Third update: Here’s the list of Fort Worth area restaurants open Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving 2020 is going to be different.
But restaurants and hotels will try to make it as familiar as ever.
Here’s a look at dining and takeout deals announced so far, and remember to call early if you want a safer patio table or have a special request:
▪ Hurray! Luby’s Cafeteria will be open, even though the company is awaiting a last-ditch rescue.
Luby’s will serve a turkey lunch and dinner either for dining or to go for $11.49, featuring either sliced turkey or a dressing-stuffed turkey leg and sides.
Heat-and-serve family dinners start at $69.99.
Luby’s has four area locations in Fort Worth and Forest Hill; see lubys.com.
▪ The Ol’ South Pancake House, 1509 S. University Drive, will serve its annual turkey lunch and dinner including pie for $13.99
Family dinners to go start at $69.99.
The new Burleson location, 295 E. Renfro St., may be open by then, but probably not Thanksgiving; olsouthpancakehouse.com.
▪ Heaven’s Gate Restaurant, a daily buffet at 3820 N. Main St., will dish up turkey lunch for $15.99 and also offer a breakfast buffet and a choice of steaks.
▪ In Southlake, Brio Italian Grille, 1431 Plaza Place, will serve a turkey lunch and dinner with sides and pumpkin-spice bread pudding; $28.99, brioitalian.com.
▪ Crû Food & Wine Bar, 5188 Marathon Ave., is one of the better restaurants offering either dinner or takeout.
The three-course lunch or dinner ($50) features turkey, or order to-go dinners with turkey, Caesar salad, squash bisque and pumpkin cheesecake or apple-pecan bread starting at $80 for two; 817-737-9463, cruwinebar.com.
▪ Blue Mesa Grill, 612 Carroll St., will offer its customary Thanksgiving feast ($28) adding turkey, ham, dressing and sweet potatoes to its regular offerings such as grilled salmon, enchiladas and tacos.
Blue Mesa also offers a heat-and-serve version with turkey, dressing, sweet potatoes, enchiladas, sides and pies ($120, serves six); 817-332-6372, bluemesagrill.com.
▪ One of the best takeout trimmings packages is at Ellerbe Fine Foods, 1501 W. Magnolia Ave., offering “everything but the bird” for $95 including andouille dressing, sides and fresh cranberry sauce.
A pumpkin pie with a pecan-graham cracker crust is $24; ellerbefinefoods.com.
▪ The popular Magdalena’s in Fort Worth is offering a to-go dinner with turkey enchiladas in pipian sauce, stuffed quail, chicken tamales, sides, banana pudding and sangria ($80 feeds two or three, $160 feeds five or six, add turkey or ham for $21-$22 per pound).
Order by Nov. 23; 817-740-8085, magdalenastx.com.
▪ If you’re looking for something fancier, LAW Restaurant at the Four Seasons Club and Resort Dallas at Las Colinas will serve a four-course menu brunch featuring turkey, salmon or tenderloin ($95).
The Four Seasons is also offering a complete turkey dinner to go for eight for $400. Order by Nov. 19; 972-717-2420, lawrestaurant.com.
▪ The Riverwalk Cantina at the Gaylord Texan Resort also will serve patron brunch from a buffet; $75.99, 817-778-1000, marriott.com.
▪ In Fort Worth, other restaurants with safe patio tables offering Thanksgiving lunch include B&B Butchers, the Capital Grille, Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse and Del Frisco’s Grille
Also booking tables that day: Romano’s Macaroni Grille, the Silver Fox Steakhouse and Toro Toro Latin Steakhouse in the Worthington Renaissance.
In Southlake and Grapevine, restaurants listed as open that day include Buca di Beppo, Del Frisco’s Grille, il Calabrese, Moxie’s, Perry’ s Steakhouse and Truluck’s. Rainforest Cafe is open at night.
in Arlington, two restaurants near AT&T Stadium are listed as open: Mercury Chophouse and the Social House.
Turkey and the Cowboys
For a patio turkey dinner, one of the best high-end choices might be at Cut & Bourbon, the Arlington restaurant inside the Live! by Loews hotel.
Cut & Bourbon’s sprawling, heated patio offers a view of AT&T Stadium. On Thanksgiving, it’ll be filling for the Dallas Cowboys’ game against Washington.
For Thanksgiving, Cut & Bourbon is offering dinner all day, beginning at 10 a.m. for early families and stretching to 8 p.m. for the after-game crowd.
It’ll offer choice of two entrees: a cider-brined roast turkey or pork osso bucco, each with sides and a mini-pumpkin pie ($76, children $38).
The deal is much more reasonable as a take-home heat-and-serve meal for six ($250) or 10 ($350), including pies and carrot cake. It’s available for pickup beginning at 9 a.m. on Thanksgiving.
Order via Resy.com or at 682-277-4950.
It opens at 7 a.m. daily for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and serves unti 11 p.m. weekends; cutandbourbon.com..
More hotels and late ideas
▪ The Omni Fort Worth isn’t serving a buffet this year, but the Whiskey & Rye bar is offering family turkey, ham or rib-eye dinners serving five to 16 people for $139-$339 if you order in advance and pick up by 3 p.m. Wednesday; chownow.com.
▪ B&B Butchers will take orders only for $75 to-go dinners Thanksgiving Day featuring turkey or prime rib with four sides, an appetizer and a choice of pie for dessert; bbbutchers.com.
▪ If Denny’s is your turkey dinner of choice, the North Carolina-based chain is offering turkey dinners to go for $10.49 or a heat-and-eat family dinner for four people for $37.99 (pies $8.99 extra); dennys.com.
▪ In Erath County, both luxury Rough Creek Lodge and down-home Jake & Dorothy’s will be open and serving.
Rough Creek Lodge’s $110 lunch features oak-roasted turkey, sausage cornbread dressing, appetizers, sides and dessert choices such as pumpkin-maple cheesecake or Sorrells Farms pecan pie; 5165 County Road 2013, south of Glen Rose, 254-918-2550, roughcreek.com.
Jake & Dorothy’s $17.95 lunch features turkey and dressing, ham or chicken-fried steak, sides and pumpkin pie; in-house or curbside, 406 E. Washington St., Stephenville, 254-965-5211.
Dine downtown
From lunch through late Thanksgiving night, you can pick up dinner to go along with Fort Worth police and first responders at Mercury Chophouse, 525 Taylor St. in the Tower.
Mercury’s $49.95 dinners are in part thanks to the Fort Worth Police Association.
First responders working the holiday eat thanks to the FWPOA any time during the day on both Thanksgiving and Christmas at Mercury, a 10-year tradition for owner Zack Moutaouakil.
It’s been a rough year for every downtown restaurant, even for the big, popular places such as Grace, Reata and Waters.
“These have been tough times — but I opened one of the first steakhouses downtown, and I’m hanging in there,,” Moutaouakil said. Besides COVID-19, there were justice protests.
Mercury didn’t originally plan to be open Thanksgiving.
“I wasn’t sure whether I could do dinner for the police this year, or whether they would want to come,” he said.
It turns out that they might want to pick up turkey dinners to go.
“So we decided — we’ll be here,” he said.
He’s rounded up 30 turkeys to roast, plus 17 or 18 hams.
“It is a tremendous partnership,” police association President Manny Ramirez said. “This year will look a bit different with social distancing and masks, but we are looking forward to it.”
A few patrons may be able to dine inside. It comes with stuffing, gravy, green beans, salad and dessert.
Mercury’s companion restaurant, Keller Chophouse, will be closed Thanksgiving but open other nights.
(A Mercury Chophouse in Arlington is separately owned.)
Mercury Chophouse serves Connecticut-based Allen Brothers Steaks and has a pianist on weekends. The Fort Worth location is open for dinner weeknights and Saturdays; 817-336-4129.
Chef Pyles’ Southwestern turkey
Southwestern chef Stephan Pyles’ Thanksgiving dinner is now available in Fort Worth and Grapevine.
Pyles’ collaboration with Fireside Pies will add turkey takeout to those Italian restaurants, with a $195 dinner that serves from four to six.
The dinners feature a choice of wood-roasted turkey breast with blue corn-chorizo stuffing, or chipotle barbecue pork.
Sides include spicy sweet potatoes and elote (roasted corn Mexico-style), along with a pea salad with smoked bacon and fontina.
Dinners come with a choice of a pumpkin-pecan pie or a apple-cream cheese flatbread. (Extra pies are $15.)
To order for Thanksgiving, email chef Joe Bozarth at jbozarth@firesidepies.com, or call or drop by Fireside Pies, 2949 Crockett St. in Fort Worth and 1285 S. Main St. in Grapevine.
Fireside Pies Fort Worth and Grapevine locations are open for dinner Mondays through Thursdays, lunch and dinner Fridays through Sundays; 817-769-3590, 817-416-1285, firesidepies.com.
Lonesome Dove, Toro Toro
Two of Fort Worth’s best-known restaurants were late announcing Thanksgiving plans, but now we know their menus:
▪ Lonesome Dove Western Bistro, 2406 N. Main St., will open at noon and will serve roast turkey with cornbread stuffing, green beans, mashed potatoes and foie gras gravy.
The regular menu is also available, including 20th anniversary mainstays like the garlic stuffed tenderloin, chicken-fried steak and a stellar $10 bowl of chili; 817-740-8810, lonesomedovefortworth.com.
▪ Toro Toro Pan Latin Steakhouse, 200 Main St. inside the Worthington Renaissance Fort Worth, will serve a $65 meal at lunch and dinner.
The menu features ancho-glazed turkey breast with roasted poblano gravy, chorizo-wild rice or cornbread stuffing, salad, sides and pumpkin cheesecake.
It’s also available as a takeout family dinner for six people ($180, add $30 for each extra person, order by Nov. 22).
(The Worthington and Omni used to be packed every holiday, but neither is doing a big hotel dinner this year, and buffets are not allowed. If you’re looking for a more traditional Thanksgiving dinner, try Live by Loews! in Arlington, the Marriott Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine or the Four Seasons Resort in Irving. Some other major chain hotels will operate with limited menus.)
More Thanksgiving updates
▪ Local Foods Kitchen in Fort Worth features a roast turkey breast with sage or cornbread dressing, sides and pumpkin pie (for eight to 10, $200).
▪ Del Frisco’s Grille in downtown Fort Worth and Southlake will offer dinner from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., featuring turkey and mashed potatoes with squash bisque ($39, takeout for two to four $98, takeout for four to six $195). But be warned: The menu lists “stuffing,” not dressing.
▪ Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille in Grapevine joins other prime steakhouses offering dinner dine-in or to go, featuring turkey and sausage-sage dressing, sides, apple-walnut salad and squash soup ($45, child’s plate $15, takeout for four $139, pumpkin cheesecake for one-four $8-$20).
▪ Capital Grille in Fort Worth is starting to book up but is offering a takeout dinner of turkey with brioche stuffing and sides ($43, chlldren $15) plus pumpkin cheesecake ($11). Corporate cousin Eddie V’s is also serving dine=in or takeout.
▪ The Classic at Roanoke offers a takeout Thanksgiving dinner to reheat featuring turkey and dressing, sides and pumpkin or pecan pie ($30).
▪ Pinstripes in the Shops at Clearfork is offering a dinner to go with turkey, stuffing and crispy Brussels sprouts ($107 for six to eight, pies $14).
Bud Kennedy’s Eats Beat: 817-390-7538, @EatsBeat
This story was originally published October 28, 2020 at 5:45 AM.
