A new Italian steakhouse has opened in Old Town Burleson where filets are seared tableside on heated lava rocks, and the kitchen is led by a chef who once beat Bobby Flay on national television. On the Rocks Italian Bistro is now serving reservation-only dinners at 135 W. Ellison St., with meals starting at $21 and a steak-and-lobster plate running $100.
The restaurant's culinary director is Kent Rathbun, who won an episode of Food Network's Iron Chef America against Bobby Flay, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. Rathbun teamed up with his brother, chef Kevin Rathbun, to win the elk-themed, secret-ingredient battle when it aired in February 2008, according to his Wikipedia profile. Rathbun also founded Abacus, the Dallas fine-dining restaurant that opened in Knox-Henderson in 1999 and earned Four-Star ratings before closing permanently in May 2019 after 20 years, per CultureMap Dallas. Abacus was later inducted into Nation's Restaurant News' Fine Dining Hall of Fame, the Star-Telegram reports.
Rathbun's resume extends well beyond the restaurant world. He earned four James Beard Foundation nominations for Best Chef: Southwest between 1999 and 2004, according to his own website, and he served as a featured chef for President George W. Bush's 2001 Inaugural Ball, also catering events for figures including Queen Elizabeth II, per the same source.
A 40-Year Track Record Behind the New Menu
On the Rocks is owned by Jason Benouared and the owners of La Bistro, the Hurst restaurant Benouared took over roughly a decade ago. La Bistro itself opened in 1984, and it was there that Benouared first tested tableside cooking on hot lava rock, adding a filet prepared that way to the menu before bringing the concept to Burleson, the report notes. Benouared made the deal for the empty former Razzoo's storefront within three hours of seeing the space, according to the Star-Telegram.
The restaurant's signature dish, filet on the rocks, is cooked at the table over a heated lava stone, with the meat offerings inspired by the porterhouse steak served in Florence. Benouared collaborated with Fort Worth Cattle Company, which sources hand-selected, American-raised beef from regional Texas ranches, per Fort Worth Cattle Co. On the Rocks also uses dry-aging refrigerators in-house, the Star-Telegram reports.
Benouared told the Star-Telegram that customers may expect the name to conjure up bourbon on the rocks, but the restaurant's focus is on cooking high-quality meat tableside. He also said the menu covers the full spectrum of dining prices, from the $21 starting point up to the $100 steak-and-lobster plate.
What's on the Table Now, and What's Coming
Beyond the tableside steaks, the menu currently includes lobster bisque, chicken marsala, chicken parm, eggplant parm, veal parm, veal marsala, and veal la bistro. One standout dish, the lobster arancini cappuccino, combines lobster bisque with an arancini filled with lobster, chive caviar cream, basil olive oil, and scallions, and it has already won the BTX Best Fest award, per the Star-Telegram. Diners can also order tableside pasta alla ruota, tossed in a flaming cheese wheel.
The restaurant is currently in a soft-launch phase, with the full dinner menu expected to be available by September 15 and more dishes rolling out over the following two weeks. Daily lunch service and Saturday and Sunday brunch are both planned to launch the week of October 1, according to the report.
Old Town Burleson's Redevelopment Push
The restaurant's location inside Ellison on the Plaza, a mixed-use redevelopment built by BTX Old Town, LLC, ties directly into Burleson's long-running downtown revitalization effort. The City of Burleson says the project followed a city RFP process aimed at redeveloping former shopping center space. It sits within the city's Old Town Tax Increment Financing Zone No. 2, created in 2005 to encourage downtown revitalization, which has seen its taxable property value climb from $58 million in 2006 to more than $198 million, according to the city.
Just outside the restaurant sits Mayor Vera Calvin Plaza, which reopened in June 2020 after a multi-million-dollar renovation that incorporated historic 20th-century interurban trolley cars into a central gathering space designed as the city's living room, per the city's own account. The same Ellison Street building also houses Twisted Sisters Tap House, a craft beer venue that expanded into the site in March 2024, adding to a growing cluster of dining and drink options in the block.
