Putting this in the Waco forum since it is in reference to someone moving from Waco to Fort Worth.

What restaurants would you recommend to be on a list to eat at?

Please no chains, even ones that are not in Waco, as those are easy to find and learn about.

West/ southwest Fort Worth, downtown, Benbrook, aledo/ Weatherford area specifically.

In that specific part of FW, it's a bit more limited. Excluding the Stockyards, Downtown and West 7th....

Prima's Pizza & Pasta is one of my favorites at Hulen and Granbury. BYOW.

'Ol South Pancake House. Been around forever. Get the German pancakes.

West Side Cafe. Breakfast/lunch.

Fred's Texas Cafe. Unfortunately the original had to move from the West 7th area after it got all fancy.

J&J Oyster Bar. Even though it's W 7th area, I'll include this. Throwback place the size of a matchbox.

BBQ. I'd put FW BBQ right up there as rivaling Austin these days. You have the older school joints like Angelo's and Railhead. Those have been passed up by better joints, but are a good atmosphere to enjoy at any time and have an ice cold schooner. Goldee's BBQ got #1 in the state. Zillion others that are quality.

Oscars Pub. FW's "Cheers."

Rogers Roundhouse. Biergarten but food is good too.

A bit fancier: Lucile's on Camp Bowie, Le Margot, Delucca Gaucho (Brazilian Pizza)

Burgers: Tommy's, Kincaid's.

Greek House. Old school joint still putting out good food.

Mexican. Too many to list. Better ones are on the North side, but Mesero is a more upscale DFW spot that has a FW location.

TCU: I like Buffalo Bros before games.

Tons of places on Magnolia/medical district too, but I can't speak to that, except for Heim BBQ and breweries.

High End Places
Ellerbe is still great
Bonnells and Waters are FW landmarks by John Bonnel
Grace downtown is a staple for us
Lonesome Dove in the Stockyards is fantastic

BBQ
FW BBQ as mentioned above
Panther City is a place I love
Woodshed is great and unique
Skip Heim

Brunch
Righteous Foods is a fave. The churros for dessert are legit.
Lucilles still does a great bunch and is very old school FW
Fixe Southern House
Rise on the Trinity Trail

Random stuff we love
Zolis pizza
Benitos Mexican
Istanbul Grill downtown before the Bass
Little Red Wasp
Hopfusion Brewery
Avoca coffee
Lilly's Bistro

carriage house.

- kkm

D!

My wife and I are huge fans of Reata in Sundance Square in FW. The jalapeno cheese grits with elk sausage and a TX Old fashioned is an S-tier food delight

I never pass an opportunity for some Joe T.'s Mexican.

Big12Bear said:

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In that specific part of FW, it's a bit more limited. Excluding the Stockyards, Downtown and West 7th....

Prima's Pizza & Pasta is one of my favorites at Hulen and Granbury. BYOW.

'Ol South Pancake House. Been around forever. Get the German pancakes.

West Side Cafe. Breakfast/lunch.

Fred's Texas Cafe. Unfortunately the original had to move from the West 7th area after it got all fancy.

J&J Oyster Bar. Even though it's W 7th area, I'll include this. Throwback place the size of a matchbox.

BBQ. I'd put FW BBQ right up there as rivaling Austin these days. You have the older school joints like Angelo's and Railhead. Those have been passed up by better joints, but are a good atmosphere to enjoy at any time and have an ice cold schooner. Goldee's BBQ got #1 in the state. Zillion others that are quality.

Oscars Pub. FW's "Cheers."

Rogers Roundhouse. Biergarten but food is good too.

A bit fancier: Lucile's on Camp Bowie, Le Margot, Delucca Gaucho (Brazilian Pizza)

Burgers: Tommy's, Kincaid's.

Greek House. Old school joint still putting out good food.

Mexican. Too many to list. Better ones are on the North side, but Mesero is a more upscale DFW spot that has a FW location.

TCU: I like Buffalo Bros before games.

Tons of places on Magnolia/medical district too, but I can't speak to that, except for Heim BBQ and breweries.

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Good list thanks.

I was not excluding stockyards, downtown or west 7th. In fact I included downtown in my original post.


But to clarify I am looking for anything in Fort Worth (downtown, north, south, east, west), stockyards, west 7th (I don't even know what that means), Sundance square, and all the way out to Weatherford and the areas mentioned earlier.

Just not looking for recommendations for Dallas, Denton, midlothian, red oak, etc. as when I sometimes ask people for Fort Worth things they start bringing up things all over DFW area.

SteamedHams said:

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My wife and I are huge fans of Reata in Sundance Square in FW. The jalapeno cheese grits with elk sausage and a TX Old fashioned is an S-tier food delight

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Just in case it has been a while, Reata has moved locations. They are back in The Tower where they started decades ago prior to the 2000 tornado. It's still technically Sundance Square, but you could end up confused if you aren't aware.

+1 Reata but go with the carne asada as your meal.
+1 on Kincaid's being an awesome burger spot.
+1 Panther City. Amazing food.

Hysen's Nizza Pizza--I had the pizza (it was really good NY style), but they have a full Italian menu too.
Los Vaqueros--good Mexican food in the stockyards, but Joe T Garcia's is better with a smaller menu, so use that as your reference point.
Neighbor's House--small shop, but I thought the food was good.
Roy Pope Grocery--it's Kincaid's but with sandwiches, coffee, and wine instead of burgers (although there is a burger on the menu). I thought the reuben was good.
Walloon's--quality seafood place in the Magnolia district.
Crystal Spring Hideaway--this place opened late December 2024. It's got a cheese and wine shop as you enter. A small inside dining area and then a huge patio area with another small dining area behind that. Great hamburger.

Any list without railhead barbecue is probably a good list. Their food was meh but the beer was always cold

Plumb-line said:

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Any list without railhead barbecue is probably a good list. Their food was meh but the beer was always cold

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It's a chain, but the Fort Worth Pappadeaux is better than any I've tried.

Also seafood, but there's a place across from Railhead called Flying Fish that's excellent.

Still hard to beat is El fenix on west Camp Bowie.

Campisi's is still the best pizza in Fort Worth.

El Fenix has been a tradition for me since the 1980s when it was in Ridgmar Mall. Good stuff.

A newer place, i havent seen mentioned, is Cane Rosso. Very good pizza and very great dessert pizza.

SoonerFrogs said:

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El Fenix has been a tradition for me since the 1980s when it was in Ridgmar Mall. Good stuff.

A newer place, i havent seen mentioned, is Cane Rosso. Very good pizza and very great dessert pizza.

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I mentioned Zolis which Cane Rosso's less pretentious cousin. It's also a different type of pie. But the pizza at both places is great.

I have to laugh at Stranger's list. The original request was for non-chain restaurants. And every single one of those is a chain.

Funky Town Bear said:

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SoonerFrogs said:

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El Fenix has been a tradition for me since the 1980s when it was in Ridgmar Mall. Good stuff.

A newer place, i havent seen mentioned, is Cane Rosso. Very good pizza and very great dessert pizza.

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I mentioned Zolis which Cane Rosso's less pretentious cousin. It's also a different type of pie. But the pizza at both places is great.

I have to laugh at Stranger's list. The original request was for non-chain restaurants. And every single one of those is a chain.

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yeah , but I like eating there.

Stranger said:

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Funky Town Bear said:

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SoonerFrogs said:

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El Fenix has been a tradition for me since the 1980s when it was in Ridgmar Mall. Good stuff.

A newer place, i havent seen mentioned, is Cane Rosso. Very good pizza and very great dessert pizza.

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I mentioned Zolis which Cane Rosso's less pretentious cousin. It's also a different type of pie. But the pizza at both places is great.

I have to laugh at Stranger's list. The original request was for non-chain restaurants. And every single one of those is a chain.

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yeah , but I like eating there.

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And you should. I was just having a laugh.

Funky Town Bear said:

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SoonerFrogs said:

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El Fenix has been a tradition for me since the 1980s when it was in Ridgmar Mall. Good stuff.

A newer place, i havent seen mentioned, is Cane Rosso. Very good pizza and very great dessert pizza.

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I mentioned Zolis which Cane Rosso's less pretentious cousin. It's also a different type of pie. But the pizza at both places is great.

I have to laugh at Stranger's list. The original request was for non-chain restaurants. And every single one of those is a chain.

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I guess I should have been a little clearer in the OP. When I said chain I meant more like well known, national, big chains. Like the pappas restaurants, chilis, outback, etc.


Those are easy to find and know what is in Fort Worth and for ones not in Waco it easy to know those need to be on a list to go try.

I had no idea the flying fish was a chain though.

Funky Town Bear said:

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High End Places
Ellerbe is still great
Bonnells and Waters are FW landmarks by John Bonnel
Grace downtown is a staple for us
Lonesome Dove in the Stockyards is fantastic

BBQ
FW BBQ as mentioned above
Panther City is a place I love
Woodshed is great and unique
Skip Heim

Brunch
Righteous Foods is a fave. The churros for dessert are legit.
Lucilles still does a great bunch and is very old school FW
Fixe Southern House
Rise on the Trinity Trail

Random stuff we love
Zolis pizza
Benitos Mexican
Istanbul Grill downtown before the Bass
Little Red Wasp
Hopfusion Brewery
Avoca coffee
Lilly's Bistro

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Man… Heim's has the best pork burnt ends. Worth going just for those. With that said, the one on White Settlement is better than the one on Magnolia.

I made my decision to go to law school at Dos Amigos, so it must not be that bad... (lol. All the law students know why I am laughing.)

Yogi said:

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I made my decision to go to law school at Dos Amigos, so it must not be that bad... (lol. All the law students know why I am laughing.)

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My wife who is a law school alum has no clue what you are talking about.

CizzLark said:

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Funky Town Bear said:

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High End Places
Ellerbe is still great
Bonnells and Waters are FW landmarks by John Bonnel
Grace downtown is a staple for us
Lonesome Dove in the Stockyards is fantastic

BBQ
FW BBQ as mentioned above
Panther City is a place I love
Woodshed is great and unique
Skip Heim

Brunch
Righteous Foods is a fave. The churros for dessert are legit.
Lucilles still does a great bunch and is very old school FW
Fixe Southern House
Rise on the Trinity Trail

Random stuff we love
Zolis pizza
Benitos Mexican
Istanbul Grill downtown before the Bass
Little Red Wasp
Hopfusion Brewery
Avoca coffee
Lilly's Bistro

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Man… Heim's has the best pork burnt ends. Worth going just for those. With that said, the one on White Settlement is better than the one on Magnolia.

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I've always been underwhelmed there, nevermind the owner was a complete purple frog a hole.

Lucile's on Camp Bowie is a Ft. Worth classic.
Although a little more upscale, ever since Taylor Sheridan bought the Cattleman's, it's really good.

cowac said:

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Although a little more upscale, ever since Taylor Sheridan bought the Cattleman's, it's really good.

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Quick question - Is Cattleman's still cooking over real charcoal?

I ask because not many places still do that.

Not sure but I believe so. Steak was spot-on medium rare and was seared almost to a crust. The baked potato was covered in Sea Salt.