Steaks for 2—$25. Tex-Mex for 6—$30. More good deals at Fort Worth-area restaurants
Diners tested new restaurants and rediscovered old favorites in the first days of take-out-only dining and drinking during the novel coronavirus recession.
Two Fort Worth restaurants, Little Germany Restaurant in the Ridglea neighborhood and a Chicken Salad Chick location in Montgomery Plaza, bravely opened for business under new rules allowing only to-go food, beer, wine and cocktail orders.
Instead of the usual line of patrons for dinner at Joe T. García’s in Fort Worth, a line of cars snaked around the block for take-out and margaritas under the newly relaxed state liquor laws. Another pickup location was added in Willow Park and sold out in minutes.
Cars lined up on Main Street for take-out from Waters, where restaurateur Jon Bonnell scrapped fine dining in favor of $40 family dinners and sold out in minutes.
Needless to say, there were glitches as restaurants shifted to a new business model under relaxed state liquor laws:
▪ Many restaurants had trouble answering phones to take orders.
▪ More struggled to use long-neglected social media pages, either to promote menus or to take orders.
▪ A few restaurants sold orders that were packed to be reheated or even cooked at home, but that wasn’t always clear.
Here are some of the restaurant discounts and deals as of deadline (laws, prices and hours may have changed since this was written):
▪ Bird Café is offering “self-distance” specials daily ranging from an $11 grilled cheese and soup to an $18 roast chicken platter and a $28 steak frites. There’s also a variety of $7 cocktails, and for $100 you can buy $125 in gift cards; 155 E. Fourth St., 817-332-2473, birdinthe.net.
▪ Bonnell’s and Waters offer $40 take-out family dinners nightly at 4 p.m., rotating the nightly entree with items such as brisket (cold for reheating) or blackened salmon (hot) with sides; 4259 Bryant Irvin Road or 201 Main St., email kelcey@bonnellstexas.com or info@waterstexas.com (no phone calls).
▪ Bobby V’s Sports Gallery Cafe is offering two-for-$25 sirloin dinners with steaks, baked potatoes, salads and bottled beers; 4301 S. Bowen Road, Arlington, 817-467-9922.
▪ Ellerbe Fine Foods and chef Molly McCook are offering family-style meals and also farmers’ market boxes of fresh eggs, fruits and produce.
The “Ellerbe at Home” menu for two or four people features a choice of salads ($12-$22) and soups ($11-$28), plus one of four entrees — beef tips, chicken cordon bleu pasta, hamburger pot pie or pulled pork-and-grits ($21-$38)
The farmers’ market box arrives Tuesdays for $60. Call ahead; 1501 W. Magnolia Ave., Fort Worth, 817-926-3663, ellerbefinefoods.com
▪ Neighbor’s House Grocery is offering take-home family meals at 2-for-$20 or 4-for-$40 with a daily special like turkey tetrazzini (Wednesday) or fried chicken (Thursday). You have to order a day ahead. It’s also a good place to shop for household groceries and staples; 501 W. Sixth St., 817-334-0526, neighborshousegrocery.com.
▪ Our Place Restaurant in Burleson and Mansfield also offers a family lunch for four, and it’s a good deal — $38.50 for a choice of nine entrees such as pot roast, pork chops or chicken-fried steak or chicken, plus two vegetables There’s a breakfast-for-four package for about $30-$40, too; 950 N. Burleson Blvd. (Interstate 35W), Burleson, 817-426-9009, or 915 W. Debbie Lane, Mansfield, ourplacerestaurants.com, 817-473-9996, order online at toasttab.com.
▪ Paris 7th and Saint-Émilion Restaurant, usually known for French fine dining, are serving dinners for two such as beef bourgignon or lamb chops ($44.50-$49.50) plus regular menu items such as roast duck, a whole roasted Moroccan chicken or coq au vin ($20.50-$29.50); 3324 W. Seventh St., 817-489-5300, saint-emilionrestaurant.com.
▪ Piola Restaurant and Garden marked down 10 pasta or chicken entrees to $10.95, including its excellent chicken marsala or piccata, bison meatballs or “Grandma’s” lasagna. (Six of the entrees are available with gluten free pasta for $12.95.), Salads and appetizers are $5.95; 3700 Mattison Ave., 817-989-0507, facebook.com/3700mattison.
▪ Pulido’s Mexican Restaurants, a 54-year landmark, is selling bargain $6.99 dinners with two enchiladas, tacos (hard or soft) or tamales, plus $7 margaritas. A family dinner for six costs $28.95 (and a gallon of margaritas is $49.98). Pulido’s has 10 locations including Fort Worth, Arlington (Cafe Pulido), Hurst, Cleburne, Eastland, Mineral Wells, Saginaw, Stephenville and Weatherford, facebook.com.
▪ The Woodshed Smokehouse and other Tim Love restaurants are offering a deal to benefit those in need: four heat-and-serve family dinners for $150, each big enough to feed four people. The choices are tenderloin, smoked pork loin, roast chicken, roasted chiles rellenos, veggie fajitas, pulled pork tacos, veggie lasagna or baked ziti; order at cheftimlove.com/corona-update.
Many more restaurants were open and serving their regular menus to-go or delivered, and some offered discounts or free meals to first responders.
This story was originally published March 23, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
