A steak and seafood restaurant from North Carolina named Firebirds Wood Fired Grill has made its way to Texas.

The state’s first Firebirds opens February 14, 2022 in North Fort Worth near downtown Alliance near Keller. Much of the northeast corner of 35W and Heritage Trace Parkway is a pile of dirt right now, but HEB has purchased a parcel of land there. A Chuy’s Tex-Mex is already open next to Firebirds.

After opening, the company’s East Coast rapid operators will focus on Collin County, where a Firebirds is slated to open in Plano, near the Frisco border at State Highway 121 and Preston Road.

The company now has 55 restaurants and plans to open four more in 2022.

The restaurant looks familiar – a bit like a Houston, but with more light.

“We felt early on that the Firebirds were a real fit for the customer base here,” Stephen Loftis, vice president of marketing, says of Fort Worth. He calls the restaurant “contemporary-polished”. It’s the kind of place where steaks are served for lunch and dinner, but you can bring your kids.

The most popular dishes on the menu are the lobster and spinach queso ($14.95 all day), wood-grilled salmon ($16.95 lunch, $25.95 dinner) and a rib eye Cajun ($37.95 all day for 16 ounces).

The seven salads on the menu are generously proportioned. Seared Tuna Superfood Salad comes with a dozen pieces of sushi-grade tuna near a bed of spinach and grains dressed in a tangy avocado-lime vinaigrette.

The restaurant also sells seven burgers. The most popular is the Durango burger, an incredibly high stacked sandwich with pepper jack cheese and fried onions. It’s one of many Colorado-themed menu items: Although this restaurant started in North Carolina and is now in Texas, founder Dennis Thompson had a home in Aspen, Colorado, and named several dishes in his honor.

Southwestern au gratin potatoes, made with a smoked tomato cheese sauce, are spicy and creamy. They’re a good match for Cajun rib eye, says Fort Worth chef Sean Martin.

Martin moved to Fort Worth for work and spent most of his career with the Firebirds. He started working for the company as a dishwasher when he was 18. He became sous-chef at this Delaware restaurant, then was promoted to executive chef at two Firebirds in New Jersey, then two more in Pennsylvania. He is just getting to know Fort Worth alongside general manager Michy Cruz, a native of Virginia.

And are these foreigners worried about moving to beef-loving Texas?

No, says Loftis. “We’re just going to bring our A-game,” he says.

Firebirds Wood Fired Grill is located at 2900 Amador Drive, Fort Worth. The second Firebirds in Texas is scheduled to open in late 2022 at 5430 State Highway 121, Plano.

For more food news, follow Sarah Blaskovich on Twitter at @sblaskovich.

If your criteria for restaurants in Florida includes things like fresh seafood, a laid back atmosphere, friendly locals, etc., then this is the place for you. Lightsey’s Seafood Restaurant in Florida offers the ability to have the fish you caught that day prepared exactly to your liking in minutes. Sounds too good to be true? Well, it’s not.

If you want more restaurants in Florida, be sure to click here and sign up for our weekly restaurant newsletter. Every Thursday, a new restaurant to try in the Sunshine State will be delivered directly to your email. Yum!

In these uncertain times, please keep safety in mind and consider adding destinations to your bucket list at a later date.

Have you ever dined at Lightsey’s Seafood Restaurant in Florida? Share with us your experience in the comments section! Or if you’re looking for more information about this seafood spot, including current menu items and option times, check out the Facebook page.

Eggs Up Grill opened its doors this week in Gastonia.

The South Carolina-based chain opened Monday, January 17 at 2609 S. New Hope Road, in the Food Lion mall at the corner of Redbud Drive and South New Hope Road.

The 4,000 square foot space housed the former Round Bistro, which closed in 2018.

Eggs Up Grill in Gastonia will be open from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., seven days a week. The restaurant serves breakfast, brunch, and lunch.

This is the first Eggs Up Grill for Gaston County and for Keith Moore and his wife Soumitra. For what it’s worth, Keith Moore was having breakfast at the restaurant on Tuesday morning.

“What drew my wife and I to Eggs Up Grill was how family oriented it is. It’s a place where the family can gather and enjoy breakfast classics,” Moore said in a statement released by the company. “The concept of breakfast and lunch, as well as its opening hours, are very convincing. Also, the brand is community-centric and that’s important to us.

Eggs Up Grill menu items include eggs, hash browns, oatmeal, pancakes, waffles, French toast, sandwiches, burgers, wraps, and salads. Eggs Up Grill also serves regular coffee and specialty coffee drinks, as well as mimosas.

The restaurant has enough space for 116 people. The restaurant also has a “community room”, separate from the usual dining room, as well as an outdoor patio that can accommodate up to 24 people.

The dining room has both tables, a bar area and benches.

Moore has worked in the restaurant industry for 15 years, holding various leadership positions within IHOP. Moore has managed 22 IHOP restaurants along the East Coast in one form or another – including IHOP on Cox Road, which the franchisee closed in April 2020. A new franchisee now operates the Gastonia IHOP.

The Moores are interested in opening a new restaurant in Gastonia and believe there is great potential for the future.

“Eggs Up Grill’s values ​​along with our return to business in Gastonia at this great location make this a great opportunity,” Moore said.

The Moores have lived in Gastonia for 10 years, though they’ve moved back to town from Spartanburg, South Carolina

The Gastonia restaurant will employ a total of 28 people and is actively recruiting. Interested people can apply at eggupgrill.com or visit the restaurant and ask for the duty manager.

As the Year of the Tiger approaches on the Chinese lunar calendar, Jade Dynasty Seafood Restaurant has created an extensive Chinese New Year menu that local diners can gather around the table to welcome the New Year.

Jade Dynasty Seafood Restaurant continues to impress loyal customers with the addition of new menu items, many of which are influenced by cuisine from China and Hong Kong. The evolving menu keeps customers coming back to see what to expect, as the creativity at the heart of the house and exceptional customer service “amaze” diners with every visit.

Roasted Garlic Golden Chicken

Conveniently located on the Hookipa Terrace on the top floor of the Ala Moana Center, Jade Dynasty offers an award-winning dining experience in a welcoming atmosphere with dark wood accents and intricately crafted chandeliers. The family-run restaurant seats up to 300 people, and diners are encouraged to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries and special events in the main dining room or in one of the seven private dining rooms.

Ave Kwok, Managing Partner of Jade Dynasty Seafood Restaurant, explains that, for the special Chinese New Year menu ($ 498 for a table of 10, excluding taxes and tips), “We chose these dishes because they bring good luck to our guests for the Year of the Tiger! “

Lobster with Ginger & Onion on a bed of noodles

The Celebration Menu is available now through February 16, and the Jade Dynasty team is requesting at least two days notice to prepare for the party. The menu begins with fried shrimp dumplings “representing prosperity in the form of ancient Chinese gold and silver currency” as well as imitation shark fin soup with seafood and bamboo mushrooms. to represent “harmony throughout the year”.

The diners are then treated with golden chicken with roasted garlic symbolizing the “Phoenix bringing you good news”, as well as fried fish with a sweet and sour sauce in addition to the lobster with ginger and onions on a bed of noodles. which mean “prosperity year after year.” and good health and spirit.

Braised pork chop in a chef’s special sauce served with buns All dishes are part of the Chinese New Year’s menu ($ 498)

Guests are then presented with braised pork ribs in a chef’s special sauce served with buns to lead to ‘making it every step of the way’. A Chinese New Year’s meal wouldn’t be complete without Good Luck Jai, a classic vegetarian specialty designed to promote “good luck and prosperity.”

To create a “relaxed atmosphere” in 2022, diners can then dip into sticky rice with meats preserved in Lotus Wrap, and the meal ends with scoops of mochi in a sweet ginger broth as a “happy ending to the meal.” which brings good fortune. “

Chinese New Year is celebrated on February 1 of this year, and on that night at 7:00 p.m. and again on February 2 at 6:30 p.m., Jade Dynasty is to hold a traditional Chinese lion dance to celebrate the occasion in style.

“For Chinese New Year, fish and chicken are a must, as well as mochi balls,” Kwok says. “We serve this menu in a family style so that everyone can share different items and really enjoy their time and celebrate together. “

Jade Dynasty Seafood Restaurant is also well known for its range of nearly 60 varieties of dim sum starting at just $ 2.95 which are served daily from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

With the idea that there are a lot of other fish in the sea (and a lot of Mexican martinis), an Austin Tex-Mex institution is moving into a popular brunch spot with a new concept that’s sure to be a hit. ‘hook seafood lovers.

Restaurant group Trudy’s – known for its range of enchiladas, queso, tacos, fajitas and firm cocktails – will open its new concept, Trudy’s Del Mar, in the space that previously housed South Congress Cafe, the elevated restaurant that opened its doors. doors in 2003 to much praise.

Trudy’s Del Mar will open at the revitalized location at 1600 S. Congress Ave. on Wednesday, December 29.

The Trudy’s Group, which has historically owned and operated the South Congress Cafe, recently closed the restaurant to redevelop the space in preparation for the opening of Trudy’s Del Mar, Trudy’s CEO Dan Smith noting that the cafe concept “badly needed a facelift”.

To this end, the company decorated the restaurant with sea-inspired design elements, including nautical textures, seashell-shaped tiles, a wavy wall mural, and mosaic tiles featuring tiny seashells and textures. of the ocean. The iconic aqua-colored steel front doors of the South Congress Cafe will remain, but so will the entrance to the new Trudy’s Del Mar patio.

Trudy’s Del Mar’s cuisine will be led by Julian Rodarte, an award-winning 30-under-30 chef who has graced the spotlight on Food Network and Travel Channel, and is the owner of famed Dallas restaurant Beto & Son.

Rodarte, who also oversees the culinary operations of Trudy’s South and North Star restaurants, has crafted a Trudy’s Del Mar menu of unique seafood offerings, inspired by traditional recipes often found on the Mexican coast.

Highlights from the menu include the Daily Catch Veracruzana, seared fish topped with Veracruz sauce; Pepper-crusted New York strip topped with Garrison Brothers rajas cream and served with roasted potatoes and sautéed vegetables; seared tuna garnished with grilled pineapple pico; turf and surf fajitas made with fajita steak, lobster, fajita peppers and onions, and served with cilantro-lime rice and beans; and a seasonal selection of crudo and ceviche. The menu also features tacos, botanas, soups, salads, queso, and guacamoles (it’s a Trudy’s restaurant, after all).

But in an effort to also deliver the ‘special qualities’ and menu items that have made the South Congress Cafe so endearing – including its excellent brunch and handcrafted cocktails – Trudy’s Del Mar will be serving up some coffee fan favorite brunch specials. , including sweet potato cakes and carrot cake French Toast, as well as menu items such as a Benton BLT breakfast, hash carnitas, migas and crab cakes. A late night menu will also be offered.

Of course, the Trudy’s brand – which has powered Austin since 1977 – is well known and universally loved for its cocktails, and the new restaurant won’t disappoint in that regard, with the bar serving delicious sips like a smoked mezcal margarita. , a home-brewed Bloody Mary, red and white wines, premium liquors, select local beers and, yes, Trudy’s legendary Mexican martinis.

“We always wanted to open up a unique Tex-Mex seafood concept and knew we had to find the perfect location to present it,” says Smith. “We thought this was the perfect place and time to bring the best of both worlds to this place, as Trudy’s Del Mar will feature Mexican inspired seafood dishes while honoring the terrific brunch and specialties South Congress Cafe classics in a lovely ambience. Bringing this new concept to life has been such an amazing undertaking for the company as we explore this culinary world of seafood with exciting new dishes that we look forward to sharing with the city of Austin.

Check out Trudy’s on social media at @trudystexmex for updates on the new restaurant.