What’s new at Cattlemen’s, and 30 more places to celebrate Texas Chicken-Fried Steak Day

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Cattlemen’s is all new, but it’s loyal to old Texas traditions.

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

Oct. 26 is the annual celebration of chicken-fried culture in Texas, a day to enjoy the world’s best.

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 remodeled dining room with windows looking out on a still-to-come patio.

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

The chicken-fried steak is now a strip loin steak, battered, fried and topped with a “pan gravy” that hinted of chorizo.

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

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

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

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

A lunch steak platter starts at about $18, but the dinner steaks start at a $34.95 sirloin.

Too many chicken-frieds for one day

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

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

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

▪ Fred’s Texas Cafes , 7101 Camp Bowie West Blvd. and 2730 Western Center Blvd., reign supreme in the category of thick, sourdough-battered chicken-frieds.

Fred’s CFS comes four ways: with cream gravy, the “Texican” with chili and cheese, with white queso and pico or with a pepper-jack cheese poblano.

The big, fancy chicken-frieds

For big, impressive chicken-fried steaks, try:

▪ 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 basic chicken-fried steaks

For plate-lunch cafe bargains — these are some of the best of all — try:

▪ 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-frieds across Texas

On the road, try:

▪ 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.