Restaurant Review: Have Your Lake and Eat There Too

Fore

900 RR 620 S., Ste. B108, Lakewaay, 512/263-3673, http://www.lakewayfore.com
Mon.-Wed., 11am-11pm; Thu., 11am-12mid; Fri.-Sat., 11am-2am; Sun., 10am-11pm

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Photo by John Anderson

Fore

Fore offers the perfect sports bar concept for Lakeway: Take an affluent clientele that loves to play golf and tennis, open a spot close to the club, give the place a name from the game of golf, and offer flat-screen TVs tuned to golf and tennis tournaments. Build a menu that tends toward New American cuisine, but with a bone-in rib eye steak ($58) and a good burger ($9 and up). Finally, load the wine list with bottles that are widely prized among their fellow 1-percenters. Scatter several fascinating choices for aficionados alongside the trophy wines, including Belle Glos "Meiomi" Pinot Noir ($10/glass, $38/bottle) and Becker Viognier ($7/glass, $25/bottle).

Fore's menu offers a number of delicious options. I adored the jumbo bacon-wrapped jalapeño shrimp ($9) with its tangy apricot glaze and crunchy pecans. Everyone at the table fell in love with the Fore Signature Truffled Mac and Cheese ($9), combining cellentani pasta and four different cheeses topped with garlic toasted bread crumbs and broiled to crunchy perfection, but my favorite dish is the blue crab-crusted Gulf redfish ($17), which comes with citrus pork jus and a fantastic sweet-corn risotto that deserves a stand-alone spot on the menu. Unfortunately, there are a few losers, as well. The pulled-pork flatbread ($9) counts on the sauces for flavor, which renders it soggy. Our biggest disappointment was Fore's Baby Back Ribs ($13/half rack, $19.50/full). The ribs were dry, so we dipped them in the house root beer barbecue sauce that is so outrageously sweet and overwhelmed by sassafras flavor that we couldn't even taste the smoke on the ribs. These problems aside, we've generally been quite pleased here. Fore is comfortable and allows patrons to either join the rowdy golfers at the bar or enjoy an undisturbed meal in the dining room. It's like a country club with no membership fee.