Rex’s brunch is turning heads on Fort Worth’s ‘breakfast row’ — here’s what’s new
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Rex’s opened a year ago at 1501 S. University Drive near the Fort Worth Zoo and TCU.
- Chef Brian Olenjack recommends biscuits with jalapeño cream gravy as a brunch side.
- Rex’s serves weekend brunch from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
If you thought South University Drive didn’t need another brunch restaurant, think again.
Into Fort Worth’s “breakfast row” of pancake diners, coffee cafes and upscale brunches comes Rex’s Bar & Grill, offering a chef-driven menu and a big party patio with an 18-foot giant TV.
Rex’s opened a year ago and seemed like a middling sports bar with great TVs and a stellar location at 1501 S. University Drive near the Fort Worth Zoo and TCU.
But Rex’s got better. The online reviews and comments have improved drastically.
A new brunch menu from chef Brian Olenjack reflects Olenjack’s exceptional brunch skills, including the best biscuits on breakfast row.
Rex’s starts brunch at a good time: 9:30 a.m. It’s when the weekend crowds peak at owner Rex Benson’s Ol’ South Pancake House next door, and also when fans start showing up for 11 a.m. football games.
The front dining room lined with TVs is a cool, dark refuge on a summer day. But go ahead and ask for a seat on the patio, which is mostly shaded from the morning sun.
Rex’s brunch menu features the usual stuff — breakfast tacos, chicken-and-waffles or chicken-fried steak and eggs with jalapeño cream gravy.
But there are also some less common choices: a breakfast pizza, a New York strip with eggs and kimchi, and chorizo baked eggs with peppers, onions, spinach and avocado.
An order of churro French toast ($14) came with ample strawberries, candied pecans and a cinnamon Biscoff drizzle.
The biscuits and jalapeño cream gravy are a side dish. Order them. Nobody does jalapeño cream gravy like Olenjack. (He created a similar dish for the very popular brunch menu at Social House.)
One of the best parts of brunch at Rex’s is the variety. Meat choices include chorizo and also chicken sausage or tasty chicken smoked sausages for the many customers who now limit their beef or pork.
The breakfast pizza, the migas and the avocado omelet all come with a mild Muenster cheese that doesn’t overpower the flavors. The dishes are made with a variety of sauces such as salsa macha or red chile.
Rex’s is a sports bar on steroids, with TVs lining the dining room and that one larger-than-life TV on the patio.
But it’s entirely possible to find a table away from sports, particularly on the patio, and enjoy a protein bowl or a mushroom-and-red-pepper veggie wrap.
South University Drive is a four-block-long breakfast buffet, from IHoP and Ol’ South to riverbank Ascension Coffee and nicer Maria’s, Pacific Table, Quince, Blue Goose, Woodshed Smokehouse, and HG Sply Co., not to mention Eatzi’s grab-and-go.
Rex’s serves brunch weekends from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m., both earlier and later than many other restaurants.
Lunch and dinner are served 11 a.m.-midnight daily; 817-968-7397, rexsftw.com.
