New restaurant west of Fort Worth serves steaks, seafood in a cozy historic home
Parker County’s secret steakhouse and bar is not a secret anymore.
Salt Seafood and Steak House is already so crowded after one week that dinner is available only by reservation.
The 155-year-old home at 209 E. Church St. just off the Weatherford square is the county’s newest fine steak and seafood restaurant. It serves lobster, scallops, rib-eyes and more in a cozy setting with only 48 seats plus a wraparound patio.
Owners Jennifer and John David Shepherd converted the old house, a former law office behind their Shep’s burger grill and sports bar, 202 Fort Worth Highway (U.S. 180).
The house has no sign. Outside, it’s one of downtown Weatherford’s beautiful old homes.
Inside, it has a small front dining room, two large booths, a wine room and a “secret” bar in back where cameras and phones are not allowed.
That’s an important feature of any successful restaurant in Weatherford. Diners want to have a drink, but some also want privacy.
Salt’s stealth did not stop half of Parker County from finding it last week. So unless you go right at the 3 p.m. opening, dinner now requires a reservation on Salt’s website, saltseafoodsteaks.com.
Bur here’s when to go: On Thursdays through Saturdays, Salt is open for lunch.
I’d still recommend a reservation. But the lunch menu is a good entry point: There’s a salmon spinach salad for $21, a crab-cake BLT on Texas toast for $21 and a simple 5-ounce filet mignon and fries for $25.
Salt’s signature lobster bisque ($6) was loaded with lump lobster one day last week. There’s also a shrimp-and-clam chowder.
Either the salmon salad or a lump-crab-and-avocado salad would make Salt worth a stop. There’s also a lobster roll ($16 including fries) and a choice of bluepoint East Coast oysters or Gulf oysters.
It’s a step up from the Shepherds’ former restaurant, Saltwater Seafood House, which closed early in the COVID pandemic.
With restrictions ending, “We wanted to do something different, something with ambience and atmosphere,” John David Shepherd said.
He operated a past Fort Worth and Weatherford steakhouse, the Wild Mushroom.
The prices used to be considered high for Weatherford. But the county is increasingly an affluent suburb and horse ranching area, and Shepherd said Salt’s prices are comparable to those at prime steakhouses in Fort Worth.
Salt opens at 3 p.m. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, 11 a.m. Thursdays through Saturdays. It’s one block south of U.S. 180; 817-341-6276.
This story was originally published October 23, 2023 at 5:30 AM.
