61 or 15? For new springtime restaurant patio dining in Fort Worth, pick a number
Fort Worth’s number is up.
Two spectacular new Fort Worth restaurants — one named “61,” another Quince (“15”) — also offer new patios perfect for springtime and sunshine.
But the city’s most interesting new patio restaurant has a much higher number. And it didn’t start as a patio.
JD’s Hamburgers, 9901 Camp Bowie Blvd. West is a burger grill-and-bar in a 60-year-old roadhouse tavern.
But starting sometime in the next few weeks, it’s a patio-only restaurant while the roof is replaced after it blew off in last week’s storm.
Owner Gigi Howell has posted a series of funny videos. In one, staffers joke that the restaurant should be renamed “Rainforest Cafe.” Another idea: “Waterburger.”
“All of our dining will be outside right now,” Howell said in a video posted on Facebook, “as we do not have an ‘inside.’”
So enjoy JD’s patio. (Just think of it as a fancier version of an old drive-in like the Malt Shop in Weatherford.)
It’s in far west Fort Worth, with hours and menu coming next week; check their Facebook page or their website for details.
Now, about those numbers:
61 Osteria
The new Italian restaurant downtown, 61 Osteria, has built a fast following for its sleek metropolitan styling and also for its Burnett Park setting.
The patio outside the First on 7th tower, 500 W. Seventh St., faces the park and Maine sculptor Jonathan Borofsky’s 50-foot “Man With Briefcase” sculpture, a tribute to office workers adjacent to the city’s tallest skyscraper.
Before Sundance Square opened 40 years ago, Burnett Park was the center of downtown activity.
The 61 Osteria name honors its home in a 1961 bank tower. Chef Blaine Staniford’s modern Italian menu features highlights such as arancini, white bean-sausage soup and serpente stuffed pasta, and brunch items like a “Dutch baby” pancake with Maraschino cherries.
It’s open nights and also Saturdays for a sunny, uncrowded downtown brunch. Watch for the launch of Sunday brunch.
Parking is free in the garage next door; 817-953-3271.
(Say it uh-STEER-ee-uh. Or just call it “61.”)
Quince
Quince — the Spanish word for “15” — is the new second location of a noted rooftop restaurant from Mexico, booked for a March 27 opening at 1701 River Run in the WestBend shops.
The old Bartaco patio along the Trinity Trail has been upgraded, with doors and windows opening to incorporate the dining room and kitchen.
Quince’s number comes from the original location’s address in San Miguel de Allende, a mountain tourist destination.
It’s a general-menu restaurant with a focus on sushi and Asian dishes, along with a full menu of grill platters, steaks and brunch.
It’s known mainly as a “rooftop experience” restaurant, with some of the same spirit promised along the Trinity Trail and riverbank. The decor blends New Orleans elements with decor and carvings from Mexico and Brazil.
The San Miguel restaurant includes a separate bakery with 20 house-made desserts, such as a frozen Black Forest cake or tiramisu in a martini glass.
Yes, University Drive traffic is bad. Park along Trinity Park Drive or off Rogers Road and walk along the trail.
Goat & Vine
The 10th try is going to be the charm for Montgomery Plaza.
Goat & Vine Restaurant & Winery, a bistro chain born in suburban Chicago, is drawing both lunch and dinner patio crowds for its first Fort Worth location, officially at 2600 W. Seventh St. but back in the oft-failed rear anchor position near a bank and a Chick-fil-A.
In a space where nine previous restaurants sank, Goat & Vine has delivered a completely redecorated dining room with an elaborate decor and a wide-ranging menu.
Dinner was booked last weekend for dishes such as steaks, squid-ink pasta, lobster ravioli and appetizers such as mussels or charcuterie.
Brunch features a $65 “unlimited” package with two hours of non-stop food, mimosas or cocktails.
The brunch menu offers everything from Benedicts, omelets and burgers to pancakes with mixed-berry mascarpone, creme anglaise and blackberry coulis.
The patio faces the Montgomery Plaza driveway on the West Fifth Street side; 817-839-3333.
Hopdoddy at Parkside
By now, every reader in north Fort Worth is saying, “What about Truck Yard?”
Fact is, the new Truck Yard patio bar, 3101 Prairie Vista Drive, is so busy some days, customers can barely find a chair.
For outdoor patio dining from a restaurant — one with shorter lines — go a half-mile north to Hopdoddy Burger Bar, 3101 Heritage Trace Parkway in the Parkside at Alliance Town Center shops.
The patio isn’t new. But Hopdoddy is. The legendary Austin-founded burger chain took over Grub Burger Bar a few months ago.
Hopdoddy enjoys a sprawling dining area overlooking scenic grasslands, next to First Watch, MOD Pizza and Shell Shack.
Try a Goodnight burger or a Llano Poblano. Consider substituting a healthier bison patty. There’s also a chicken burger, a veggie burger and eight choices with beef.
Order the green chile queso and fries, and think about how people are still waiting in line at other patios.
Hopdoddy is open for lunch and dinner daily; 682-204-0111.
Last year’s new patios
Patio restaurants that opened last year but might be worth another look:
▪ Tinie’s Mexican Cuisine, 112 S. Main St., has a ground-level patio and a second-story skyline bar overlooking downtown.
The menu offers a margaritas and mezcal flights, with menu items such as tenderloin or birria tacos, tuna tostadas and pork-green chile tamales. It’s the first stop south of downtown in Main Street Village, walkable from a rail station; 682-255-5425.
▪ Courtside Kitchen, 1615 Rogers Road, is a bar-and-grill with pickleball courts; 682-255-5751.
▪ Paloma Suerte, 122 E. Exchange Ave. in Mule Alley, remains the newest patio restaurant in the Stockyards; 682-267-0414.
▪ Maria’s Mexican Kitchen, 1712 S. University Drive, is a Felipe Armenta/Graham Elliot restaurant serving rib-eye Tampiqueña, beef ribs, salmon, enmoladas (mole enchiladas) and a wide choice of tacos and salads; 817-916-0550.
▪ The Fitzgerald, a seafood restaurant at 6115 Camp Bowie Blvd., has improved its large but cavelike back patio; 817-349-9245.
▪ Fort Brewery & Pizza, 2737 Tillar St., is known primarily for pizzas such as barbecued chicken or the “meat coma,” but it also serves an above-average weekend brunch including chilaquiles with local chips and salsa; 817-923-8000.
Old favorites
▪ Reata Restaurant, 310 Houston St., is in its next-to-last year in Sundance Square. Dine on the rooftop before Reata moves in June 2024; 817-336-1009.
▪ Branch & Bird, 640 Taylor St. in the Frost tower, reopens this week with a nicer dining room and the same 12th-floor patio and balcony view of downtown.
Branch & Bird now has a full cocktail lounge and bar; 682-785-8888.
▪ Press Cafe, 4801 Edwards Ranch Road, has a large patio along the Clear Fork and Trinity Trail.
It serves breakfast, sandwiches, salads and a few larger entrees such as a rib-eye Florentina. It has both inside and outside dining, and a second balcony patio overlooking the Clear Fork; 817-570-6002.
▪ Nearby in Clearfork, the busiest patios seem to be at Mesero, 4955 Gage Ave., and Doc B’s Restaurant, 5253 Marathon Ave.
▪ Joe T. García’s, 2201 N. Commerce St., is one of the nation’s largest restaurants, serving up to 2,000 people on seven patio or garden areas.
The regular advice for Joe T.”s still applies here: Go before 2:30 p.m. when there’s a full lunch or brunch menu, including chiles rellenos. If you go later, try asking for chiles rellenos, although they may be out.
Also, there are separate entrances for outdoor and indoor dining. (The patio entrance usually has the longer line.)
It’s cash-only; 817-626-4356.
▪ Heim Barbecue on the River, 5333 White Settlement Road, has a sprawling lawn with picnic tables perfect for barbecue and brews. It’s now open daily; 682-707-5772.
▪ Woodshed Smokehouse, 3201 Riverfront Drive, is another of Fort Worth’s old reliable patios, serving chef Tim Love’s eclectic barbecue menu along the Trinity Trail. It’s open daily; 817-877-4545.
▪ Café Modern. 3200 Darnell St., has added more outdoor tables in alcoves and facing the reflecting pool, both quieter than the busy dining room.
It’s open daily except Mondays for lunch, weekends for brunch and Friday nights for dinner; 817-840-2157.
▪ Ascension, 1751 River Run near Quince and HG Sply, is a coffee cafe open until 6 p.m. daily along a quiet stretch of the Trinity Trail alongside HG Sply Co.
Ascension is known for morning breakfast and weekend brunch, but also serves sandwiches, salads and half-price wines in late afternoon Sundays through Thursdays; 817-865-3829.
▪ The Flying Saucer Draught Emporium, 111 E. Third St., has an overachieving menu of daily specials, pizzas and burgers. It’s a good place to people-watch; 817-336-7470.
