Eats Beat: Fish Creek near Aledo puts steak on the menu

No telling what you’ll reel out of Fish Creek these days.

The striving seafood restaurant near the Trinity River bridge in Willow Park has added both prime steaks and wood-fired artisan pizzas to its seafood menu.

From its start as a catfish restaurant, Fish Creek is becoming an all-occasion restaurant for the growing Aledo area between Fort Worth and Weatherford.

“We’ve always tried to do what people want out here, and they wanted steaks and more choices so they don’t have to go into the city,” owner Joe Lane said.

The restaurant already had a giant, 700-degree-capability oven from its early days as Santa Fe Grill. Lane converted that and now uses it to finish prime steaks in the manner of a prime steakhouse. Due out this week, the new menu offers prime filet, rib-eye and New York strip steaks with a choice of sauces.

Previously, Fish Creek had added a choice of wood-fired pizzas with premium toppings. They started as a weekend item, but sometimes sold out before Sunday night. Lane also added a crabmeat au gratin dish patterned after one at Ernest’s Orleans restaurant in Shreveport, La.

After two years on a stretch of Interstate 20 known for restaurant turnover, Lane said he has learned that “you don’t come into Aledo and dictate what folks here should want — you listen to what they want.”

Fish Creek is at 4899 E. Interstate 20, at the Ranch House Road exit (stay on the westbound frontage road); 817-441-1746, eatfishcreek.com.

Cranking up at Vintage

Also in Parker County: Restaurateur Jerrett Joslin is on the verge of returning to Weatherford with the opening later this month of his Vintage Grill & Car Museum.

Joslin promised to open a new Weatherford restaurant after he moved his Wild Mushroom Steakhouse to Camp Bowie Boulevard in Fort Worth.

The Vintage Grill, on Fort Worth Highway west of the courthouse square, combines classic upscale Southern dining with a classic car collection.

Joslin offers farm-fresh platters with a nostalgia theme, such as a “’68 Lincoln” tenderloin with bourbon-peppercorn sauce, in addition to fried chicken and brisket-beef burgers along with some items from the Mushroom menu.

Vintage Grill is on pace to open in two weeks at 202 Fort Worth Highway; vintagegrillandmuseum.com.

(Fort Worth note: His Wild Mushroom will begin serving lunch late in January.)

Arlington deals

Football fans aren’t the only ones who score big in Arlington.

The Arlington Convention & Visitors Bureau publishes online coupons for local restaurants, some of which don’t normally send coupons.

There’s a 20 percent off coupon for Mellow Mushroom pizza, for example, and 10 percent off fine dining at Cacharel, Olenjack’s or Piccolo Mondo.

Several other restaurants offer free appetizers or desserts, and the only limit seems to be 1 coupon per table.

As always, read the rules carefully. Look under “coupons and specials” at experiencearlington.org.

This story was originally published January 5, 2015 at 11:45 AM with the headline "Eats Beat: Fish Creek near Aledo puts steak on the menu."