Double-Cut Pork Chop in Arlington, TX

Book a table · Private dining · See the menu

The chop that gives the chophouse its name

A chophouse, strictly, is a place that serves chops: thick cuts of pork, lamb or veal on the bone, alongside the beef. Many steakhouses in the Dallas and Fort Worth area have dropped the chop from the menu or shrunk it to a thin cutlet. Mercury keeps a real one. The Double-Bone Pork Chop is listed in the same section as the filets and the ribeyes, priced at $59, and it is the reason the sign on the ninth floor says chophouse rather than steakhouse.

The chophouse versus steakhouse answer covers the history. What matters at the table is that this chop is treated like a steak: cooked to order, rested, and served with a garnish chosen for it rather than a scoop of applesauce.

Double-bone, double-cut: what you are getting

The menu says double-bone. Guests searching for a double-cut chop mean the same thing. A standard chop is cut between two ribs, one bone per chop. A double-cut chop takes two ribs’ worth of loin in one piece, so it is roughly twice as thick and carries two bones. The thickness is the point: a thin chop dries out before it browns, while a double-cut chop can take a hard sear and still stay pink and moist at the center.

The jam is the sauce

The chop comes with a thyme, onion and bacon jam rather than a pan sauce. It is sweet from the onions cooked down, savory from the bacon, and herbal from the thyme, and it does the job a cream sauce would do on a filet: it adds fat and salt to a lean cut. Pork loin is leaner than a ribeye, so the jam is not decoration.

Because the chop arrives with its garnish, it needs less from the enhancement list than the beef does. If you want to add anything, the Demi-Glace at $4 is the one sauce that suits it, and the Rye Whiskey Cream at $4 is the one that plays to the sweetness of the jam. Skip the Oscar Style toppings; shellfish on pork is a different dinner.

Sides that belong with pork

Three sides on the list were made for a chop. Au Gratin Potatoes at $16, which contain bacon, echo the jam. Brussels Sprouts at $17, which also contain bacon, bring the char and bitterness that pork wants next to it. Corn Risotto at $16 is the softer, sweeter option and the one to order if the table is sharing with a sea bass, since it comes with that dish anyway.

For a lighter plate, Grilled Asparagus at $18 or Broccolini at $17. Whipped Potatoes at $14 are the safe choice for a guest who wants the chop to be the only strong flavor on the table. The sides page lists everything, including the Mac-n-Cheese at $15 that children at the table tend to claim.

What to drink with it

Pork sits between white and red on a wine list, and Mercury’s list is deepest in exactly the reds that suit it. Pinot Noir is the classic match for a pork chop with a sweet-savory garnish, and the list runs from a Ken Wright Willamette at $78 upward, with wines by the glass and bottle. Ask your server which Pinot is open by the glass that night.

From the bar, the Peacekeeper blonde from Manhattan Project in Dallas is $7 on draft and is the beer for this plate. Among cocktails, the Mandarin Smash at $17 or the Strawberry Negroni at $17 both have enough fruit and bitterness to stand up to the bacon jam. The wine list page has more on pairing by cut, and the full menu is at mercurychophouse.com.

When the chop is the right order

Order it when you want something from the grill that is not beef, or when you have had the ribeye twice and want a change. It is the most reasonably priced item in the Steaks and Chops section at $59, which makes it the natural choice for a guest who wants the full chophouse dinner at the lower end of the steak prices.

It is dinner only; the weekday lunch menu does not carry the chop. Rack of lamb, the other chop guests ask about, is a seasonal feature rather than a permanent listing, and the rack of lamb page explains how to check whether it is on. When it is not, the pork chop is the plate that fills the same place at the table.