Restaurants in Crowley

Ruffino's is a culinary paradise that revolves around the gastronomic genius of Chef Asdren Azemi. Graduating in the top five of his class from The French Culinary Institute in New York City, Azemi's classically trained food-potion skills emanate from every impeccably crafted dish found on the dinner, lunch, and Sunday brunch menus. Revel in the simplicity of Italian antipasti offerings such as the hand-pressed Russet-potato gnocchi ($12) or Prince Edward Island mussels ($12). Garden goodies dance with the Ruffino's Salad ($8), which delicately sprinkles feta, fried olives, and seasonal vegetables with balsamic-tomato vinaigrette. After your pre-mealing, dive face first into Franco's lasagna ($17), with ground beef, rich ricotta, and fresh herbs all smothered with the Ruffino family's robust tomato sauce. Or go with the spaghetti with diver scallops ($22) or the wild-salmon steak ($26), laid atop roasted eggplant, asparagus, seasonal tomato, and olive-oil vinaigrette. Although wine is not included in this deal, you can click here to print out an invitation for a complimentary glass between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. any night.

Cast Iron satiates eager sustenance-hankerers with its gourmet versions of homemade southern-cuisine favorites, pleasing both the traditional grandmother and the edgy, postmodern foodie. Inaugurate the gastronomic ceremonies with fried green tomatoes ($7), a flavorful side spruced with local goat cheese and cilantro oil. Drizzled in red-wine syrup, the Shiner-brined pork chop ($17) is an entree juicy and tender enough to replace a damaged waterbed. Reach the fudge-soaked checkered flag with Cast Iron's double-chocolate-fudge cake ($6) with indulgent vanilla sauce. Early-risers still exhausted from a long night of trapeze-archery practice can rejuvenate lethargic brains with a New York–sourced bagel from H&H Bagels, topped with smoked salmon ($13) or the pulled-pork eggs Benedict ($14).

Featuring an extensive menu of creative American food—including The Reuben 1976, born on the restaurant and brewery's opening day—Humperdink's has served the mertroplex area for 36 years. Humperdink's boasts menu items such as barbecue ribs, sustainable seafood, steaks, gourmet burgers, and original buffalo hot wings, along with a number of award-winning microbrews crafted on the premises and served on tap.

Simply Fondue's intimate, chandelier-lit dining room plays host to tabletop pots that bubble with warm imported cheeses, oils, and broths. The restaurant's cheese fondues from Switzerland, the Mediterranean, and England allow diners to taste the world's flavors without having to lick every country's flag. The eatery also simmers traditional canola oil fondue and broth fondue. For each entree, chefs pair simmering helpings with platters of meat, seafood, or veggies, all of which can be altered upon request.

Many meals conclude with chocolate fondue, which features an impressive coterie of sweets such as pound cake, triple-chunk brownies, cookie-dough balls, and fresh pineapple chunks plucked from the hats of local conga dancers. The dining experience stays casual throughout with plush booths and granite table tops.

There’s a big difference between the muffins you pluck from the grocery shelf and those you choose from the counter at Social Bakehouse Cafe. That’s because the in-house bakers wake up early every morning in order to have fluffy cupcakes, flaky scones, and gooey cinnamon rolls freshly made just as customers begin flocking to the shop’s counters.

The pastry chefs liberally wield frosting guns over sweets, applying sugary flowers to the borders of custom cakes and creating seasonal designs on cookies and pumpkins trying to expand their resumés. Once the bakery rush subsides, chefs turn their attention to lunch dishes, such as mandarin chicken wraps and spinach salads drizzled with house-made dressing.

Chefs toss mounds of dough in the air to form even disks and sprinkle on ingredients such as meatballs and jalapeños before sliding the fledgling pizza into a stone oven. When not building their signature pies, the chefs at Birraporetti's Arlington ladle pesto sauce onto jumbo cheese ravioli and bury grilled jumbo shrimp in tangles of fettuccini noodles. Hearty house specialties include grilled pork chops, served with a pillow of mashed potatoes for a postmeal nap in the dining room or underneath the brick arches on the outdoor patio. As a live jazz musician plays guitar during Sunday brunches, the chefs cover long tables with made-to-order omelets and waffles, breakfast tacos, and pork chops.