Steaks, wine, chocolate and more: Here’s where to dine for Valentine’s in Fort Worth
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Valentine’s Day in Fort Worth
When you live in Cowtown, a romantic night out may involve steak. Bud Kennedy offers his recommendations for the best Valentine’s Day dining in Fort Worth.
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Valentine’s is one night, but for restaurants, it can make or break a whole year.
They overhaul the entire dining room and fill it with tables for two. They order extra red wine and chocolate. Some restaurants even offer to serve dinner with a dozen roses.
Yet for all the romance around the 800-year-old celebration, Fort Worth still considers Valentine’s Day to be Beef Night.
For more than 20 years, voters in an annual Star-Telegram readers’ poll voted a chain steakhouse as the city’s “most romantic” restaurant.
This year, not much has changed. Some corporate-owned steakhouses were booked by mid-January.
“All the ‘Hallmark card’ holidays are the best,” said Adam Jones, now the boss at Grace. That’s one of the city’s leading local steakhouses along with Bonnell’s, Lonesome Dove and the various Mercury or Keller Chophouse restaurants.
The goal, he said, is for customers to say: “I took my date to the best place.”
It’s the same in small Texas towns. In the Palo Pinto County town of Mingus, Jan Underwood of Beneventi’s Italian says patrons still want steak but in smaller portions with distinctive sides or appetizers.
Beneventi’s filet with ravioli in white-truffle sauce, asparagus and amaretto panna cotta sold out in less than 36 hours. It’s now been extended past the weekend into Tuesday.
Valentine’s “is a reflection of a restaurant’s diversity,” she wrote by email.
Not every restaurant features steak. Some of the most romantic choices are French restaurants, such as Paris 7th and Rise Nº3 Souffle in Fort Worth, or elegant Italian piano-bar restaurants such as Piccolo Mondo in Arlington.
Here’s a look at some local Valentine’s offers. Many may be booked — check OpenTable.com and Resy.com for availability.
Getting romantic
▪ Ellerbe Fine Foods, 1501 W. Magnolia Ave., is serving a $105 dinner Saturday and Monday featuring cheeses, soup, a mushroom salad, steak or pecan-breaded fish and red-velvet cream puffs; 817-926-3663, ellerbefinefoods.com.
▪ Piccolo Mondo, 829 E. Lamar Blvd., Arlington, is serving a special $30-$70 menu Saturday through Monday featuring lobster tail, rack of lamb, steaks and pastas, with six desserts including tiramisu or cappuccino pie. It’s also open at lunch Monday; 817-265-9174, piccolomondo.com.
▪ Paris 7th, 3324 W. Seventh St., and its country bistro cousin Saint-Émilion Resraurant, 3617 W. Seventh St. are both booked Monday but may have other space this weekend or next week. 817-489-5300 and 817-737-2781, paris7th.com and saint-emilionrestaurant.com.
▪ Rise Nº3 Souffle, 5135 Monahans Ave., is booked Monday but has tables available for lunch and dinner this weekend and next week. The strawberry souffle is back for the holiday; 817-737-7473, risesouffle.com.
Steak is love?
▪ Grace, 777 Main St., serves its regular menu at standard prices all weekend, including steaks for $49-$74, fish, pork and chicken, including new items such as tenderloin tartare or cod with Koshihikari rice. Desserts include apple-crumb cake, chocolate custard or coconut cream pie; 817-877-3888, gracefortworth.com.
▪ Riscky’s Steakhouse, 120 E. Exchange Ave., offers an $89.95-per-couple dinner either dine-in or takeout featuring a rib-eye, a filet and calf fries, plus wine for those dining in; 817-624-4800, risckys.com.
▪ 97 West, at the Drover Autograph Collection, 200 Mule Alley, still has tables available for a $135 dinner featuring mahi mahi, tenderloin or chicken-fried steak, with a chocolate torte; 817-755-5557, hoteldrover.com.
▪ Mercury Chophouse, 2221 E. Lamar Blvd., Arlington, is one of the best choices Monday for Valentine’s lunch, with its sensational view of the Arlington entertainment district; 817-381-1157, mercurychophouse.com. It’s booked for dinner, but the other two locally owned Chophouses may have space: Mercury Chophouse, 525 Taylor St., 817-336-4129, mercuryfw.com, or Keller Chophouse, 124 S. Main St., 817-431-5188, facebook.com/KellerChop124.
▪ B&B Butchers & Restaurant, 5212 Marathon Ave., is booked but offers a $195 ready-to-cook take-home dinner with flowers, featuring a choice of chateaubriand, beef Wellington or filets mignon; 817-731-5360, bbbutchers.com.
▪ Perry’s Steakhouse & Grille, 2400 Texas 114 West, Grapevine, offers a $175 candlelight dinner for two ($125 takeout) featuring roast filet mignon and chocolate-dipped strawberry kisses, or an $80 dinner ($65 takeout or early bird) featuring a choice of nine entrees and five desserts; 682-477-2261, perryssteakhouse.com.
▪ Bonnell’s, 4259 Bryant Irvin Road, is mostly booked for a $115 dinner Monday featuring a choice of smoked prime rib, salmon or quail with passion-fruit tiramisu; 817-738-5489, bonnellstexas.com.
▪ Lonesome Dove Western Bistro, 2406 N. Main St., is serving a $120 dinner Monday featuring a choice of Lonesove Dove’s garlic-stuffed filet, redfish or a pork chop, with strawberry tea cake or ancho chocolate cake for dessert; 817-740-8810, lonesomedovefortworth.com.
New and fun
▪ Sky Creek Kitchen + Bar, at the Delta Southlake, 251 Texas 114 East, Southlake, offers a $95 dinner featuring halibut, scallops or an unidentified surf-and-turf combo with red velvet lava cake; 682-477-4606, skycreekkitchen.com.
▪ Bacchus Kitchen + Bar, 215 E. Dallas Road, Grapevine, offers a $120 dinner featuring a filet mignon with lobster tail and a chocolate-salted caramel tart; also, Hotel Vin’s Tuscany Ballroom offers a $210 champagne dinner Friday night only featuring beef Wellington and blood orange-champagne creme brulee; 817-251-3040, bacchustx.com.
▪ The Fitzgerald, 6115 Camp Bowie Blvd., offers a $150-per-couple dinner featuring a choice of drum meuniere or a steak pierogi with red velvet cheesecake or chocolate ganache cake; 817-349-9245, eatatfitz.com.
▪ Il Modo, in the Kimpton Harper, 714 Main St., offers a $165-per-couple dinner featuring a filet-and-lobster tail combo with chocolate panna cotta; 817-332-7200, ilmodorestaurant.com.
▪ La Onda, 2905 Race St., offers a $125-per-couple seafood dinner with the menu yet to be announced; 817-607-8605, facebook.com/LaOndaftw.
More choices
▪ Wishbone & Flynt, 334 Bryan Ave., offers a choice of duck, rib-eye or blackened stuffed sole, with a mille feuille or smoked-chocolate creme brulee dessert. Priced separately; 817-945-2433, wishboneandflynt.com.
▪ Toro Toro Pan-Latin Steakhouse at the Worthington Renaissance, 222 Main St., offers an $85 dinner featuring steak or scallops and prosecco; 817-210-2222, torotorofortworth.com.
▪ Truluck’s, 1420 Plaza Place, Southlake, offers an $89 dinner featuring lobster ravioli and a $14 strawberry-cream cheese chocolate cake; 817-912-0500, trulucks.com.
▪ Branch & Bird, 640 Taylor St., offers a $100 dinner featuring a choice of tenderloin or halibut with a creme brulee tartelette; 682-785-8888, branchbirdfw.com.
▪ Wicked Butcher, in the Sinclair Autograph Collection, 512 Main St., offers an $85 dinner featuring a filet, tuna, rack of lamb, sea bass, pork, roast chicken or a rib-eye, or ($210 per couple) a shared tomahawk steak. Desserts include a dark chocolate tart with peanut-butter mousse, a black cherry cheesecake or strawberries-and-cream; 682-231-8214, wickedbutcher.com.
▪ Chef Point Bar & Restaurant, 5901 Watauga Road, Watauga, and 5220 Texas 121, Colleyville, offers a choice of seven entrees, chocolate desserts or bread pudding with cognac sauce; 817-656-0080 or 817-482-5030, chefpointcafe.org.
▪ CRÚ Food & Wine Bar, 5188 Marathon Ave., offers a $60 dinner featuring filet mignon, rack of lamb or halibut and raspberry-vanilla creme brulee or chocolate lava cake; 817-737-9463, cruwinebar.com.
This story was originally published February 9, 2022 at 5:45 AM.
