{"id":425653,"date":"2026-09-04T02:26:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T02:26:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/425653\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T02:26:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T02:26:18","slug":"on-the-rocks-steakhouse-from-la-bistro-owners-soft-opens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/425653\/","title":{"rendered":"On The Rocks steakhouse from La Bistro owners soft opens"},"content":{"rendered":"

While On The Rocks<\/a> does serve whiskey on the rocks, a mignon menu dish is actually the muse behind the moniker.<\/p>\n

The new Italian steakhouse<\/a> in Burleson comes from the owners of La Bistro<\/a> in Hurst and Chef Kent Rathbun, an \u201cIron Chef America\u201d winner<\/a>. La Bistro was one of the first fine dining restaurants in North Tarrant County when it opened in 1984.<\/p>\n

Owner Jason Benouared added a filet that cooks tabletop on a hot lava rock stone to La Bistro\u2019s menu when he took over 10 years ago. Since then, a restaurant centered around the \u201cOn The Rocks\u201d menu item has stuck in his brain.<\/p>\n

\"On On the Rocks Italian steakhouse in Burleson is centered around the concept of Filet \u201cOn the Rocks\u201d which is cooked at the table over a heated lava stone. Justin Runyon Courtesy photo by Jason Benouared <\/p>\n

\u201cI think everybody thinks they\u2019re coming for bourbon on the rocks,\u201d he said. \u201cBut this is about cooking really, really, really good meat at the table. Come out and have an experience \u2014 not only a great meal, but a good experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, when a La Bistro regular told him about an empty Razzoo\u2019s storefront<\/a> in Old Town Burleson, a deal was made within three hours of seeing the space.<\/p>\n

\"Culinary Culinary director Kent Rathbun and On The Rocks owner Jason Benouared, on the right, accepting the BTX Best Fest award for their lobster arancini cappuccino, an ode to Rathbun\u2019s iconic lobster shooter served at the former Abacus restaurant in Dallas. Courtesy photo by Jason Benouared How will On the Rocks differ from La Bistro?<\/p>\n

Benouared has brought in celebrity chef Kent Rathbun from Dallas. Rathbun founded Abacus<\/a>, an eatery that was inducted into the Nation\u2019s Restaurant News Fine Dining Hall of Fame. He also beat Bobby Flay while being featured on Food Network\u2019s \u201cIron Chef America\u201d<\/a> and served as the featured chef for President George W. Bush\u2019s 2001 inauguration.<\/p>\n

\"The The lobster arancini cappuccino is a play on, On The Rock\u2019s Culinary Director Kent Rathbun\u2019s famous lobster shooter at his former Abacus restaurant in Dallas. Courtesy photo by Jason Benouared <\/p>\n

One of Rathbun\u2019s most popular Abacus creations \u2014 the lobster scallion shooter<\/a> \u2014 takes on a new life at On The Rocks.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are doing what\u2019s called a lobster arancini cappuccino,\u201d said Benouared. \u201cSo it is a little espresso shot cup filled with lobster bisque, and in the bottom is an arancini, which is like an Italian hush puppy filled with little nuggets of lobster, finished with a chive caviar cream, basil olive oil and a couple of scallions over the top.\u201d<\/p>\n

The appetizer has already a \u201cBTX Best Fest\u201d award,<\/a> even though the restaurant has not officially opened.<\/p>\n

\"42-years 42-years of hero dishes, including the eggplant parmesean, from Hurst\u2019s La Bistro have made their way over to the Benouared\u2019s family newest concept, On The Rocks Italian Steakhouse in Burleson. Courtesy photo by Jason Benouared What else is On The Rocks?<\/p>\n

For La Bistro loyalists, Benouared assured that the lobster bisque, chicken marsala, chicken parm, eggplant parm, veal parm, veal marsala, veal La Bistro and other staples have made their way to the Burleson menu.<\/p>\n

But the obvious crown jewel is the \u201cOn The Rock\u201d meat offerings, which is inspired by the way a porterhouse steak is served in Florence.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn Florence, when you go to have a Bistecca alla Fiorentina [porterhouse steak], it comes out sliced on hot stone. But think of that hot stone like a fajita plate. It\u2019s not meant to actually cook it. It\u2019s just meant to keep it warm,\u201d he explained. \u201cOur rocks are meant to cook the protein. So it\u2019s a La Bistro original, but it\u2019s not too far deviated from what you would find in Florence when you go into a steakhouse.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the meat, Benouared has collaborated with the Fort Worth Cattle Company<\/a> to source their steaks to ensure he can get the meat as fresh as possible to his dry aging refrigerators.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe [the FWCC meat supplier] shows up to the back of my restaurant with his horse trailer on the back of his truck with his horses in it, because he\u2019s on his way to the Friday night rodeo, and it has all of my beef that was just processed less than half an hour ago,\u201d said Benouared.<\/p>\n

On The Rocks restaurant will also serve another dining experience: tableside \u201cpasta alla ruota,\u201d which is pasta in a melty and flaming cheese wheel.<\/p>\n

\"Owner Owner Jason Benouared says customers at On The Rocks Italian steakhouse can find a $21 meal with fresh pasta or splurge on a $100 steak. Either way, he says it will be one of the best meals ever. Courtesy photo by Jason Benouared Another fine dining option in Burleson<\/p>\n

On The Rocks is currently in a soft-launch phase to train staff through reservation-only dinner service. Reservations can be made on the restaurant\u2019s Resy page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Benouared says that the restaurant will work on rolling out more dishes over the next two weeks so that by Sept. 15, the full dinner menu will be available to order.<\/p>\n

During the week of Oct. 1, the restaurant plans to introduce daily lunch, and brunch on Saturdays and Sundays.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can come and absolutely eat for $21 and it\u2019ll be one of the best meals you\u2019ve ever had,\u201d Benouared says. \u201cAnd on the flip side to that, you can also spend $100 on steak and lobster. And so we cover the whole spectrum, right? I did that on purpose and by design.\u201d<\/p>\n

On the Rocks Italian Bistro is located at 135 W Ellison St. in Old Town Burleson.<\/p>\n

\"Culinary Culinary Director for On The Rocks Italian steakhouse in Burleson is celebrity Chef Kent Rathbun, a Dallas restaurateur and former \u201cIron Chef America\u201d winner. Courtesy photo by Jason Benouared \"Inspired Inspired by the way porterhouse steaks are served in Florence, On The Rocks steakhouse makes its own original flair by offering steak that cooks On The Rocks (a heated lava stone) at the table experience. Justin Runyon Courtesy photo by Jason Benouared
\n Related Stories from Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Ella Gonzales<\/a><\/p>\n

Fort Worth Star-Telegram<\/p>\n

Ella Gonzales is a service journalism reporter for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. She is part of a team of local journalists who answer reader questions and write about life in North Texas. Ella mainly writes about local restaurants and where to find good deals around town.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While On The Rocks does serve whiskey on the rocks, a mignon menu dish is actually the muse…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":425654,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[150,152,151],"class_list":["post-425653","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arlington","tag-arlington","tag-arlington-headlines","tag-arlington-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=425653"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/425653\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/425654"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=425653"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=425653"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=425653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}