Lunchtime can be steak time.
For less than half the cost of a prime dinner, restaurants roll out the same beef in smaller portions at lunch.
Your taste might run to Ruggeri's garlic-basil tenderloin Miranda ($13.95), or the cheap No. 1 steak at Angelo's Spaghetti & Pasta House ($5.39).
Ever since Arlington's Candlelite Inn advertised in flashing neon, "Charcoal Steak $2.99," a lunchtime fillet has seemed like a tempting and inexpensive indulgence.
Fort Worth's top-of-the-line steak lunch special might be the $18 combo weekdays at Capital Grille, including soup or salad, a small tenderloin and a side (800 Main St.).
Cattlemen's Steak House has a small, charcoal-broiled sirloin at lunch for $11.95 with salad, potato and cloverleaf rolls, or a first-rate New York strip lunch for $18.95 (2458 N. Main St., Fort Worth).
But if you're anywhere near Colleyville at a weekday lunch, try Ruggeri's.
The 10-year-old traditional Italian restaurant continues the legacy of Ruggeri's, founded 30 years ago in Dallas by restaurateur Tom Ruggeri. (The Colleyville location is under separate management.)
Ruggeri's has pasta lunches for $11-$13, but it also has stuffed shrimp, a rich cioppino or a prime steak, none more than $14.
The steak Miranda is a double helping of 2-ounce tenderloin cuts, topped with garlic, basil, olive oil and fresh tomatoes.
The same dish sells for $30 at dinner. (And yes, lunch diners often can get Ruggeri's special Grand Marnier souffle -- ask.)
Ruggeri's is open weekdays for lunch and nightly for dinner at 32 Village Lane, a block off Texas 26 near Glade Road; 817-503-7373, ruggeriweb.com.
Family-friendly Angelo's Spaghetti & Pasta House, an Arlington-area mainstay since 1966, has returned to Spur 303 in a new home at Pioneer Parkway and South Bowen Road in Pantego.
The steaks are cheap. But order carefully.
The lunch steak ($5.39) is bottom-line basic. For $7.98, you can order a double. Or go with the lunch spaghetti ($4.39).
At dinner, a rib-eye ($12.59) was more marbling than meat. Better choices might be the 1-pound T-bone ($14.89), 10-ounce filet mignon ($12.59), charbroiled chicken ($6.39-$9.58) or "wild" salmon ($10.99).
Angelo's also offers 1960s thin-crust pizzas ($6-$13) and pastas with a choice of three sauces ($6-$8).
Angelo's is open for lunch and dinner daily; 2590 W. Pioneer Parkway, 817-303-7242.
Bud Kennedy's Eats Beat appears Wednesdays in Your Life & Food and Fridays in DFW.com Weekend. 817-390-7538
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