Best Fort Worth-area restaurant patios for St. Patrick’s Day, Easter or eclipse week
March 11,2024
See full Fort Worth Star-Telegram article by Bud Kennedy here.
Saint Patrick’s Day starts with Sunday brunch this year.
That means it’s time to book a patio table, and maybe another for Easter March 31 and for the Sunday before the solar eclipse April 8.
Yes, Joe T. Garcia’s is great. But it’s also mobbed on pretty days, and closed on Easter. (Tip: To beat the line, go to Joe T.’s the day after a busy holiday, like on March 18.)
Here’s a look at some other patio options for spring Sundays and Easter:
REATA
Three months remain for Reata’s rooftop patio downtown before the Western-themed “cowboy cuisine” restaurant moves to a ground-floor space two blocks away.
As of early this week, Reata still had tables available for brunch most Sundays, although not necessarily on the patio.
Reata will leave 310 Houston St. about June 30 and move to the ground floor of The Tower, 500 Throckmorton St.; 817-336-1009, www.reata.net.
HUDSON HOUSE
The busiest new restaurant is Dallas-based Hudson House, with two large patios perfect for Sundays.
It’s heavily booked around noontime on Easter, but try later in the day or any other Sunday.
The theme is New England — think oysters and lobster rolls — but the burgers and the French beurre-blanc chicken are just as popular; 4600 Dexter Ave., 682-207-4220.
F1, LE MARGOT, MARIA’S, PACIFIC TABLE, PRESS
The corporate-cousin restaurants by celebrity chef Graham Elliot will open and serve their regular menu every Sunday, and some have attractive patios.
F1 Smokehouse is the barbecue-themed restaurant with a garden patio alongside at 517 University Drive. Maria’s and Pacific Table, both on South University Drive, also have scenic patios and Press Cafe’s Fort Worth location has seating along the Trinity Trail.
For details, see farouthospitality.com.
QUINCE, HG SPLY CO., ASCENSION, WOODSHED
The patios near WestBend along the Trinity Trail are beautiful any Sunday, and figure they’ll be busy for Easter and the eclipse weekend.
HG Sply is the busiest brunch, but Quince has the most extensive menu.
The Quince brunch items include chiles rellenos and chilaquiles, and for St. Patrick’s Day, start with a fresh green juice with spinach, ginger, cucumber, green apple and fruit juices. Quince will serve a special menu on Easter and will have its patios open on eclipse weekend.
Quince, HG Sply and Ascension Coffee are in WestBend, 1701 River Run.
The Woodshed Smokehouse, a chef Tim Love restaurant, is west of South University Drive at 3201 Riverfront Drive.
BARBECUE: PANTHER CITY AND MAYBE MORE
It’s not Sunday without barbecue in Fort Worth anymore, and Panther City BBQ is among several top-ranked restaurants planning specials.
Panther City, 201 E. Pennsylvania Ave. (on some maps, 201 E. Hattie St.) just west of Interstate 35W, has a shaded patio. It will have green elotes for Saint Patrick’s Day among with green beer. It’s open until 4 p.m. Sundays, so mid-afternoon is a good time.
Dayne’s in Aledo opens at 10:30 a.m. Sundays and has a wraparound patio. Goldee’s south of Kennedale, the threee Hurtado Barbecue locations and the four Heim BBQ locations all open at 11, including Heim River District with its patio and playground. But check first about Easter hours.
Panther City will close at 2:30 p.m. Easter.
STEAKS: GRACE
Grace, 777 Main St., is the established local prime steakhouse and has a patio along Main Street.
It will open for a special Easter Sunday brunch and again later on Mother’s Day. It’s closed other Sundays.
Grace’s more casual cousin, Little Red Wasp, is open every Sunday.
Italian spinoff 61 Osteria, 500 W. Seventh St., will be open Sunday nights for dinner and has added a couple of steaks.
Most corporate chain prime steakhouses and Brazilian churrascarias wlll be open for Easter lunch.
MODERN, LILI’S, BLUE MESA AND MORE
▪ Cafe Modern, 3200 Darnell St., the classy restaurant inside the Modern Art Museum, has one of the most underrated patios in Fort Worth.
It’s open for brunch every weekend including Easter; 817-840-2157, themodern.org.
▪ Rock Springs Cafe, inside the Botanic Garden at 3220 Rock Springs Road, is now open for lunch daily and will serve brunch Sundays including Easter; 817-366-1100, fwbg.org.
▪ Lili’s Bistro on Magnolia, 1310 W. Magnolia Ave., doesn’t have much of a patio, but it has a great Easter menu.
Lili’s will open for a special brunch featuring crab benedict, a salmon frittata, a variety of breakfast and lunch items and burgers.
Desserts include strawberry-Italian cream cake and banana upside-down cake; 817-877-0700, lilisbistro.com.
▪ Fitzgerald, 6115 Camp Bowie Blvd., a seafood restaurant, will have its patio open Easter Sunday.
▪ Blue Mesa Grill, 612 Carroll St., is a Sunday brunch mainstay and will open at 8 a.m. Easter Sunday for families coming from sunrise church.
The Easter brunch will add beef tenderloin chimichurri, ginger-chipotle ham, mushroom rigatoni, cauliflower au gratin and roasted sweet potato wedges, along with desserts such as churros and coconut-lime tres leches cake.
See Texas artist Billy Hassell’s new mural on the upstairs patio; 817-332-6372, bluemesagrill.com.
Locations Mentioned: Grace, Reata Restaurant