Riscky Business

From 1866 to 1890, drovers brought their cattle up various trails through Texas. One of which was the Chisholm Trail and it brought cowboys to the railheads in Fort Worth, which was the last major stop for rest and supplies. The Red River and the unknown terrain lied ahead.

On a warm evening in May 2014, boots trot along deep red Thurber bricks, retracing portions of the same route cowboys used on their way to Abilene, Kansas. Eyes gaze and the mouth begins to water as the sun slowly fades.

Moments later, a sign appears.

 

The door creaks and feet shuffle to another entry way before walking towards a mahogany bar. Decorated by neon sign beer advertisements that promote its Texas origins, the bar is surrounded by mirrors and one's choice of liquor on one side. Behind and to the side are intimate booths and casings also made out of mahogany. If there area is too crowded, several feet on the left is an entry to what was a back room safe, which served as the Stockyards credit union, but serves hungry guests.

According to the Fort Worth Stockyards, Riskey's Steakhouse was formally Theo's Saddle Sirloin Inn. It was built in the 1920's with a hotel (Ward Hotel) upstairs and it had 17 rooms and a bathroom guests shared. Theo Yardanoff, an immigrant from Macedonia, ran the small saloon as well as cooked and served food. The stockyard workers brought big bunches of calf fries for Theo to cook for them. Whatever he had left over he would run a special on the menu with them. This was not the first place to have eaten calf fries, but it was the first place to have them on the menu. Theo married a polish woman by the name of Josephine. She then began to add more items to the menu including Kapusta soup.

After a flood in the 1940's Yardanoff did some remodeling and began to enlarge the place. According to Riscky's Steakhouse General Manager Chad Mayfield, in the 1960's they met a fellow by the name of Mr. Jelet who was the prop builder for Disney. He came, designed and built the store fronts that reside along 120 E. Exchange Ave.

People from various backgrounds including actor Kevin Sorbo, musician Zac Brown and Blake Shelton and other Billy Bob's performers have graced the steakhouse. Today, a wealth of food choices give the customer a chance to enjoy a night out at the Stockyards, including a flat iron steak with red beans, crispy garlic bread and smooth garlic mashed potatoes. (Menu)