This steak bistro in Arlington combines cozy all-day dining with easy parking
Arlington’s newest restaurant is at a familiar location.
Zack’s Bistro, a prime steakhouse and wine bar from the owner of Mercury Chophouse in Fort Worth and Keller Chophouse, is on Interstate 30 in a strip shopping center on the corner of East Copeland Road and North Collins Street.
From Fort Worth or Dallas, it’s a 15-to-20-minute drive to the Collins exit and Zack’s, 900 E. Copeland Road. From downtown Arlington or the Viridian neighborhood, it’s less than 10 minutes.
In a city obsessed lately with big showplaces — barnlike stadiums, hotel towers and a $2 million restaurant in a former baseball stadium — Zack’s is intentionally small.
“I just think Arlington needed a little place, somewhere easy to stop,” said owner Zack Moutaouakil, formerly a partner with Mayor Jim Ross in the Mercury Chophouse Arlington.
Ross bought that entire steakhouse and has since co-opened in Hearsay, beneath the stands at Choctaw Stadium.
“Wow — it’s beautiful,” Moutaouakil said — but it’s just too big. I want something little, and easy parking.”
So Zack’s opened in the Carriage Plaza shopping center, on I-30 next door to a Chili’s and an Asian buffet. The space has been home to a series of restaurants.
The food and menu are almost exactly identical to the 23-uear-old Chophouse in Fort Worth and the newer location in Keller. The lunch menu even carries all three logos.
That means simple steaks, chops, chicken and salads, with burgers and sandwiches at lunch.
One day this week, a spinach-strawberry grilled chicken salad ($14.95) made an ample lunch.
(Try the champagne vinaigrette or balsamic instead of the strawberry vinaigrette for a salad that’s not quite as sweet.)
The Chophouses are generally known as old-school fine-dining steakhouses with simple menus and dinners that include side dishes (to save on a la carte costs).
Zack’s Bistro is more cozy than the other Chophouses and the music might be a notch louder.
It seems like more of a neighborhood steakhouse, except that the “neighbors” are Lincoln Square, Champions Park and the restaurants on the outskirts of the Dallas Cowboys’ AT&T Stadium.
Zack’s is open for lunch and dinner daily except Sundays; 682-323-8789, zackbistro.com
Along with Piccolo Mondo and Mariano’s, it’s an excellent place to meet up with friends from Dallas or points east.
The two Chophouse locations are 525 Taylor St., Fort Worth, and 124 S. Main St., Keller.
(Ross remains owner of the separate Mercury Chophouse Arlington, overlooking the Entertainment District from the ninth floor of the Brookhollow Two office tower, 2221 E. Lamar Blvd.)
