What’s New at Cattlemen’s and 30 More Places to Celebrate Texas Chicken-Fried Steak Day?

Cattlemen’s is brand new but true to old Texas traditions.

A sunny dining room is now open in the 1947 Stockyards anchor building. And it’s just in time for Texas Chicken Fried Steak Day.

October 26th is Texas’ annual celebration of chicken culture, a day to enjoy the best in the world.

In Fort Worth we don’t need a special day.

So a recent Cattlemen’s lunch included the new owners’ updated CFS, now in a converted dining room with windows overlooking a yet-to-be-built patio.

Cattlemen’s is now owned by investors from television producer Taylor Sheridan’s “Yellowstone,” so the menu has undergone some abrupt changes. But all steaks come from Sheridan’s Four Sixes Ranch in northwest Texas.

The chicken fried steak is now a strip sirloin steak, breaded, fried and topped with a “pan sauce” with a hint of chorizo.

It was silky soft and tender, although the steak required more careful trimming.

It’s $18.95 for lunch, $21.95 for dinner, with Cattlemen’s classic baked potato and the three-shell carrier with bacon bits, cheese and chives.

Cattlemen’s lunch menu also includes fried chicken, fried catfish, burger platters and salads, all for about $14 to $18.

Don’t miss the steakhouse onion rings, veal fries or potato soup, a Stockyards tradition.

A lunch steak platter starts at about $18, but dinner steaks are $34.95.

Too many chicken patties for one day

Here are a few more chicken-fried steaks to consider if you want to make a week of them:

▪ Mac’s Bar & Grill, 6077 Interstate 20 West, Arlington, and Mac’s on Main, 909 S. Main St., Grapevine, were often late author and connoisseur Dan Jenkins’ favorite chicken-fried steaks.

Mac’s CFS is lightly breaded and tender, a Texas classic from the restaurant’s original roots in Midland.

▪ Fred’s Texas Cafes, 7101 Camp Bowie West Blvd. and 2730 Western Center Blvd. are the frontrunners in the category of thick, sourdough-breaded chicken patties.

Fred’s CFS is available in four ways: with cream sauce, as a “Texican” with chili and cheese, with white queso and pico or with pepper jack cheese poblano.

The big, fancy chicken fries

For big, impressive chicken-fried steaks, try the following:

▪ Babe’s Chicken Dinner House in Arlington, Burleson, North Richland Hills and seven other regional locations;

▪ Lonesome Dove Western Bistro, 2406 N. Main St.;

▪ Lucile’s, 4700 Camp Bowie Blvd.;

▪ or Reata, 530 Throckmorton St.

Great easy chicken steaks

For cafe lunch bargains – some of the best around – try these:

▪ Bluebonnet Cafe, 2223-A Haltom Road;

▪ Jesus BBQ, 810 S. Main St.;

▪ Old Neighborhood Grill, 1633 Park Place Ave.;

▪ Our Place Restaurant, 950 N. Burleson Blvd.;

▪ Vickery Cafe, 4120 W. Vickery Blvd.;

▪ or West Side Cafe, 7950 Camp Bowie Blvd. West.

Chicken Fries All Over Texas

On the go, try the following:

▪ Blue Bonnet Cafe, Marble Falls;

▪ Jake & Dorothy’s Cafe, Stephenville;

▪ Mama’s Daughters’ Diner, Irving and four other regional locations;

▪ Mary’s Cafe, Strawn;

▪ Norma’s Cafe, Dallas and five other regional locations;

▪ Perini Ranch Steakhouse, Buffalo Gap;

▪ or Smokestack Restaurant, Thurber.