The June Hit List: Sfuzzi, Akira Back, District, and More

Sfuzzi, the iconic 1980s-era pizza and pasta bar, is back (and better than ever, baby). After disappearing from Uptown in the late-aughts (and briefly resurfacing with different owners on Cedar Springs in 2015), the new iteration shines in all the right places. With the same leather banquettes from its original McKinney Avenue location, plus a spacious patio, the restaurant is at once comfy and nostalgic — and thoroughly modern. The menu spans wood-fired pizzas (yes, the chicken Alfredo’s still here!) to spicy pastas (vodka rigatoni) and traditional-ish Italian entrees (pork chop piccata). Brunch on the weekends will alternately leave you swooning and planning a repeat visit, mid-bite.

No joke: A Michelin Star-winning chef has landed in The Colony. Akira Back, former professional snowboarder and current world-renowned chef, whose banner waves mightily in Paris, Vegas, Dubai, Beverly Hills, and more, has taken up residence in Grandscape, the massive retail and entertainment complex better known for its epic ferris wheel and a Nebraska Furniture Mart. But at his eponymous new restaurant, Back brings assured elegance to the unlikely venue. With nearly 170 seats indoors and on the patio, guests dine on straight-up sushi fusion (tuna pizza, yellowtail tartare) and hot plates (grilled octopus with potato foam), while the adventurous may gravitate to the Nazo 9 “mystery box”: You don’t know what’s in it until it’s unveiled tableside — for $65 per person.

Call 945-224-0505 for reservations.

How can you not embrace this California transplant? Wine and whiskey go hand-in-hand here with a bistro-like menu that offers an emphasis is on shareable plates — convivial, if perhaps semi-awkward for a business lunch. No matter: Sweet potato pakoras, fontina and spinach arancini, and Korean barbecue pork belly are all great places to start, and the pizzas are persuasive too.

This year-old-plus restaurant from Sarah Castillo (Taco Heads, Sidesaddle Saloon) is quickly becoming a Southside staple due to its charm, plus a small-yet-winsome menu that spans potato taquitos and birria tacos to “larger-format” plates such as the house specialty rotisserie chicken and spicy, crispy duck carnitas. The half-chicken, smoky and a perfect foil to pickled veggies, creamy pinto beans, and straight-off-the-press corn tortillas, is a shareable sensation. As is the crispy octopus — not something any Fort Worthian would ever venture would be served in these parts. The chewy, charred tentacles share space with potato slivers and chorizo all in one heavenly bowl. The brunch menu shows similar vim and vigor, with carafes of mimosas and baskets of tamales good choices. A coveted table on the rooftop patio is tops, so reservations are a good idea. 

Call 682-255-5425  for reservations.

(Top) Chef Tiffany Derry’s latest foray is a welcome sight in Farmers Branch, a quiet enclave that seems to leave the big openings to other ‘burbs. But Derry’s “homage to modern Southern cooking” is making noise for its vibrant menu that spans fried shrimp and grits to My Mother’s Gumbo, not to mention jerk lamb chops paired with black-eyed peas. The family-style duck fat fried chicken is a nod to Derry’s other venture, Roots Chicken Shak, and it proves the chef can do wonders with minimal ingredients — kinda like on that TV show on which she earned kudos. 

Call 214-346-4441 for reservations.

This shiny-new entry into Fort Worth’s dining scene fills a void for upscale Mexican food. Inspired by northeast Mexico’s traditional cuisine, chef Juan Ramon Cardenas uses innovative culinary techniques to whimsical, gustatory delight. The nopalitos fritos para tacos (fried cactus tacos) and the cazuela de chorizo (homemade chorizo) are standouts, while the brunch menu beckons with familiar-yet-updated classics. The chilaquiles rojos con burrata marries a spicy slow-cooked tomato sauce, cured Mexican cactus, and avocado with brilliant burrata cheese to outrageous effect. Add a seasoned general manager in Adrian Burciaga, who once oversaw Café Modern (across the street at The Modern), and you know you’re in good hands here.

Call 817-470-1439 for reservations.

Sister is the younger sister restaurant to Design District-heavy The Charles. But this baby is hardly naive, with an Italian- and Mediterranean-inspired menu that aims to “seduce the senses and be a little edgy while still approachable,” all in a location that once housed the legendary The Grape. Yet this offering from Duro Hospitality hopes to vibe more as neighborhood eatery than fine-dining establishment. From the octopus panzanella salad (!) to the pepperoni mussels to possibly the only crispy branzino in North Texas that’s paired with red tabbouleh, the kitchen is reimagining vibrant flavors in an already-delicious cuisine.

The Arlington barbecue heavy-hitter has finally expanded — to Denton County — with this opening in Little Elm. Devotees love Hurtado’s brand of “Mexicue,” which fuses traditional Mexican favorites with smoked meats to great success. Owner Brandon Hurtado has brought all of the favorites to the banks of Lewisville Lake, plus 100 more seats — a marked improvement over the 30 in Arlington. Expect the ever-popular (and rightly so) brisket birria tacos plus smoked brisket and peppery beef ribs. A lively patio plus the requisite cold beverages add to the party scene here; or, you can bring the celebration home with the restaurant’s family-style platters to go.

Find more information here.

With its menu of insatiably healthy eats, the chain has finally arrived in Fort Worth, and just about time for a city with a surprising dearth of such eateries. Not a surprise: The new University Park Village location is packed no matter the time of day. With an every-vegetable-but-the-kitchen-sink mentality, the menu builds from avocado toast starters to salads that reimagine flavor profiles. For instance, the Mother Earth bowl inspires, with its roasted sweet potatoes, ancient grains, arugula, mushrooms and onions, and broccoli pesto. Meanwhile, the special menu addendums like the taco salad ratchets up the antioxidant quotients thanks to cabbage, chickpea chorizo, and black beans. You’ll hardly miss the puffy tortilla bowl.

Find more information here.

It’s almost as if this exciting new entry to the Magnolia Avenue food scene aims to take a little of this, a little of that from the cuisines from every notable place along the iconic strip of eateries in which it’s situated. It all works out to an effortless Southern take on global fare, with addictive-sounding items overriding virtually every quadrant of the menu. There’s pork collar with a scallop ravioli, red fish court bouillon with smoked mussels and white beans, and even a house bread platter that includes Japanese milk rolls! Eggplant dumplings and a whole fish served in a banana leaf all make one thing for sure: Beast & Co is a monster new addition to the southside.

Call 817-945-1461 for reservations.