All-you-can-eat Sunday buffets and more for Mother’s Day in Fort Worth and Arlington
Mother’s Day brunch at one Irving hotel will cost $150.
But some families need a Sunday lunch that costs closer to $15.
Here are a few less expensive choices for Mother’s Day, and a few others with tables available.
But remember: Mother’s Day is the single busiest dining day of the year.
Bring plenty of patience. And be kind to servers. Many are Moms missing out on their own lunch.
The big list of restaurants is at star-telegram.com/eatsbeat. But here are a few late ideas:
1. Candlelite Inn
The region’s ultimate old-time family restaurant has it all for Mom:
▪ Room for big families,
▪ Cozy old-time booths
▪ And a menu to please everybody, from inexpensive steaks to spaghetti to pizzas to Tex-Mex with the famous Candlelite green sauce,
Candlelite, 1202 E. Division St., opened in 1957.
That was before interstate highways, theme parks or stadiums.
It might be where Mom went growing up. Or her mom.
Candlelite expects a crowd Mother’s Day, so go early for specials such as pepper-crusted chopped steak platter ($10.99), an Italian-style sirloin ($16.99) or a cheese enchilada dinner ($9.99).
It’s open for lunch and dinner daily; 817-275-9613, candleliteinnarlington.com.
2. Heaven’s Gate Restaurant
This is Heaven’s Gate’s 17th Mother’s Day buffet and first without founder “Miss Barbie” Stanislawski.
But the staff carries on the all-you-can-eat simple country lunch buffet, with a morning breakfast buffet weekends and an expanded buffet every holiday.
Heaven’s Gate, 3820 N. Main St., wants more weekday customers, particularly at breakfast. So right now it’s offering the best breakfast special: $2.99 Mondays through Thursdays for bacon and hash browns with either eggs, pancakes, French toast or a waffle.
On Mother’s Day, expect the giant weekend lunch buffet with roast pork, meat loaf, fried catfish, fried chicken, chicken-fried steak and Tex-Mex dishes such as fajitas or menudo, plus vegetables and basic salad and desserts.
This is small-town cafe dining. The buffet costs less than $20.
Heaven’s Gate is open for breakfast and lunch daily; 817-624-1262, heavensgaterestaurant.com.
3. The Stockyards
If Mom wants to beat the lines, check door-to-door at the restaurants in the Fort Worth Stockyards.
▪ Cattlemen’s Steak House, H3 Ranch, Los Vaqueros, Riscky’s BBQ, Riscky’s Steakhouse and the Star Cafe will be open for walk-ins. They’re all good choices for Sunday lunch in a western setting.
▪ Provender Hall, 122 E. Exchange Ave., had Sunday reservations available in a midweek check.
▪ Tannahill’s Tavern, 122 E. Exchange Ave., has space available for its jazz-and-gospel brunch buffet, although that’s $49.
▪ Esperanza’s Restaurant, 2122 N. Main St., has a handsome patio. It’s a great alternative to waiting in line an hour at Joe T. Garcia’s.
▪ Dos Molinas’, 404 NW 25th St., is the Stockyards’ most underrated and least expensive restaurant, serving reliable, simple Tex-Mex.
4. More Division Street dining
Arlington has two home-cooking cafes in a single block that would be the best restaurant in many Texas towns.
▪ Division Street Diner, 1800 W. Division St., serves an all-you-can-eat country-style lunch buffet Sundays usually featuring ham, chicken, catfish and omelets plus salad and one dessert.
It’s slightly nicer than Heaven’s Gate — the omelets and pies are an upgrade — and still less than $20.
It’ll be crowded Mother’s Day, but try any day for breakfast or lunch; 817-274-1606, divisionstdiner.com
▪ Skillet N Grill, 1801 W. Division St., is an old-fashioned plate lunch cafe that has been an Arlington gathering place for more than 25 years.
The menu is huge and the lunch specials are generous. Try it any day; 817-795-8682. facebook.com/SkilletnGrill.
▪ Jambo’s BBQ, 1724 W. Division St., serves reliable brisket, ribs and turkey with sides such as cowboy corn and white-cheddar mac-and-cheese in a historic former steakhouse with a picture-window view of Division Street.
It’s open for lunch and dinner daily. It’s not your typical rustic barbecue stand; 817-275-7881, jambosbbq.com.
5. Go ahead. Shell out
Some of Fort Worth’s best restaurants still had tables available at midweek on OpenTable.com or Resy.com.
▪ Eddie V’s Prime Seafood, 3100 W. Seventh St., is a corporate seafood restaurant with an above-average selection of steaks.
Mom might like the popular signature bananas Foster butter cake. If she doesn’t, somebody will; 817-336-8000, eddiev.com
▪ Grace, a home-owned prime steakhouse at 777 Main St., only opens for special Sunday holidays. So it has brunch tables available; 817-877-3388, gracefortworth.com.
▪ Mercury Chophouse, also home-owned at 525 Taylor St., is an old-fashioned fine-dining steakhouse with Mother’s Day specials; 817-336-4129, mercuryfw.com.
▪ In Southlake, both prime steakhouses — Kirby’s and Perry’s — have a few tables available along with Truluck’s seafood restaurant.
Perry’s has the most elaborate menu, offering a $49 spinach-mushroom stuffed filet mignon.
▪ In Arlington, The Keg Steakhouse stlll had space available at midweek.
