Edelweiss, west Fort Worth German restaurant, moving after 56 years

If your Valentine’s dinner tradition is at the 56-year-old Edelweiss German Restaurant, that is changing.

Edelweiss is moving but will open every day through Feb. 28 to serve generations of customers who came for German-style mustard-brushed steaks and polka bands, the restaurant announced Thursday on Facebook.

Edelweiss, 3801 Southwest Blvd., is leaving the Benbrook Traffic Circle but wants to wish customers “auf Wiedersehen,” according to a social media post.

“After over half a century .... it is with a heavy heart that we announce the closing of our current location,” the restaurant’s post read. “We have enjoyed hosting thousands of family celebrations and romantic evenings. ... We are actively working to secure a new location and will keep you informed.”

Edelweiss will open for dinner nightly through Feb. 28, adding two nights of dinner, according to the post.

The restaurant’s following had been divided 12 years ago when chefs and managers left to open Little Germany, which eventually moved around the corner to 6737 Camp Bowie Blvd.

Both restaurants claimed to serve the original recipes of Edelweiss founder Bernd Schnerzinger, who brought red cabbage, sausages, sauerbraten, kraut and strudels in 1967 to a Cold War-era Fort Worth full of World War II veterans who had served in Germany.

Schnerzinger led the “chicken dance,” led toasts and polkaed around the dining room as bands entertained nightly, including Helga Beckman and her “musical saw.”

The Zeqiri family bought Edelweiss when Schnerzinger retired and eventually combined it with Italian dishes and singers from the long-gone Italian Inn Ridglea nearby.

A nearby Busy B’s Bakery closed earlier and the longstanding Cowtown Farmers Market relocated. The shopping center is remodeling.