Fine dining for $25? Must be Piazza Monday

La Piazza Ristorante’s 25th anniversary has come and gone.

But the $25 Monday dinner special continues.

La Piazza, an elegant Italian restaurant tucked into a placid nook away from the West 7th maelstrom, serves a three-course special Mondays as owner Vito Ciraci’s thank-you for patrons.

For example, this week’s special was a showpiece: chicken breast with Jerusalem artichoke-lemon sauce, with a spinach salad and chocolate-dipped cannoli.

It’s always a set menu, but an interesting one with an exceptional dessert. Past Monday specials have included veal Parmigiana, chicken meatballs, rigatoni al forno or chicken cacciatore.

La Piazza has become almost a hidden secret since it moved to Bledsoe Street from University Park Village, but it remains the city’s most exclusive restaurant (along with Le Cep).

Ciraci’s restaurant is very different from the surrounding college bars, and so is the dress code. (The rules are on the website.)

La Piazza opens at 5:30 p.m. weeknights and Saturdays; 2930 Bledsoe St., 817-334-0000, lapiazzafw.com.

Nouvelle and new

Speaking of Le Cep, chef Sandra Avila’s new $85 eight-course “discovery” menu includes such tastings as an argula-orange salad, a crab-Parmesan creme brulee, duck with capers, rib-eye and a strawberry-rhubarb parfait plus tarte tatin.

For the full French descriptions, see leceprestaurant.com/menu.

A four-course $45 sampling ($85 with wines) is served Tuesday through Friday only. The eight-course chef’s dinner with wines is $150, plus $15 for a cheese course and $24 for a foie gras appetizer.

Le Cep is contemporary fine dining, so dress for a night out, particularly on weekends; 3324 W. Seventh St., 817-900-2468.

Sweet surprise

On the other end of the price range, a north Fort Worth taqueria is serving an impressive dessert.

La Antojeria Jalisco, a pretty little interior-Mexico restaurant on a Pearl Avenue hillside facing the old M & M Steakhouse, specializes in Jalisco-style tacos, tortas and posole.

But the delight is a crepa dulce: a dessert crepe filled with strawberries, bananas and vanilla ice cream, topped with a perfect house-made cajeta caramel.

The restaurant opens at 10 a.m. for breakfast daily except Wednesdays. It serves lunch and dinner, closing at 6 p.m. Sundays; 2720 Pearl Ave. at Northwest 28th Street (Texas 183), 682-708-3505, facebook.com/Laantojeriajalisco.

New beef on the boulevard

River Oaks is a good town for burgers.

Down the street from River Oaks Cafe and a beloved Griff’s, the new location of J’s Casa Burger is drawing crowds for homestyle, hand-packed bacon-jalapeño burgers with salsa verde ($5.99) or chicken burritos with bacon and pico de gallo ($4.99)

The showcase Casa Burger has double meat, bacon, cheese and dressing.

Look for the new location in a former chicken stand at 5001 River Oaks Blvd. (Texas 183), 817-404-3244.

This story was originally published April 27, 2016 at 4:46 PM with the headline "Fine dining for $25? Must be Piazza Monday."