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Dining out doesn't have to mean shelling out.
Some of the best restaurants in Fort Worth are adding specials for a tight budget.
Buttons Restaurant, chef Keith Hicks' comfort-food cafe and club, is serving $7 weekday lunches and will extend lunch prices to dinner next month.
For $7, lunch one day this week included tomato-basil soup, Buttons' signature blue-cheese-and-bacon chopped salad and a turkey-gruyere sandwich.
A new bar menu is coming in May, including slider burgers and catfish tacos.
Buttons also will serve all day; 4701 West Freeway, Fort Worth, 817-735-4900, buttonsrestaurant.com.
Lonesome Dove Western Bistro has a famous name and a TV chef, Tim Love.
But it also has a daily $9 lunch.
This week, one of the specials was a 4-ounce tenderloin with mashed potatoes. Yes, for $9.
Try it Saturdays. The lunch special is served Tuesday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m.; 2406 N. Main St., Fort Worth, 817-740-8810, www.lonesomedovebistro.com.
And one of the most famous chain restaurants has a deal.
The Cheesecake Factory is serving huge appetizers for $5 weekdays only at happy hour.
The menu includes sliders, nachos, tamales and summer spring rolls. It's served weekdays 4-6 p.m.
Cheesecake Factory is in Arlington at 3811 S. Cooper St. in The Parks mall and in Southlake at 1440 Plaza Place in the Town Square; www.thecheesecakefactory.com.
One more special:
Lanny's Alta Cocina Mexicana in the Cultural District serves an elegant three-course lunch weekdays for $20.
Chef Lanny Lancarte's sample menu from this week: squash soup or salad, plus a choice of a chicken breast with nopalitos and risotto or a chorizo-and-scallops pasta, ending with tres leches crème brûlèe.
That's served Tuesdays through Fridays, 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m.; 3405 W. Seventh St., Fort Worth, 817-850-9996, www.lannyskitchen.com.
The spring menu is ready at Cafe Modern, the flashy lunch and brunch restaurant inside the Modern Art Museum.
Chef Dena Peterson brought back some Modern favorites, including lobster potpie and a duck-PB&J sandwich.
The brunch menu includes asparagus flan and a bananas Foster French toast.
Desserts include Chocolate Nonsense -- a brownie with chocolate ice cream, syrup, macadamia nuts and chocolate shavings.
Cafe Modern is open for lunch daily, except Monday; 3200 Darnell St., 817-840-2157, www.thecafemodern.com.
Chef Stephan Pyles stars at this year's Buffalo Gap Wine & Food Summit on April 23-24 at Perini Ranch near Abilene.
Or just drive out some weekend for chef Tom Perini's Sunday lunch. Check www.periniranch.com.
Bud Kennedy's Eats Beat appears Fridays in GO! 817-390-7538 Follow @eatsbeat on Twitter
