Bud Kennedy reviews 2012 dining -- burgers, tacos and more -- with Susan Cloud on KSKY/660 AM "The Answer." Click here for a listen.
Waters will be up and running soon.
But not until spring, chef Jon Bonnell said last week, after city permit hang-ups delayed construction on his new prime seafood restaurant.
"It's taking a little longer than I wanted, but we'll have something completely different for Fort Worth," he said.
Waters -- the official name is Waters, Bonnell's Fine Coastal Cuisine -- is replacing a prime steakhouse on Crockett Street in the West 7th shops across from the forthcoming American F+B.
Bonnell named other seafood restaurants -- Daddy Jack's Lobster & Chowder House and the Houston-based Pappadeaux chain -- but said most diners looking for great seafood wind up at steakhouses.
"I want to see a restaurant that puts quality seafood first," he said, describing Waters' fish selection as "wild, seasonal and sustainable."
The whole idea of wild or sustainable seafood is new to Fort Worth. But Bonnell said familiar dishes like sea bass will give way to less overfished species like Antarctic butterfish (also sold as "bluenose sea bass").
Typical specials might be hog snapper -- different mainly in the shape of its head -- or triggerfish, pompano, corvino or Texas red drum (redfish), he said.
Appetizers will include a variety of oysters on the half shell, including his "barbecued" oysters with red chile-lime sauce or the oysters "Texasfeller" from his current restaurant, Bonnell's Fine Texas Cuisine.
The former steakhouse dining room will be opened up to feature a 28-chair oyster bar and lunch counter, he said. The bar in front will also be expanded with patio seating, he said.
"It's definitely not like running a steakhouse, because the fish you get are different every day depending what's fresh," he said.
Waters will open in March or April at 2901 Crockett St.
Bonnell's current restaurant is open for lunch and dinner Tuesdays through Fridays, dinner Saturdays at 4259 Bryant Irvin Road; 817-738-5489, bonnellstexas.com.
Eight months after opening, Red's Roadhouse remains a puzzle.
The heavily retro-themed restaurant and music club in Kennedale serves a standout plate of Buffalo-Sriracha cheese "dragon" fries.
But after several menu changes, Red's is reaching for new business as a lunch and Sunday brunch restaurant.
A dinner salad with white balsamic vinaigrette was a notch above average on a dinnertime visit last week. But the meatloaf lacked flavor, and the much-promoted pulled pork sliders seemed more like chopped-pork sloppy Joes.
Other diners have complimented Red's burgers, along with the apricot fried pies and apple empanadas. A new Sunday menu features homemade cinnamon rolls.
Red's is open Wednesdays through Saturdays for lunch and dinner and Sundays for brunch at 1170 E. Kennedale Parkway (Business U.S. 287), 817-483-5200; redsroadhouse.com.
Bud Kennedy's Eats Beat appears Wednesdays in Life & Arts and Fridays in DFW.com Weekend. 817-390-7538
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