What’s the closest restaurant to the rodeo? It’s a hangout for pizza, steaks or wine
Rodeo crowds wouldn’t always go to a “wine cafe.”
But Winslow’s Wine Cafe is comfortable for everybody, and that’s why it’s in its 14th year.
Rodeo crowds see that Winslow’s, 4101 Camp Bowie Blvd., is the closest full-service restaurant to Dickies Arena.
So, cowboys dine on brisket tacos alongside the wine crowd trying a new pinot noir.
“We get people in boots and jeans, people in flip-flops and people in tuxedos,” owner Joe Berry told a recent Eats Beat podcast, playable on iTunes, Amazon Music or any podcast site.
He’s taken Winslow’s from a pizza-and-wine bistro to a wide-ranging restaurant with one of the city’s best brunch menus.
“If you want a good steak, a nice salad, a wood-fired pizza — we try to have a little of everything,” he said.
It hasn’t always been that way.
When Winslow’s opened, families went for pizzas like the Jim Bowie: barbecued chicken and bacon with barbecue sauce and jalapenos ($19).
Now, there’s a giant menu of steaks, chicken, salads and new pizzas, such as the Ranch Hand (meatballs, pepperoni, bacon, Canadian bacon and chorizo, $20).
All pizzas are now also available on a cauliflower crust, slightly thinner and crispier but with no loss of flavor.
The dinner menu includes specialty mac-and-cheeses, pastas, short rib stroganoff, salmon and filet mignon.
At brunch, the choices include brisket tacos, chilaquiles. a spinach-goat cheese frittata, avocado toast and all the basics.
The top seller is a Winslow’s salad with candied pecans and apples, available with a choice of chicken, shrimp, salmon or tenderloin.
For those who want to dine outside, Winslow’s has a large, sunny, heated patio that’s dog-friendly.
Like Lucile’s down the street, it’s an all-purpose restaurant for the west side.
A wine shop across the street, Winslow’s Wine Cellar, expands on the extensive list available from the bar.
Winslow’s adds menu items to “get a little more Texan” during the rodeo, Berry said.
It’s 1 mile west of Dickies Arena, about six long blocks.
When Winslow’s opened it was mostly a wine bar and hangout, Berry said.
“But we’ve had a couple of good chefs, and over time, the food took off,” he said.
Now, it’s primarily a restaurant, and the weekend brunch dominates the west side market along with Cafe Modern’s in the museum district and Lucile’s.
The free valet parking also helps keep cars off the nearby streets.
“We’ve just listened to the neighborhood,” he said. “We want to be a neighborhood kind of place.”
Winslow’s is open for dinner nightly except Monday, and Berry said he hopes to restore Monday hours this month.
It’s also open at 10:30 a.m. weekends for brunch; 817-546-6843, winslowswinecafe.com.
This story was originally published January 31, 2022 at 5:45 AM.
