For the first time in 63 years, this Fort Worth private club is opening to the public
Reata at the Backstage Club is still atop Will Rogers Coliseum.
Only this year, it welcomes all guests starting Jan. 17 to watch cattle and horse performances and shows during the Stock Show and rodeo.
“We think Will Rogers will be busier than ever,” Reata owner Mike Micallef said last week.
The rodeo performances moved to Dickies Arena, which has its own restaurants and concessions.
But Reata stayed and kept its locations: the Backstage Club atop Will Rogers Coliseum, and a pop-up restaurant in the exhibits hall, Reata at the Rodeo.
The two Reata restaurants will draw Stock Show guests and patrons going to livestock shows and events, horse performances like Mustang Magic and auditorium concerts like Foreigner Feb. 5, Micallef said.
For 19 years, Reata has operated the storied private Backstage Club along with Reata at the Rodeo and a Tex-Mex restaurant in the Moncrief Building, La Espuela.
Now, the Backstage Club becomes a public restaurant opening at 4 p.m. weekdays and 11 a.m. weekends beginning Jan. 17.
Both Reata at the Rodeo and La Espuela will open at 11 a.m. daily beginning that day.
The Backstage Club, 3301 W. Lancaster Ave., has been the rodeo’s whiskey-and-steaks watering hole since 1956, with a colorful history of drunken and bawdy behavior.
It’s calmer now, with a menu featuring a 14-ounce rib-eye ($39.95), jalapeno-crusted redfish ($29.95), chicken-fried steak or chicken ($19.95-$22.95) and burgers or chicken sandwiches at weekend lunch ($11.95).
Appetizers include Reata’s huge onion rings ($9.95) or tenderloin tamales ($13.95). Dessert ($8) is a chocolate tamale, pecan pie or chocolate cake.
The livestock shows will return to the coliseum, bringing a good regular crowd of ranchers to the Backstage, Micallef said.
One addition: more TVs to watch sports and maybe rodeo highlights.
Reata at the Rodeo serves a similar menu for families in the exhibits hall. It opens daily at 11 a.m. and closes when the evening rodeo starts, so book a table ahead; 3400 Burnett-Tandy Drive at Gendy Street, 817-336-5766.
La Espuela is a Tex-Mex fast-casual restaurant in the Moncrief Building in the 3200 block of Burnett-Tandy Drive at Rip Johnson Drive.
The Stock Show also has vendors such as Coburns BBQ, Momma Monica’s Italian dishes from Parker County, Mama’s Pizza and the old standby Stockman’s Cafe, a 24-hour restaurant operating throughout the Stock Show.
If you want to visit the full-scale Reata Restaurant, it’s open for brunch after the Stock Show All-Western Parade Jan. 18 and daily for lunch and dinner at 310 Houston St., 817-336-1009, reata.net.
This story was originally published January 9, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
