10 best restaurants in Fort Worth for 2021 should make the city proud
We’re just days away from the CultureMap Tastemaker Awards, our annual culinary celebration of the best food and drink in Dallas-Fort Worth. The Tastemaker Awards highlight the top talent in the Dallas-Fort Worth restaurant and bar communities, identified by their peers.
We are in the final chapter of our special editorial series honoring each of the nominees. We’ve already recognized the Top 10 Bars and Top 9 Chefs, and we’ve also started our pick for the Best New Restaurant in Fort Worth where you have a say in who the winner is. (Click to see who has won so far and vote.)
Now we come to the climax: Fort Worth’s top restaurants for 2021, and it’s a deliciously diverse line-up, from pizza to BBQ to trendy Asian cuisine.
Who will win? Find out at the Tastemaker Awards Party on August 19th at the Fashion Industry Gallery, where we’ll have canapes from nominated restaurants as host CJ Starr reveals the winners. Buy tickets here.
Here are the 10 best restaurants for 2021:
Black cat pizza
The pizzeria next to the Funky Picnic Brewery & Cafe offers outstanding pizzas by founder Jamie Fernandez, which are baked in the stone oven and are available whole and in pieces, from prototypical pies such as hot peppers to creative toppings such as summer squash and bresaola with white dill sauce. Its non-pizza dishes are just as good, from the Texas Wagyu Meatball Sub with smoked provolone to amazing pasta to delightful desserts like Budino Pie, with a chocolate and coffee body pudding that fills a flaky crust with tangerine olive oil and maldon Salt.
Cafe Modern
The treasured museum restaurant caused a stir with the arrival of the new chef Jett Mora, who comes from Los Angeles and has been working with Wolfgang Puck for his restaurants, his catering company and his test kitchen since 2011. In May 2021, Wolfgang Puck took over the business, Mora moved to Fort Worth as the local chef. Its new menu features home-style cooking with global influences and a drinks program featuring local spirits. (He was also nominated for a Tastemaker Award for Best Chef.)
Dayne’s Craft Barbecue
Dayne and Ashley Weaver’s BBQ area serves all the BBQ basics: premium brisket, pork ribs, pulled pork, turkey and homemade sausage, plus street corn, potato salad and mac & cheese. They combine a grill restaurant with a family- and pet-friendly hangout, including a 3,500 square meter outdoor area with seating, games and a stage for live music: a place where, as Dayne puts it, “get great” barbecue, drink a beer, Meet people you know, hang out for a while. “
Hatsuyuki hand roller bar
Sushi chef Jun Mo Yeon, a former owner of Daan Sushi Asian Bistro & Bar in Grapevine, opened this small, quaint place in 2018, the first sushi bar in Fort Worth to specialize in hand rolls, or temaki – cylindrical sushi rolls that include rice, fish, and vegetables. Buns are cooked on site while you watch and given to you by the sushi chef who made them. Fillings include salmon, tuna, scallops, yellowtail, crab, eel, toro, and lobster. You’re a recurring tastemaker nominee nominated for Best New Restaurant in 2019.
Lili’s bistro
Veteran restaurateur Vance Martin from Fort Worth opened Lili’s, an early settler, in a shop front on Magnolia Avenue in 2007. Named after his daughter, Lili’s serves dinner and delicious lunch with a menu that has been described as “unpretentious global cuisine”. Hummus and tabbouleh stand side by side on the menu with nachos, Thai pork dumplings, and signature waffle fries with Gorgonzola cheese. A large vegetarian selection includes tacos with tempeh.
Mariachis dine-in
Housed in a jumbled gas station east of downtown for years, this vegan-friendly Mexican place has been upgraded to a stationary location on the west side, taking over the space previously taken up by Mariposa’s Latin Kitchen. The menu consists of tacos, burritos and other Tex-Mex staples, both vegan and traditional. Birria tacos are a big hit here – both the beef version and the vegan version made with grated jackfruits. The restaurant now serves alcohol, including margaritas, beer, and cool cocktails like a frozen jack and Mexican cola.
My lan
There are now three locations for this long-running and acclaimed Vietnamese classic, including the grubby original in Haltom City; an elegant location that opened in Colleyville; and a third that opened in Alliance in 2020. Typical dishes include the crispy chow mein and a grilled pork and rice platter served with crispy spring rolls; along with several new beverages including frozen limeade and milk and boba drinks. The restaurant is good and memorable enough that it has been nominated for best restaurant two years in a row.
Wabi house
The modern izakaya-style Japanese restaurant first made its debut in Dallas’ Lower Greenville by Fort Worth-raised chef Dien Nguyen, who worked with Kenzo Tran of Piranha Killer Sushi. They opened this second location in the Medical District in 2018. Their ramen are celebrated, in six flavors including classic tonkotsu, spicy miso, and a popular vegetarian option. They also offer fun little dishes like beetroot and Brussels sprouts or crispy tempura pork ears along with an assortment of yakitori – grilled meat and vegetables served on a skewer.
Wild acre brows
Beer industry veteran John Pritchett’s brewery, with a 5,000-square-foot, air-conditioned taproom with windows to see all the brewing equipment and tanks, and a landscaped outdoor beer garden with picnic tables, is known for making creative beers like blueberry sour. But there’s also the Wild Acre Kitchen, open every Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., serving delicious homemade nachos, burritos, tacos, and burrito bowls that can be paired with their line of food-friendly beers.
Wishbone & Flynt
Located in Fort Worth’s hip South Main neighborhood, the restaurant is owned by Chef Stefon Rishel, who first came to local fame while working at Max’s Wine Dive, which is now closed. The menu features Rishel’s signature PB&J Chicken Wings with a spicy Thai peanut sauce and Pepperjack Tater Tots with creme fraiche and caviar. The restaurant has an adjoining upscale whisper bar called The Amber Room, with craft cocktails and an atmosphere reminiscent of The Great Gatsby. It’s a nominated returnee who was nominated for Best New Restaurant in 2020.
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