winery - Grand Champion Malbec
Champagne Pommery - Reserve Champion
Sanglier Cellars
Klinker Brick Winery
Stockman Wine

Texas Winery winners:

While a singer and guitar player entertained from stage, attendees conscientiously visited each food table, chatted with chefs, and sipped different wines to discover new favorites.

Bubbles & Bites wasn't just a tasting event; it was a culinary competition, too. Guests could vote from their phones for their favorite bite of the day.

At the end of the afternoon, the winner was announced from stage: The Meat Board took home the trophy for Grand Champion - Best Bite for its hearty Wagyu smash burger with Caesar salad topping.

Guests lingered over their last pours until it was time to head out to the next Stock Show highlight. Some crossed the hall to shop the vendors in the Amon G. Carter Exhibits Hall next door, while others made their way to Dickies Arena for the matinee rodeo.

The Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo will return January 15-February 7, 2027, and organizers of Bubbles & Bites say they have some new ideas in store for next year's edition. Cheers and yee haw!

brunch luncheons fort worth stock show & rodeo