Eats Beat

In Mineral Wells, are they fries or ‘pommes frites’? Austin chef to open fancy grill

Second Bar + Kitchen to open in Mineral Wells

Hey, Bud! Did that Austin chef ever open his Mineral Wells restaurant?

—U.S. 281 motorist

Second Bar + Kitchen’s small-town version is expected to open this fall in The Crazy Water Hotel, 401 N. Oak Ave.(U.S. 281).

Chef David Bull moved to Mineral Wells. He was known in Austin for his “Congress Avenue” Swiss cheeseburger, black-truffle pommes frites and brunch items such as strawberry and goat cheese scones.

Second Bar + Kitchen remains open in Austin, 1108 E. Sixth St.; secondbarkitchen.com.

West Side Cafe is on Camp Bowie Boulevard in west Fort Worth
West Side Cafe is on Camp Bowie Boulevard in west Fort Worth TripAdvisor.com

No changes at West Side Cafe

Hey, Bud! I saw where West Side Cafe sold. What’s going to change?

—Facebook readers at facebook.com/diningguy

Not a ding-donged thing.

The general manager for 20 years, Joel Hancock, bought it, and his new partners from JD’s Hamburgers are west side people who love it.

Gigi Howell promises nothing will change.

West Side will just fix the one thing that needs fixing — the advertising, online site and ordering, Facebook page and marketing.

The cafe opened in 1996 in a building that was originally a Pizza Inn. It became Pastaliano’s, Spinners Pizza and Bobby’s Pizza & Pasta.

DFW Restaurant Week through Sept. 3

Hey, Bud! I almost forgot about DFW Restaurant Week. Is it too late?

—Margie, Fort Worth

B&B Butchers, both Del Frisco’s, newcomer Goat & Vine and Rise N°3 are among nine Fort Worth restaurants still serving either a $39 or $49 dinner special through Sept. 3.

The others are Crú, Fitzgerald, il Modo and Toro Toro.

The list offering the special promotion — 20% goes to the Lena Pope charity — also includes four Arlington restaurants: Cut & Bourbon, The Finch, Homeplate and Zack’s.

Six have the special in Northeast Tarrant County: Classic Cafe, Del Frisco’s Grille, Keller Chophouse, Kirby’s, Moxie’s and Perry’s.

The full list is at dfwrestaurantweek.com.

This story was originally published August 17, 2023 at 5:30 AM.

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Bud Kennedy is celebrating his 40th year writing about restaurants in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He has written the “Eats Beat” dining column in print since 1985 and online since 1992 — that’s more than 3,000 columns about Texas cafes, barbecue, burgers and where to eat. Support my work with a digital subscription
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