Fort Worth steakhouse adds new flavors to old standards

Buffalo West wants to be everybody’s steakhouse, and it comes closer now more than ever.

The evolving west Fort Worth restaurant serves a Sunday prime rib brunch menu with an omelet station and soft piano music, classing up the cowboy atmosphere at a former chain steakhouse.

If you want a big steak, it’s here for $24-$40, including potato and the old-school soup-and-salad bar.

If you want grilled fish or chicken, or a home-style platter, that’s $15 and up at dinner, $11.50 at lunch. The burgers (a $12 platter including toppings) are half-pound, hand-packed and charcoal-grilled.

There’s even a low-calorie menu approved by the city Blue Zones Project: veggie sandwiches, tacos and — no kidding — 100-calorie portions of a mini-Belgian waffle or Irish cream bread pudding.

The dining rooms are reminiscent of a clubby old steakhouse, but the large patio feels like a comfy new hangout.

The biggest surprise during two recent visits was the brunch. The well-stocked omelet station ($13 with home fries and bacon or sausage) offered choices such as egg white, spinach and feta or prime rib, fresh jalapeño and Monterey Jack.

Prime rib or a 6-ounce top sirloin with an omelet or eggs Benedict ($16-$25) feels like a Fort Worth breakfast.

Pianist Lewis Bek III used to play at the old Nosh in Dallas on the edge of Highland Park. He plays weekend nights and Sundays at brunch, including Mother’s Day.

Don’t get me wrong: Buffalo West’s well-worn setting shows its age in places, and the salad bar in particular could use updating.

But it has outlasted newer properties nearby such as The Keg or the Wild Mushroom, so west Fort Worth must like its steaks old-school.

Buffalo West is open daily for lunch and dinner; 7101 Camp Bowie West at Alta Mere Drive (Spur 580 at Texas 183), 817-732-2370, buffalowestfw.com.

Don’t disappoint Mom

This is the first alert to make Mother’s Day reservations May 8.

Do not mess this one up.

It’s easy: Call a favorite restaurant and ask, or check online reservations at one of the websites such as opentable.com.

Most restaurants will open Mother’s Day, even some that don’t usually open, such as Ellerbe Fine Foods, Grace, the Zodiac at Neiman Marcus and most prime steakhouses.

Some interesting offers:

▪ Call quickly for one of the remaining places for the $60 holiday hotel buffet at Cast Iron in the Omni Fort Worth (or book ahead for Father’s Day). There’s prime rib, turkey, roast chicken and salmon, but more importantly, there’s a 10-item dessert buffet; 817-350-4106, omnihotels.com.

▪ The Florida-based Eddie V’s seafood chain, affiliated with Capital Grille, will serve a $49 brunch featuring a choice of steak and eggs, lobster quiche Florentine, a king crab omelet or shrimp and grits. Desserts include bananas Foster cake; 817-336-8000, eddiev.com.

▪ Five Sixty by Wolfgang Puck in Reunion Tower will open for a rare daytime view and offer a $65 brunch menu including seared halibut, a lamb stir-fry and “bacon and eggs” bao buns; 214-741-5560, wolfgangpuck.com.

This story was originally published April 26, 2016 at 10:31 AM with the headline "Fort Worth steakhouse adds new flavors to old standards."