A surprise: 50 restaurants open to eat lunch, brunch on Christmas Day in Fort Worth
December 15,2023
See full Fort Worth Star-Telegram article by Bud Kennedy here.
Christmas Day lunch can involve German pancakes, or smoked turkey, or chateaubriand.
Most of all, Christmas Day lunch can involve dining out.
About 50 restaurants and hotels will be open and serving brunch or lunch this year, more than in past years and providing more ways for families to gather.
Mercury Chophouse, 525 Taylor St., is the community service tradition.
It’s open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Christmas Day to serve and thank on-duty Fort Worth police.
If you’d like to join them Christmas day or night, it’s $59 for a dinner with prime rib, turkey, ham and peanut-butter pie.
MORE CHRISTMAS CHOICES
▪ 97 West, the restaurant in the Hotel Drover, 200 Mule Alley, has tables available before 11 a.m. or after 1 p.m. for its $65 three-course brunch.
▪ Nearby in the Stockyards, the Paloma Suerte Tex-Mex restaurant is listed as open and offering reservations, 122 E. Exchange Ave.
▪ Emilia’s, the restaurant in the new Crescent Fort Worth hotel, 3300 Camp Bowie Blvd., is promoting a ticketed brunch through midafternoon but has not published a price.
▪ Toro Toro, the pan-Latin steakhouse in the Worthington Renaissance Fort Worth Hotel, 200 Main St., is serving an ambitious brunch featuring Peruvian marinated prime rib, Korean marinated salmon and Kurobuta Japanese legacy rack of pork.
The brunch includes sides and desserts such as chocolate fondant or Belgian waffles. It’s $95.
▪ Downtown hotel restaurants il Modo in the Kimpton Harper, Musume in the Sandman Signature and Wicked Butcher in the Sinclair are all open and have tables available.
▪ In Arlington, Cut & Bourbon in the Live! by Loews hotel, 1600 E. Randol Mill Road, has tables available for a Christmas Day brunch but has not listed a menu or price.
The Cowboys are playing Christmas Eve, so Christmas should be a calm day to see the Loews and the nearby new hotels.
A DEL’S-SALTGRASS COMBO
▪ Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse, 812 Main St., has tables available after 1 p.m. for its regular menu plus a holiday special: herb-roasted chateaubriand ($130).
▪ Both Del Frisco’s Grille locations, 154 E, Third St. and 1200 E. Southlake Blvd. in Southlake, will open at 1 p.m. and have tables available.
▪ All six Tarrant County locations of Saltgrass Steak House, a Del Frisco’s corporate cousin, will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Expect a wait for a table.
A SOUTHLAKE HOLIDAY
▪ In Southlake, the new Henley Kitchen and Bar in the Hilton, 1400 Plaza Place, is offering a $70 “Christmas at the Henley” featuring bourbon-glazed ham, smoked turkey or roasted leg of lamb.
▪ Italian chain restaurants Brio Italian Grille, 1431 Plaza Place, and Buca di Beppo, 2701 Texas 114 East, always open on Christmas.
▪ The Riverwalk Cantina in the Gaylord Texan hotel in Grapevine has tables available before 10 a.m. or after 1:30 p.m.
▪ Suburban hotel restaurants Bacchus in the Hotel Vin and Jellicos in the Westin Southlake are both listed as open. The popular Sky Creek restaurant in the Delta hotel has not listed a brunch.
FAMILY RESTAURANTS
▪ Both Ol’ South Pancake House locations, 1509 S. University Drive and also 225 E. Renfro St., Burleson, will open at 8 a.m. Christmas Day and serve their regular menu featuring German pancakes and mini “Dutch baby” pancakes.
▪ Day Break Cafe & Grill, 2720 White Settlement Road, opens at 5 a.m. every day and serves its regular inexpensive breakfast and lunch menu. The weekly Monday special is a cheese enchilada platter.
▪ Several of the new suburban “brunch spot” or “breakfast-brunch” cafes will be open. Ask your neighborhood brunch cafe.
▪ Many of the 20 IHOP Restaurant locations and seven Denny’s Restaurants in Tarrant County will be open.
▪ The Iron Skillet Restaurant, 2001 Santa Fe Drive in Weatherford, is not the all-night draw it used to be, but it still maintains regular truck stop dining service.
Locations Mentioned: Del Frisco's Double Eagle Steak House, Del Frisco's Grille, Mercury Chop House, The Kimpton Harper Hotel, Toro Toro, Worthington Renaissance Fort Worth Hotel