Of all Fort Worth's older restaurants, one of the most controversial is The Gardens.
The 18-year-old Botanic Garden lunchroom is always beautiful but never a standout, drawing both bouquets and bashings in online reviews.
If you give it bouquets, The Gardens now has a new menu for springtime and the annual rush of flower garden visitors.
Entrees include a poblano tilapia or a pecan-crusted chicken (both $12). Or stick to the chicken or spinach-mushroom quesadilla ($9.75).
The big surprise at lunch this week was a thoroughly satisfying tortilla soup ($4-$4.50). The appetizers also include salads or red-bell-pepper hummus ($5.75).
Sandwiches include grilled chicken-pepper jack panini ($8) or a routine hamburger ($9). Afterward, there's bread pudding with bourbon sauce ($4.75).
The Gardens is busiest on Sundays for a small brunch and lunch buffet.
Don't expect too much. The Gardens' food is simple and doesn't compare to Cafe Modern or the Kimbell Art Museum Buffet, or to nearby restaurants in West 7th or University Park Village.
But the flower-garden location and sunroom setting keep The Gardens busy. The large patio overlooks the gardens road.
The Gardens Restaurant is open for lunch only daily except Mondays; 3220 Rock Springs Road, 817-731-2547, gardensrestaurantandcatering.com.
From what I can tell, Duff's Famous Wings of Amherst, N.Y., is a big deal.
It's one of New York's definitive stops for Buffalo wings. And now it's coming to Southlake.
Duff's is expected to open this month at 2787 E. Southlake Blvd., in a strip shopping center that formerly hosted Cheeburger Cheeburger and San Francisco Oven; duffswings.com.
If you miss brewpubs and small-batch microbrews, Old Town Burleson is your new place.
Old Texas Brewing Co. is under construction, promising not only beers but also barbecue, steaks and chicken.
The opening is still weeks away; 112 W. Ellison St., 817-501-6564, old-town-brew.com.
New in the Oakhurst neighborhood: Enchiladas Olé On the Way, opening this weekend at 901 N. Sylvania Ave.
Caterer Mary Perez adds the restaurant to her grocery-store line of enchilada sauces.
Finally, the "now hiring" sign is up at the new Campisi's Italian Restaurant in Fort Worth.
Campisi's is still expected in April at 6150 Camp Bowie Blvd.; campisis.us.
(Meanwhile, the very similar i Fratelli Pizza has opened a take-out stand in Keller at 721 Keller Parkway; ifratelli.net.)
New in Arlington: Blue Mesa Grill is open in Lincoln Square.
A Southlake location closed.
Bud Kennedy's Eats Beat appears Wednesdays in Life & Arts and Fridays in DFW.com Weekend. 817-390-7538
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