Fort Worth, FW, Funkytown, The Funk, Panther City, The Fort, Fort Dub, or as some say, “they greatest city on earth” (… me, I say that). If you’re thinking about traveling to Fort Worth soon (you should) or maybe you already live in Fort Worth, but are unaware of the insane explosion that is ‘the Fort Worth food scene’, I’m here to help guide you through some of my current favorite restaurants here in the Funk. If you’ve been in Fort Worth for a while, you’d know that we used to have three options in Fort Worth – Mexican food, burgers, and Riscky’s. Now, we have so many food options that it is almost impossible to know where to go. This was one of the most difficult lists to put together because our food scene really has just taken off. We are no longer limited to a few types of food, but rather a dozen choices for each category with more authentic food than ever. Let’s talk about some of my current favorites and why they made the list:
1. Piattello (Italian) – Waterside $$ 5924 Convair Dr #412, Fort Worth, TX 76109 What? You haven’t heard of Piattello? Either had I until I started seeing signs for it near the Waterside area. This Italian restaurant by Chef Marcus Paslay (also owns Clay Pigeon) has fresh, hearty dishes all made from scratch that rotate seasonally. It’s a beautifully done restaurant that’s not over the top or gaudy. You can grab a table or just sit at the bar where you can look straight above the half-wall to the kitchen where your tasty morsels are being produced. The meals range from about $17 to $34. When we went, we had the chef’s daily crostini ($12) to share, Tab had the Cappelletti (which she said, “this was the best pasta I’ve ever had and I’ve been to Italy”), and I had the osso buco which is legitimately one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. I have been watching a lot of MeatEater on Netflix (hunting show) and they talk about osso buco all of the time, but this was my first time trying it and it did not disappoint. It was a tender braised veal shank with a mushroom conserva, served over homestead gristmill polenta – WOW!!! They also have a wonderful cocktail menu ($12) and brunch that is a bit lighter fare and ranges $5-$19. The food is phenomenal, the cocktails are great, and the ambiance makes for a perfect date night.
2. Reata (SW American) – Downtown $$$ 310 Houston St, Fort Worth, TX 76102 If you’re scared like I was to try Reata because it’s upscale and a little pricy, don’t be! Their authentic menu is so amazing, I guarantee this will not be your last visit to this “cowboy style” restaurant. Reata (Spanish for “rope”) was first opened in 1995 in Alpine, Texas and grew to national recognition at its current location downtown near Sundance Square. They have a huge restaurant with a downstairs area and a rooftop with a great view of Sundance Square. Whether you’re going on a date, with a friend, or in a group, you HAVE to get the starter sampler at least once. The starter sampler is about $16 per person (2 person minimum), but is a meal in itself that contains some of Reata’s more famous starters including the tenderloin tamales with pecan mash (my personal fav), smoked quail with a molasses bbq glaze, jalapeno cheddar grits, calf fries with gravy, elk sausage, and bacon wrapped shrimp. If you don’t know what calf fries are, don’t google it, just try them - they’re delicious! My favorite entrée is hands down the carne asada topped with Reata’s cheese enchiladas ($27) – the beef is tender and fresh, the enchilada is oozing with cheese, and it comes with sides of guacamole, pico de gallo, rice, and beans. This entrée is plenty enough to share (especially if you get the tenderloin tamales as an appetizer) or you can come for lunch for a regular-sized portion at only $15. By this point, you’re full and the waiter knows it, but they still bring an entire tray of dessert options to choose from. Ugh … but I’m full, though … Fine! Dessert-pusher, I’ll take the chocolate bread pudding tamale! For $7, the tamale is basically a huge, fresh-baked, gooey chocolate chip cookie prepared in a corn husk and served with ice cream. I’d recommend getting a reservation via Opentable (request the rooftop if the weather is nice) and split the tenderloin tamales ($12), carne asada ($27), and the chocolate bread pudding tamale ($7). This choice will leave you fully satisfied (but not miserably full) and is not outrageously expensive at roughly $23 per person.
3. Salsa Limon (Tacos) – Everywhere! $ 5012 White Settlement Rd, Fort Worth, TX 76114 If you haven’t seen a Salsa Limon around town, whether it be brick-and-mortar or a food truck, you need to get out more! They started with multiple food trucks, but now have 5 restaurant locations at La Gran Plaza, Downtown Dallas, Downtown Fort Worth, Near Southside, and the River District. They have tacos around $3-$4 and tortas or burritos at $8-$9 all with the option of fillings including pastor (pork), pollo (chicken), lengua (beef tongue), asada (steak), and vegetarian. If you’re going for tacos, I’d recommend the “El Capitan” option with a buttery toasted tortilla, melted Oaxaca-jack cheese, pickled cabbage, onion, and cilantro in addition to your choice of filling. Two or three tacos should be plenty, or if you’re REALLY hungry, you can do a burrito (they’re pretty big) and El Capitan taco to cover all of your bases. They also have breakfast taco and burrito options, aguas frescas, horchata, beer, and specialty drinks including michelada, mimosa, and sangria. My favorite Salsa Limon is the River District location “Distrito” because they literally picked up and moved the historic building from the 7th street area and to its new location off White Settlement Road and it has a really cool food truck park type feel (It’s also my hometown of River Oaks).
4. M&O Station Grill (Burgers) – Foundry District $$ 200 Carroll St #110, Fort Worth, TX 76107 What came first, the museum or the burger? In the up-and-coming Foundry District, you’ll find M&O Station Grill attached to a museum dedicated to the Leonard’s Department Store that was a foundation of shopping in Fort Worth for almost 60 years until it was bought out by Dillard’s in the 70’s. It also showcases the first subway of Fort Worth (M&O) that would take customers to their store (and later the Tandy Center) until it closed in 2002. The owners of the museum (Leonard family) invited Danny Badillo (previously chef of 7thStreet Grill Station) to neighbor their museum in 2006 and the rest is history. M&O Station Grill has some of the most amazing burgers that tower with various toppings and dripping with grease (in a good way). The burgers range from $9-$15 with several options including the Bleu Cow (bleu crumb cheese & bacon), the Greek Feta (infused fresh feta cheese, caramelized onions, and sun-dried tomatoes), and the California Burger (white cheddar cheese, avocado, grilled onions, and roasted jalapeno peppers). They also have some healthy-ish options that include ground turkey and grilled chicken as well as various salads. Walk in hungry and walk out needing a nap!
5. Tokyo Café (Japanese) – Camp Bowie $$ 5121 Pershing Ave, Fort Worth, TX 76107 Tokyo Café is owned by husband-and-wife Mary Kha-Ho and Jarry Ho who also own Cannon Chinese Kitchen (also on my list) and Shinjuku Station (Near Southside). This café is well-done with various Japanese inspired décor in the dining room and both a small bar and a sushi bar as well. There’s nothing better than a hot bowl of ramen when the weather outside is bone-chilling. We don’t get bone-chilling weather in Texas often, but as soon as the temperature drops below 40 degrees, I gotsta have me some ramen. There are a few good ramen places in Fort Worth now, but Tokyo Café absolutely takes the (fish) cake. When you visit, you have GOT to share the Tok Fries ($7) which are fresh cut potato fries served with Japanese spices and a chili-mayo dipping sauce. Dip the fry in the dipping sauce and then in the spices for a flavor punch you’ll surely love. For ramen, I usually get the Tan Tan ($9) which is a blend of miso, shoyu, and chicken broth with onions, a poached egg, black garlic oil, furikake seasoning, and ground pork and beef (do yourself a favor and add the pork belly for an additional $3). They also have lots of alcohol options, but if I get anything, it’s going to be the hot sake to pair with my hot ramen. I’ve picked off the plates of family and friends here enough to know everything is good, so check it out if you haven’t already.
6. Hot Box Biscuit Club (Brunch) – Near Southside $$ 313 S Main St, Fort Worth, TX 76104 Hot Box Biscuit Club is a dream-baby created up by chef and co-owners Sarah Hooton and Mattie Mobley located off South Main. From $8-$12, these goliath biscuit sandwiches dubbed as “Bigs” are not your momma’s biscuits. We were lucky enough to arrive at the right time on a Saturday morning where we ordered quickly, but generally you can plan on waiting in a bit of a line. Their buttermilk biscuit “Bigs” have fun names including “The Paris Hilton…That’s Hot” with sugar cane brined fried chicken, spices, hot sauce, and whipped honey butter ($9) or “The Dolly Parton” with sugar cane brined fried chicken, spices, sausage pepper gravy, and cheddar ($10). Not all have fried chicken, though – some have house sausage or maple glazed carnitas which also sound amazing. For beverage options, Hot Box has coffee, orange juice, tea, and plenty of alcoholic brunch-esque type drinks to choose from. When I went, we rode our bicycles there and I ordered The Dolly Parton and added an egg (sooooo good). After a long ride, I was hungry enough to eat the entire “Big”, but the ride back home was definitely rough!
7. Taqueria JB Juniors (Mexican) – Northside $ 1426 NW 25th St, Fort Worth, TX 76164 If you find yourself closing down the bar and hankering for some food before you go home, you need to hop in an Uber and head over to JB Juniors in Northside. My friends and I have been going there on late nights for 10+ years now (old man voice: back in my day), when they used to just have the food truck near the Stockyards. They now have a brick-and-mortar restaurant on NW 25th street and are open until 4a Friday and Saturday night. The prices are great for the amount of food you get, and you can plan to generally spend $7-$12 per person. JB Juniors specializes in Tapatios which are crispy rolled tacos smothered in crema sauce (or ranchero salsa) and crisp shredded cabbage. You probably only need a half dozen depending on how hard you went at the bar. Personally, I like splitting a dozena of the divorciados (half crema, half ranchero) and a torta con barbacoa with someone - then washing it all down with an ice-cold horchata. Mmmmm …
8. Cannon Chinese Kitchen (Cannon) – Near Southside $$ 304 W Cannon St, Fort Worth, TX 76104 I’ve only been to Cannon once, but I really enjoyed it. It’s off Cannon Street (oh, THATs where the name is from) and the building looks like an old house, in fact I’m pretty certain it’s an old house. The interior is charming with its extravagant wallpaper in every room and its cute seating arrangement, it makes you feel like you’re home somehow. Now that I’m writing this and thinking about it, I really need to go back! I’d recommend going in a group and just sharing a little bit of everything when you go – the small plates at Cannon will run you about $5 and the shared plates are between $9 and $16. We split the red oil dumplings ($7), the sweet & sour pork ribs ($15), and the duck fried rice ($13) which was a perfect combo.
9. Heim Barbecue (BBQ) – River District or Near Southside $$ 5333 White Settlement Rd, Fort Worth, TX 76114 The BBQ scene is so ridiculously competitive in Texas, all of the Meat Snobs claim to know where the best BBQ is. Let’s be real, we have a lot of amazing BBQ joints – by the time you try them all, there’s a new “Best BBQ” in town. With that being said, I don’t think Heim is the “Best BBQ” in town, but they are still my favorite spot hands down. Travis (my red-bearded doppelganger) and Emma Heim started off with a food truck, grew to a restaurant in Near Southside, and recently opened their "dream location" in the River District. Some of my favs are the green chile mac ‘n cheese, the Big Cat sandwich, Heim burger, and the bacon burnt ends (of course). The Big Cat is a huge sandwich overloaded with chopped brisket topped with green chile mac ‘n cheese and shoved between two buns – it’s really the best of both worlds. The bacon burnt ends are Heim’s specialty and has really put them on the map, they even created the National Bacon Burnt End Day (June 29th) to commemorate their creation. These huge chunky cubes of bacon are seasoned and cooked slowly so that they become more on the side of candy than meat. Not only is the food great, but they have a great selection of beers at both locations and at the River District site, you can grab a frozen lemonade (or frozé) and hangout on the patio when the weather calls for it.
10. Lonesome Dove Bistro (Steakhouse) – Stockyards $$$$ 2406 N Main St, Fort Worth, TX 76164 I argued with myself on this one quite a bit because I’m not a fan of Tim Love at all despite him being a local. Regardless of what I feel about the guy (that he’s arrogant), he is a fantastic chef that has some really good restaurants including the Woodshed, Gemelle, and the Love Shack. A few years back, Tab and I went to Lonesome Dove (which looks like an old time saloon) in the Stockyards for an anniversary dinner. Being that it is upscale and expensive, we decided to order a little of everything to share. We ordered the elk sausage sliders with seared foie gras and blueberry jam ($15), the antelope tacos with citrus chilies ($9), white truffle mac and cheese ($12), and the roasted garlic stuffed beef tenderloin with western plaid hash and syrah demi-glaze ($41). Best.Steak.I’ve.Ever.Had. I hate to say it, but this tender beef was flavored to perfection and melts in your mouth. If you have a special occasion coming up and don’t mind spending about $100-$150 (including dessert and drinks), you have to go at least once.
The Wrap Up
This list has an array of cheap to expensive, Mexican to ramen, and Stockyards to Waterside so hopefully it’ll help you make a choice to try something new this weekend! If you try any of these out or have some additional Funkytown Food Spots to try, let me know!
More Fort Worth staples and favorites that didn’t quite make MY top 10 cut (in alphabetical order): Bearded Lady, Black Cat Pizza, Cane Rosso, Clay Pigeon, El Paseo, Enchiladas Ole, House of Pho, I Fratelli Pizza, Joe T. Garcias, Panther City BBQ, Pearl Snap Kolaches, Railhead BBQ, The Original, Woodshed
This was written in loving memory of Billy Miner’s Saloon (Fort Worth misses you).
Yum! This post makes me HUNGRY!
I love that food