Published: August 14, 2007 02:48 pm         

Fire Oak Grill on the square

By Janis Saunders

Democrat Food Critic

Weatherford is growing by leaps and bounds and now there is new activity on the square. To be exact, 114 Austin Ave. is now the home of Fire Oak Grill.

The building is vintage Weatherford architecture and I always enjoy seeing these old buildings brought back to life. Britton Schweitzer moved back to Weatherford three years ago and looked for a location suitable for the type of restaurant he had in mind. He has more than 20 years experience working in fine restaurants in Fort Worth, but was looking for something different. He found it and it is elegantly decorated. He says he can serve around 100 hungry customers.

Jim and I ate lunch there this last Monday. We were joined by our grandson, Steven, who likes to eat like many teenagers his age. I hoped we would be able to afford filling him up. I was ready to leave the house at 11 a.m., but ended up waiting on Jim and Steven to get ready. So much for women taking longer than men in these matters. We got there at 1 p.m. See what I mean!

Fire Oak Grill was still crowded when we got there and we had a short wait for a table to be cleared. Our server, Tanya, seated us, brought us water and asked for our drink orders quickly. It took us a while to look over the menu and make up our minds.

The menu didn’t have chicken fried steak, which seems to be an old standby in most of the restaurants in Weatherford. But, hence the name, “Fire Oak Grill.” Everything is grilled and that is a good thing, as Martha Stewart would say.

I ordered the steak salad, Jim the Angus burger and Steven wanted to try the chicken quesadillas.

Jim’s burger was a full half pound hunk of beef cooked medium as he indicated. He said the bun tasted homemade, but wasn’t as he found out later. He said it was an excellent burger and he managed to eat the whole thing.

Steven liked the chicken and cheese quesadilla. It came with a small container of guacamole dressing, which he refuses to eat whether it is homemade or at a restaurant. Jim and I said that was OK by us. We halved it. He put some on his burger and I put some on my salad.

The salad was full of fresh greens, tender steak aplenty, and the apple balsamic dressing was delicious. It had just enough bite to make the salad interesting.

I noticed the other diners were busy eating and I didn’t see any food sent back, so evidently everyone enjoyed their food.

I talked to Britton about the Friday and Saturday night business. He said they were full both nights this past weekend. He hopes as other businesses open on the square, busy weekend nights will become the norm.

We looked at the desserts listed and they all sounded yummy. There was key lime pie, peach foster and

bourbon pecan pie. Since It’s summer and the peaches were fresh Parker County ones, we decided to try the peach foster. We ordered it with two spoons and I can tell you, it was worth fighting over. While I was talking to Britton, Jim was busy eating dessert. He left me three small peach pieces and a dab of ice cream. The caramel sauce was lovely, but the next time I’ll order my own.

The restaurant is clean, well decorated and the lunch prices may be a little more than you are used to, but the food was all top notch. The evening menu has steaks, seafood and chicken. The menu will change seasonally to take advantage of the fresh produce available. The food was cooked to perfection under the direction of Chef Eric who came to Weatherford from the Lonesome Dove Restaurant in the Stockyards area of Fort Worth.

Britton and his wife, Jamie, will soon have reason to celebrate another new phase in their lives. They are expecting a child in September. I told him he was in for some wild and wonderful times.

Fire Oak Grill is open Monday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and they reopen Friday and Saturday at 5 p.m. and stay open until 10 p.m. If you want wine with your meal, you are welcome to bring it in. In the evening, wine seems to go well with a good steak or seafood dish.

Fire Oak Grill is ready to serve you good food with good service. The phone number is (817) 598-0400.

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Janis Saunders may be reached at jks4417@aol.com. Columns submitted to The Weatherford Democrat by guest writers reflect the opinions of the writer and in no way reflect the beliefs or opinions of The Weatherford Democrat.

     

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