Chophouse owner Mayor Jim Ross’ best Arlington restaurants
3 min readThe new Arlington mayor loves food, if you couldn’t tell.
Mayor Jim Ross was a restaurant customer for years, and then he turned the space upstairs from his law firm into Mercury Chophouse Arlington.
It’s a prime steakhouse. But his taste runs everywhere from pancakes to pizza to all-you-can-eat tacos.
Ross listed more than 20 of his favorite Arlington hangouts in a recent episode of the Eats Beat podcast, available on YouTube, iTunes or anywhere podcasts are served. Here are a few:
▪ Prince Lebanese Grill, 502 W. Randol Mill Road, serves chicken shawarma that helped put Arlington on the map for Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.”
“Thank God for this great family,” Ross said, naming Aziz Kobty as one of his favorite chef-owners and Prince as a pick for a casual lunch between Fort Worth and Dallas. Open for lunch and dinner daily; 817-469-1811, princelebanesegrill.com.
▪ Breakfast Brothers, 130 E. Bardin Road, is former nightclub celebrity Rickey Booker’s all-day soul food restaurant.
“I went down there, and man, I fell in love with the place,” Ross said, recommending chicken-and-red-velvet-waffles and greens.
It’s open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily; 682-323-7584, breakfastbrothers.com.
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▪ Moni’s, 1730 W. Randol Mill Road, is Ross’ pick for pizza and for the Kaba family’s hospitality.
“It’s absolutely a regular go-to place,” he said; 817-860-6664, monispastapizzamenu.com.
▪ Piccolo Mondo, 829 E. Lamar Blvd., is a traditional fine-dining Italian restaurant.
It’s Ross’ favorite place to meet for business or conversation between Dallas and Fort Worth besides his own; 817-265-9174, piccolomondo.com.
▪ Al’s Hamburgers, 1276 N. Fielder Road, has been around 65 years in three locations as a classic old-time burger and plate-lunch diner and breakfast cafe.
“It’s like going home,” Ross said; 817-275-8918, facebook.com/alshamburgerstx.
▪ Bigotes, 1821 E. Abram St., is Ross’ favorite “hole-in-the-wall” for its all-you-can-eat enchiladas and tacos.
“If I finish the first plate, I’m really doing well,” he said.
“What tremendously good food, and that big, huge glass of sweet tea,” he said; 817-274-1350.
▪ Social House, 1705 N. Collins St., is a brunch and bar hangout in Champions Park and also in Fort Worth.
“Great brunch — I’m really happy to see Social doing so well,” Ross said; 682-276-3830, socialhousearlington.com.
▪ Mercury Chophouse, 2221 E. Lamar Blvd., is Ross’ own restaurant.
And — that view.
“You can look out at Six Flags at night and see the people in the rollercoaster,” he said.
“You can see the scoreboard at Globe Life. You’re eye-level with the fireworks. When AT&T [Stadium] is lit up, it’s gorgeous.”
These days, Mercury also promotes the sea bass dinner and vegetarian options.
“We wanted to create an elegant-dining steakhouse with an atmosphere second to none,” he said; 817-381-1157, mercurychophouse.com.
Columnist Bud Kennedy is a Fort Worth guy who covered high school football at 16 and has moved on to two Super Bowls, seven political conventions and 15 Texas Legislature sessions. Since 1985, he has also written more than 2,000 “Eats Beat” columns about Texas dining, restaurants and food.
