Regal restaurant The Chumley House is serving up Fort Worth’s finest food right now. But it comes with a side of fun, like in the bright pink mezcal cocktail called Smoke Show, made here by bartender Miguel Tejada.
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If you love when a server at a Tex-Mex joint brings free chips and salsa, well, you’re in for a royal delight at The Chumley House in Fort Worth. The British-inspired restaurant is as excellent as it is out of place, plunked near the museums in Cowtown.
Close your eyes and pretend you’re a few steps from Kensington Palace in London. Here comes the free part: Guests start with a warm cup of tea alongside a buttery jalapeño scone that’ll turn Texans off of cornbread forever.
I’d like the scone recipe for Thanksgiving, please. And, actually, anyone feeling wistful about the newly closed Zodiac at downtown Dallas’ Neiman Marcus might find comfort in Chumley’s tea-and-scones starter, a fine stand-in for the Zodiac’s consommé and popovers.
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Beef tartare at The Chumley House in Fort Worth is dressed with Calabrian chili.
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The Smoke Show cocktail at The Chumley House in Fort Worth, Monday, Sept. 14, 2026.
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The wine room at The Chumley House makes the restaurant feel luxurious.
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Butter Chicken Pie at The Chumley House in Fort Worth features a flaky crust holding rich bites of butter chicken marinated in turmeric and garam masala and swimming in a creamy, tomato-based sauce.
Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News
Next it’s on to Chumley’s first bites like smoked salmon with cucumber and labneh ($24), which tastes like a bagel and lox that studied abroad at Oxford. Butter chicken pie ($38) is a comforting reminder that pot pie can be chic. It and a saag paneer side ($14) explore flavors from India. The menu brings it back to classic British with beef Wellington ($115), pricey but popular.
The restaurant across the street from the newish Crescent Hotel feels fit for lords and ladies. The design is regal, but it has some amusing elements, too. You can’t miss the Staffordshire Spaniels, porcelain dog statues positioned throughout the restaurant offering blank stares. One gazed at me in the restroom.
The Chumley House is a surprising addition in Fort Worth, but it works.
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To whom do we owe the pleasure of this surprisingly personable British restaurant? Chumley’s founders struck gold in Dallas already, serving up maximalist restaurants with The Charles, El Carlos Elegante and Mister Charles. Fort Worth is an entirely different scene, a city where barbecue and Tex-Mex reign. It’s fascinating Duro Hospitality chose to take this gutsy swing.
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It’s working. Chumley is Fort Worth’s best restaurant right now, a committed, curated adventure that feels one-of-one in North Texas, where some of our other new restaurants serve unchallenging American menus that tend to feel the same.
Chumley opened in November 2024, too late to be considered for the inaugural Michelin Texas Guide. A year later, Michelin inspectors whiffed, leaving the Fort Worth restaurant off entirely, not even selecting it as a Recommended restaurant. Meanwhile, Duro partner Chas Martin was honored for his “exceptional cocktails” at sibling restaurant Mister Charles in 2025. Mister Charles was named on the Recommended list, as was El Carlos Elegante.
The Chumley House is better than all of its sibling restaurants, and it’s gotten the least amount of shine.
It’s worth a drive to Fort Worth no matter where you’re coming from.
One restaurant in Fort Worth that could threaten Chumley’s throne is Almacén El Gallo, the contemporary Mexican restaurant from chef Rodrigo Rivera-Río and former Don Artemio general manager Adrián Burciaga. It opened in summer 2026. An early visit for ceviche, soft-shell crab tacos and slow-cooked short rib was promising.
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Diners looking for a fine meal in Fort Worth already have options with classic French restaurant Saint-Emilion; Taylor Sheridan’s redone Cattlemen’s Steakhouse; New American eatery Grace; supremely Texas spot Lonesome Dove; hotel eatery Bricks and Horses — and more.
The Chumley House rises above those. Nobody knew to ask for a restaurant selling rock shrimp bucatini and lamb tandoori in a royal dining room until Chumley rode into town. Its founders carved out their own niche in Fort Worth, and diners are using it like their own private club.
Find comfort in The Chumley House’s artichoke and caramelized onion dip with malt vinegar chips.
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Proper ladies and gentlemen probably wouldn’t eat their entree with their hands, but between us friends, I did. I started with the artichoke and caramelized onion dip served with malt and vinegar chips, a $16 appetizer and a must-get. (Add $99 of caviar if you must, but I didn’t.) I had extra chips, which I asked the server to leave on the table for the next course. Then I ordered tenderloin stroganoff with ricotta dumplings and wild mushrooms for $37. Stealing a glance over both shoulders, I grabbed a potato chip and dragged it through the stroganoff. In one satisfying bite, an elegant restaurant like Chumley started to feel more like a friend’s house. My friends joined in.
Tenderloin stroganoff with ricotta dumplings and wild mushrooms is a star on the “pies and pasta” section of The Chumley House’s menu.
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I’d like to believe the owners wouldn’t mind me making myself at home. This restaurant is already personal to them, as co-founder Martin named The Chumley House after his dog. Chumley was a floofy Bouvier des Flandres who died not long before the restaurant was built.
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Forget about the lords and ladies. This is Chumley’s house, a very good Fort Worth restaurant named after a very good boy. A prince, you could say.
The Chumley House is at 3230 Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth. Open seven days a week, dinner only. Reservations recommended.