Restaurants in Weatherford

Leading the charge in Los Vaqueros' two area restaurants, Chef Cisneros imparts his third-generation culinary expertise to crafting flavorful Tex-Mex dishes from a stash of local poultry, fruits, and fresh veggies. At the flagship Fort Worth location, set within a former warehouse, a flight of yellow steps leads through a leafy archway into a lively dining room filled with vintage cowbells, tin signs, and Air Jordan horseshoes. The Weatherford location sits within Crown Valley Golf Club, where patrons dine on enchiladas, tacos, and burritos as wild golf balls cheep from their perches on the windowsills.

When chef Joe Lane took over Fish Creek in 2008, he was faced with a daunting task. The fried-fish restaurant badly needed a fixing up, but he didn't want to sacrifice its laid-back atmosphere or the old owners' regular clientele. Today, he and his staff have succeeded in taking the eatery in a new direction after redesigning the menu, refurbishing the decor, and exorcising the lingering spirits of the previous chef's pots and pans. Driven by the belief that "people should be able to have exceptional seafood wherever they are," as he writes on his website Joe fuses Cajun and Southwest recipes to build dishes that include fish or shrimp tacos along with blackened catfish and jambalaya. The menu also sates landlubbers' appetites with beef tenderloins, burgers, and grilled-chicken sandwiches.

Servers ferry these dishes, as well as Southern-inspired cocktails and margaritas, to polished tables arranged under exposed rafters in the dining room. There, lamps mounted around rustic wooden columns pour down amber light gathered at sunset in New Orleans' French Quarter. Patrons can also dine at low-lit tables in a private dining room, or on a wooded back patio that holds up to 75 guests.

At Los Vaqueros' two area restaurants, Chef Cisneros imparts his third-generation culinary expertise to crafting Tex-Mex menus that feature local poultry, beef, fruits, and veggies. He ensures these ingredients are never chopped or prebagged before they reach his kitchens, meaning they won't lose flavor before he turns them into chalupas, sizzling fajitas, and stuffed jalapenos that warm insides better than a shot of barrel-aged magma. Chef Cisneros's spread of fresh-made fare can also be enjoyed at catered events, and each eatery's private banquet room can accommodate parties, wedding receptions, meetings, and hula-hoop marathons.

In a former warehouse in Fort Worth, a flight of yellow steps leads through the Stockyards location's leafy archway into a lively dining room filled with vintage cowbells and tin signs. The West location in Weatherford, on the other hand, sits within Crown Valley Golf Club, where patrons dine on enchiladas, tacos, and burritos as wild golf balls cheep from their perches on the windowsills.

The crew of chefs at Lorida's Deli slices roast beef, pastrami, and turkey and bustles amid loaves of bread and fresh veggies. Chatter drifts through the dining room, and drivers rush past with party platters to bolster festivities or prove to stuffy magistrates that the three stooges can behave at dinner.

In the gently lit restaurant, a waiter in black trousers and white shirt glides between tables toward one of many private booths. When he reaches his destination, he opens his mouth to greet the waiting guests and take their order, but instead of speaking, he bursts into song. The singing waiters’ nightly performances help to fuel the happy chatter that rolls across diners at The Italian Inn as soon as they pass the red-and-white striped pole near the entryway. As a live musician sits down at a piano to join the servers in their songs, wall sconces and tabletop candles flicker. Red, blue, and green light-garlands run across the room, casting playful hues on walls covered in handwritten epigrams, love notes, and messages from cardiologists concerned by hearts full of letters.

Chefs load plates with USDA Choice beef or decorate pastas imported from small Italian towns with sauces made fresh daily or imported olive oil. In the kitchen, the crew crafts soups, dressings, and desserts anew each day, and servers scoot past to grab bottles from a cellar crowded with international red, white, and bubbling vintages.

Sushi Yoko combines a clean modernist interior with a classic array of Japanese fare. Their sushi chefs roll simple maki that showcase morsels of eel or tuna, much as plants and sculptures are showcased in the mauve and tan insets along the dining-room walls. Chefs also combine flavors into specialty rolls such as the DFW Tower roll, a medley of crabmeat, avocado, and spicy tuna. Flames lick entrees of una ju, a broiled freshwater eel in unagi sauce, or katsudon, a combination of deep-fried pork loin with veggies, eggs, and house sauce. A broad front window gives ample illumination for diners to admire chefs' artful presentation and the tiny autographs they leave on every grain of rice.