How did we pick these?
Three sources carried this list. The first is the Forney Chamber of Commerce member directory, which publishes 41 restaurant and food listings with addresses and phone numbers, and which is the only complete enumeration of eating places in this town that exists anywhere. The second is each restaurant's own website: six of the nine above have one, and every address, phone number and set of hours attributed to those six came off their own pages rather than a directory. The third is InForney, the local news site, whose Forney Foodie column by Jennifer Jacobs reviews restaurants here with numbered scores, which is a rarer thing in a town of this size than it should be.
We also used the Forney Economic Development Corporation's Business of the Month announcements, because for a small town they function as proof a business was still trading in a given month. That is how we confirmed Eno's in March 2026 and Forney Brewing in September 2025.
The cuts were mostly chains. The chamber directory is thick with them: Torchy's, Chick-fil-A, Outback, Raising Cane's, Whataburger, Layne's, Golden Chick, Dillas, Charley's, Starbucks, Crumbl and Nothing Bundt Cakes are all members and none of them tells you anything about Forney. Soulman's Bar-B-Que has been a Texas company since 1974 and the Forney branch is fine, but it is a branch. Cristina's is a Dallas area Tex-Mex chain. We left the dedicated brunch rooms out because Forney has enough of them to deserve their own list. We left the Victorian Tea Room off because we could not find anything it publishes itself. No business here is a client of ours, and nothing in our client file matched Forney and restaurants, so this is a straight editorial list.
One thing worth saying plainly: our number one pick is not a Forney original. Eno's opened in Oak Cliff's Bishop Arts District in 2008 and Forney is its second location. We ranked it first anyway, because it is the best food in town and it put a real kitchen into a historic downtown building rather than a pad site. Doe Belly's at number two is the homegrown pick, in Forney since 2009.
What should you know before you go?
Forney's food has reorganised itself around two places in the last decade: the historic downtown blocks on Bois d'Arc and Main, and the US 80 corridor. Downtown is where the independents are and where a visit is worth planning. US 80 is where you stop when you are driving. The newer retail on FM 548, Marketplace Boulevard and Innovation Boulevard is a third zone and mostly newer arrivals.
The thing that will catch you out is hours. Four of the nine close two days a week, and three of them close by 7pm or 9pm. Forney is not a late town.
| Restaurant | Area | Opens earliest | Closed days |
| Alfredo's Steak House | US 80 | 7am Monday to Saturday | None |
| Southern Social Eatery | Innovation Blvd | 9am | None |
| Eno's Pizza Tavern | Downtown | 11am | Monday |
| Madres Cocina | Pinson Rd | 11am | Sunday |
| Stash's Table & Fable | Downtown | 11am, closes 7pm | Sunday to Tuesday |
| Doe Belly's | W Broad St | 11am | Monday and Tuesday |
| Forney Brewing Company | Downtown | 4pm, 11.30am Saturday | Monday and Tuesday |
Parking downtown is on street and free, and the Bois d'Arc blocks put Eno's and Stash's directly across from each other, so you can look at both menus before committing. If you are coming from Dallas, Forney is about 20 miles east on US 80, which is 25 minutes without traffic and closer to 45 at rush hour.
What about Terrell and Rockwall?
Worth knowing, because Forney sits between them. Terrell is 12 miles further east on US 80 and has its own restaurant scene, including a second Rio Lerma that is not connected to the Forney one in any way we could confirm, so check the address before you drive. Rockwall is 15 miles north and is the bigger night out, with a lakefront and a deeper bench. Canton and First Monday Trade Days are about 40 miles east if you are making a day of it.
What should you do next?
Park downtown on a Saturday evening. Start with a beer at Forney Brewing on East Main, walk four minutes to Bois d'Arc, and eat at either Eno's or Stash's depending on whether you want a pizza or the burger. That is the best two hours available in Forney and it costs almost nothing in driving.
If you are eating one meal here and want it to be the local one, go to Doe Belly's on West Broad for catfish, Wednesday through Saturday. For more of this corner of Texas, our guide to the best restaurants in Rockwall covers the bigger lake town 15 miles north, and the best places to eat in Canton covers the First Monday weekend. Everything we have written about this city lives on the Forney guides hub, and the restaurants section collects every town we have ranked. If you are planning the drive out from the city, see the best day trips from Dallas.