A sleepy southwest Arlington corner has come back to life.
After several false starts, Don Mario's Mexican Cuisine looks like a keeper in a former steakhouse on Interstate 20.
The long-ago Harrigan's at Little Road had failed as several bar-and-grill concepts, and recently as a steakhouse with a pop-up pizza concept inside.
Don Mario's, the second location for an East Texas Tex-Mex restaurant, skips the gimmickry and serves straight-up Tex-Mex with Palestine flavor -- as in the town southeast of Dallas, where it opened first as Don Jose's.
The extensive menu includes bourbon-glazed rib-eyes, enchiladas and grilled chicken or pork chops.
Order anything with general manager Mario Garcia's distinctive New Mexico-style green chile sauce, not a mild tomatillo but a spicy green chile like you'd find in El Paso restaurants or at the Austin-based Chuy's chain.
The Don Mario's menu also includes appetizer platters, burritos, chiles rellenos, seafood and daily $6-$7 lunch specials.
Don Mario's is open for lunch and dinner daily at 5900 Interstate 20 W.; 817-478-2887, donmariosmexicancuisine.com.
Holiday festival season begins this weekend with the annual Fort Worth Greek Festival.
For three days, St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church in north Fort Worth offers lunch or dinner and a variety of cooked and baked goods to go, perfect to eat now or freeze for the holidays.
The festival's dinner plate Friday and Saturday ($15) includes a choice of Greek chicken, lamb or eggplant-zucchini moussaka with spanakopita (spinach pie), dolmades, rice and green beans.
Lunch ($12) daily through Sunday is a chicken, pork tenderloin or moussaka plate with spanakopita.
Desserts feature chocolate baklava ($3), loukoumades pastry puffs ($5/dozen), ekmek custard dessert and melomakarona or kourabiethes cookies.
All the entrees, sides, desserts and fresh-baked Greek breads are sold to-go or frozen.
The festival is open for lunch and dinner Friday and Saturday and lunch Sunday at 2020 N.W. 21st St. (on the corner at Texas 199), Fort Worth; 817-626-5578, fortworthgreekfestival.com.
While you're waiting for chef Tim Love's new Love Shack University location to open -- supposedly, this weekend -- check out his Thankgiving turkey-to-go.
Love's Woodshed Smokehouse is taking orders for a 12-to-14-pound hickory-smoked turkey, brined with chile arbol, garlic, salt and Love's rub. The bird is $89, or $149 for an entire dinner with salads and Tuaca-brown sugar acorn squash.
The Woodshed is taking orders through Love's main office, 817-624-9712. More at woodshedsmokehouse.com.
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