Eats Beat: Birraporetti’s gets a 21st-century redo

St. Patrick’s Day marked a comeback for Birraporetti’s.

Remodeled and updated, the 30-year-old Lincoln Square pub and grill was once again serving up green beer and Irish merriment.

The restaurant’s new co-owner, Matt Mathany, ran locations in Houston and asked to take over the Arlington location, showing its age but still popular for a Sunday jazz brunch. In its 1980s heyday, Birraporetti’s opened at 7 a.m. on St. Pat’s to celebrate its Irish-Italian corporate chain theme. The restaurant was sticking to regular hours Tuesday but throwing a late-night party with $2 green beer or drinks and the Jesse Jennings Band.

“We want to bring this Birraporetti’s back like in Houston, and like this one used to be,” Mathany said.

The remodeling moved the restaurant out of its fern-bar phase, which had aged with the clientele. A re-engineered menu is about half new but still includes the wood-fired pizzas and pastas that reflected the Italian side of the chain theme. The Sunday jazz brunch buffet remains and is $19.95.

Birraporetti’s is open for lunch and dinner daily at 668 Lincoln Square; 817-265-0555, birraarlington.com.

Brunch season

Now is the time to plan Easter brunch April 5 and also Mother’s Day brunch May 10.

A good possibility for both is Buttons Restaurant, which has become a busy Sunday buffet spot, along with the Southwestern buffet at all Blue Mesa Grill restaurants.

One addition to the Easter lineup is Tillman’s Roadhouse, where the brunch menu and chef Kalen Morgenstern’s biscuits are popular with patrons. As of yet, Tillman’s hasn’t announced the menu or price; 817-850-9255, tillmansroadhouse.com.

The Wild Mushroom Steak House & Lounge launches its Sunday brunch menu this week. The $22.50 price includes brunch and a mimosa, and there’s also a build-your-own bloody Mary bar; 3208 Winthrop Ave. at Camp Bowie Boulevard, 817-570-0340, thewildmushroomrestaurant.com.

In downtown Fort Worth, the fine-dining Grace will open Easter and Mother’s Day to serve a special brunch menu; 777 Main St., 817-877-3388, gracefortworth.com.

Most of the regular Sunday-brunch restaurants still have Easter tables available. Call a favorite, or check some at www.opentable.com.

Fixin’ to open

Fixture, the new restaurant by former Woodshed Smokehouse executive sous=chef Ben Merritt, is taking shape on West Magnolia Avenue.

The restaurant promises an opening by early May after slight changes to the rambling space that was formerly home to 24 Plates.

Fixture gets its name from its owners’ hope that it will become a fixture in the neighborhood, according to press announcements, and Merritt has promised fare such as duck tacos, roasted goat hash, brie-cranberry nachos and brunch items such as chicken and waffles.

“It’s very familiar food with my own twist,” Merritt said. Another example: duck confit on sweet-potato tots.

Follow the progress at 401 W. Magnolia Ave.; 817-708-2663, fixturefw.com.

This story was originally published March 17, 2015 at 10:40 AM with the headline "Eats Beat: Birraporetti’s gets a 21st-century redo."