Eats at Tierra Verde Golf Club in Arlington, Texas is more than a cut above

ARLINGTON, Texas – Sometimes the nicest surprises in golf come after the round, not during it. Tierra Verde Golf Club in Arlington, Texas, is an excellent municipal golf course, but the dining experience in the clubhouse grill takes it to a whole new level.

Tuesday, after our morning round, we were simply stunned by lunch. I was just about to order a cheeseburger when I decided to flip over the menu, and there on the other side was an extensive listing of tapas. So we decided to order a variety of items – like Piquillos rellenos, which is roasted peppers stuffed with goat cheese, chicken empanadas and Costillas de Cordero (little lamb chops) – for the whole table. They didn’t last long.

“A lot of people don’t even know we’re here,” said Luigi Cinelli, chef at Tierra Verde’s Lantana Grille. “Most golfers just want their hot dogs and hamburgers.”

Yep, golfers can be simple folk, but some of us do like a change of pace.

Cinelli, who is originally from Venezuela, trained at the California branch of the Culinary Institute of America. He came to Tierra Verde from the Worthington Hotel in Ft. Worth and has put together one of the most creative golf course restaurant menus I’ve ever seen.

The tapas selection changes periodically, and the dinner menu is extensive with entrées such as adobo pork tenderloin, grilled lamb chops and sauteed snapper. Additionally, the Ventana Grille stages wine pairing events a couple of times a month as well as other special programs, like the Party on the Patio, which features live entertainment.

Of course if you really want a hamburger after your round, you can get that, too, and you can bet it’ll be one of the best burgers in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. But on this day, that sounded a little too boring.