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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.<\/p>\n
Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n
If you love when a server at a Tex-Mex joint brings free chips and salsa, well, you\u2019re in for a royal delight at The Chumley House in Fort Worth<\/a>. The British-inspired restaurant is as excellent as it is out of place, plunked near the museums in Cowtown.<\/p>\n Close your eyes and pretend you\u2019re a few steps from Kensington Palace in London. Here comes the free part: Guests start with a warm cup of tea alongside a buttery jalape\u00f1o scone that\u2019ll turn Texans off of cornbread forever.\u00a0<\/p>\n I\u2019d like the scone recipe for Thanksgiving, please. And, actually, anyone feeling wistful about the newly closed Zodiac at downtown Dallas’ Neiman Marcus<\/a> might find comfort in Chumley’s tea-and-scones starter, a\u00a0fine stand-in for the Zodiac’s\u00a0consomm\u00e9 and popovers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Beef tartare at The Chumley House in Fort Worth is dressed with Calabrian chili.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News The Smoke Show cocktail at The Chumley House in Fort Worth, Monday, Sept. 14, 2026.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News The wine room at The Chumley House makes the restaurant feel luxurious.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News Butter Chicken Pie at The Chumley House in Fort Worth features a flaky crust holding rich bites of butter chicken marinated in\u00a0turmeric and garam masala and swimming in a creamy, tomato-based sauce.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n Next it\u2019s 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\u00a0saag paneer side ($14) explore flavors from India. The menu brings it back to classic British with beef Wellington ($115), pricey but popular.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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\u2019t miss the Staffordshire Spaniels<\/a>, porcelain dog statues positioned throughout the restaurant offering blank stares. One gazed at me in the restroom.\u00a0<\/p>\n The\u00a0Chumley House is a surprising addition in Fort Worth, but it works.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n To whom do we owe the pleasure of this surprisingly personable British restaurant? Chumley\u2019s 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\u2019s fascinating Duro Hospitality chose to take this gutsy swing.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n It\u2019s working. Chumley is Fort Worth\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n Chumley opened in November 2024<\/a>, too late to be considered for the inaugural Michelin Texas Guide. A year later, Michelin inspectors whiffed, leaving the Fort Worth restaurant off entirely<\/a>, not even selecting it as a Recommended restaurant. Meanwhile, Duro partner Chas Martin was honored for his \u201cexceptional cocktails\u201d at sibling restaurant Mister Charles in 2025. Mister Charles was named on the Recommended list, as was El Carlos Elegante.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Chumley House is better than all of its sibling restaurants, and it\u2019s gotten the least amount of shine.\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s worth a drive to Fort Worth no matter where you\u2019re coming from.<\/p>\n One restaurant in Fort Worth that could threaten Chumley\u2019s throne is Almac\u00e9n El Gallo, the contemporary Mexican restaurant<\/a> from chef Rodrigo Rivera-R\u00edo and former Don Artemio<\/a> general manager Adri\u00e1n Burciaga. It opened in summer 2026. An early visit for ceviche, soft-shell crab tacos and slow-cooked short rib was promising.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Diners looking for a fine meal in Fort Worth already have options with classic French restaurant Saint-Emilion; Taylor Sheridan\u2019s redone Cattlemen\u2019s Steakhouse<\/a>; New American eatery Grace; supremely Texas spot Lonesome Dove<\/a>; hotel eatery Bricks and Horses<\/a> \u2014 and more.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Find comfort in The Chumley House’s artichoke and caramelized onion dip with\u00a0malt vinegar chips.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n Proper ladies and gentlemen probably wouldn\u2019t 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\u2019t.) 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\u2019s house. My friends joined in.<\/p>\n Tenderloin stroganoff with ricotta dumplings and wild mushrooms is a star on the “pies and pasta” section of The Chumley House’s menu.<\/p>\n Smiley N. Pool\/The Dallas Morning News<\/p>\n I\u2019d like to believe the owners wouldn\u2019t mind me making myself at home. This restaurant is already personal to them, as co-founder Martin named The\u00a0Chumley House after his dog. Chumley was a floofy Bouvier des Flandres who died not long before the restaurant was built.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Forget about the lords and ladies. This is Chumley\u2019s house, a very good Fort Worth restaurant named after a very good boy. A prince, you could say.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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