Fort Worth Magazine - January 2026

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Rodeo

KING World Champ Rocker Steiner rides broncs, breaks records, wins buckles, and means exactly what he says.

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• Celebrate Fort Worth’s Western Heritage • Action-packed rodeo • Mattress Firm Petting Zoo • Carnival/Midway excitement • Live music at the Michelob Ultra Roadhouse • Shopping galore

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FEATURES JANUARY 2026 VOLUME 29 ISSUE 1

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No Saddle Required

Brash. Talented. Inevitable.

Rocker Steiner has risen above every bareback rider in the sport to claim a PRCA world championship — and in doing so, fulfilled what long felt like destiny. Rodeo has its next superstar.

By Brian Kendall

48 Fort Worth Goes Global

Hello, world. Welcome to Fort Worth, Texas. Where the West Begins is gearing up for a landmark year of marquee events — including the biggest of them all this summer. Giddyup!

By Shilo Urban

56 True Texans

Tarleton State University is carving out its own footprint in Fort Worth, as entrepreneurial and innovative as the pioneer whose name it bears.

By Brian Kendall

F W T X .CO M | JA N UA RY 2026

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DEPARTMENTS JANUARY 2026 VOLUME 29 ISSUE 1

28 THE FORT 16 City Dweller

The Paslay Foundation drops off a check big enough for everyone to read.

26 Calendar

The Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo, plus the Armed Forces Bowl, and Mark Twain.

28 Fort Worthian

Addie Morales packed her pipes for a return home engagement with Casa’s “West Side Story.”

32 State Lines

Post, Texas: pop. 3,594

36 Reverie

A true-crime drama in Cowtown ends how it started — in a haze.

CHOWTOWN 80 Dining

An outlook for foodies on the new year’s must-goes for 2026. Plus, three Italians open a restaurant. The outcome is righteous.

ETC. 88 Snaps 91 Give Back 96 Close

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EDITOR’S LETTER

Eternal Optimism

I

assume my colleagues are beginning to wonder if my confidence that “everything will work out and come together in the end” is starting to creep into delusional territory. While I’m admittedly a natural optimist — what our company president, Mike Waldum, likes to call an “eternal optimist” — this month’s issue no doubt put to test even my own conviction in this unwavering confidence.

It was October, on the very day that Rocker Steiner’s reality TV show, “Hell on Wheels,” premiered on the Cowboy Channel, when we floated around the idea of the charismatic and controversial bareback bronc rider being our cover subject for the January issue — a perfect feature to introduce rodeo season, we thought. So invested in making this story work, my Plan B rested somewhere between nonexistent and I’ll figure it out when the shit hits the fan. The wonderful folks at Tony Fay, who do PR for Teton Ridge — which owns the Cowboy Channel — got to work setting something up with Rocker and his team. Of course, with his busy schedule of rodeos, filming, and other obligations, Rocker could only make it work if we met him at the National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas, where we’d be able to get some behind-the-scenes coverage of one of ProRodeo’s biggest stars at its marquee event.

Issue: I’d be shadowing for a bit Friday, the pivotal Round 9 of NFR, the same day we would be going to press with January. Yes, the very issue that we’d slotted Rocker for the cover. But seeing this as too good of an opportunity to pass up, I hopped on it like regret could sort itself out later.

We’d still complete the majority of the magazine that Friday but would hold the cover and cover feature for the following Wednesday, meaning we’d have only a

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couple days in the office to put the rest of the magazine together. Photos from NFR would be provided by Teton Ridge, but managing to get a good story worthy of our cover rested on a song and a prayer — or, perhaps, my eternal optimism.

Writing this editor’s letter having just approved the cover and completed the cover story (which you can read on page 40), I’m happy to report everything worked out and came together in the end. I suppose it’s easy to be an optimist when one works with such talented and dedicated folks.

A special shoutout to Terran Fleenor of Tony Fay PR for helping me get to Vegas and ensuring I left with a story that wrote itself.

ON THE COVER: Weatherford resident Rocker Steiner, age 22 and already one of the most successful bareback bronc riders ever, took home his first PRCA World Championship in bareback riding at this year’s National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas.

CORRECTIONS? COMMENTS? CONCERNS? Send to executive editor Brian Kendall at bkendall@fwtexas.com.

NEXT MONTH

Cowboys of Color Brian Kendall

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

A Far Too Brief History of the ‘Star-Telegram’ Dating Between Fort Worth and Dallas

US

What’s your favorite event, attraction, or thing to eat at the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo? owner/publisher hal a. brown president mike waldum

If you have yet to witness the charros, escaramuza, and ballet folklorico at the Best of Mexico Celebración, are you even rodeoing?

My favorite FWSSR event has to be Bulls Night Out — a classic showdown of man versus beast and a true adrenaline rush for the crowd.

Almost as entertaining as the Fort Worth Magazine team in the celebrity goat milking contest is watching real ranch cowboys battle it out in the Best of the West Ranch Rodeo — then capping it off with a stroll through the midway, corny dog in one hand and sugar-dusted funnel cake in the other.

After working in the cattle magazine publishing industry for 10 years, I usually don’t want to freeze my a** off to see another cow. However, I will go for the shopping!

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EDITORIAL executive editor brian kendall contributing editor john henry digital editor stephen montoya contributing writers jenny davis, malcolm mayhew, michael h. price, shilo urban copy editor sharon casseday ART creative director craig sylva senior art director spray gleaves contributing ad designer jonathon won ADVERTISING advertising account supervisors gina burns-wigginton x150 marion c. knight x135 account executive tammy denapoli x141 territory manager, fort worth inc. rita hale x133 account executive patrick mccune x158 senior production manager michelle mcghee x116 MARKETING director of digital robby kyser marketing manager corinn crippin events and promotions consultant victoria albrecht CORPORATE chief financial officer charles newton operations manager kaitlyn lisenby founding publisher mark hulme CONTACT US main line 817.560.6111 subscriptions customerservice@fwtexas.com

I love spending time in the barns, taking in the wide range of livestock and the dedication of the exhibitors who care for them. It is impressive to see how these caretakers remain attentive to their animals through long days, harsh weather, and the extensive preparation and equipment required.

Best of the West Duh … Celebrity Goat Milking! Grand Champions right here for 2025!

While (don’t judge me) I’ve never been to the FWSSR, I love animals and I love to eat. I’d probably go straight for the calf fries then head over to watch the bull riding or goat milking.

DIGITAL EDITION: The virtual editions of both current and previous issues are available on our website.

Flip through the pages to read more about the great city of Fort Worth by visiting fwtx.com. ©2026 Panther City Media Group, LP. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher.

Fort Worth Magazine (ISSN 1536-8939) is published monthly by Panther City Media Group, LP, 6777 Camp Bowie Blvd., Suite 130, Fort Worth, TX 76116. Periodicals Postage Paid at Fort Worth, Texas. POSTMASTER: Send change of address notices and undeliverable copies to Panther City Media Group, 6777 Camp Bowie Blvd., Suite 130, Fort Worth, TX 76116.

Volume 29, Number 1, January 2026. Basic Subscription price: $29.95 per year. Single copy price: $4.99

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FORT WORTHIAN

Addie Morales returns to Fort Worth as Maria in Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim’s celebrated West Side Story, the role that made her a leading lady.

WHAT WE’RE WRITING ABOUT THIS MONTH:

On page 16 Marcus Paslay and his wife Emily stop by a Fort Worth elementary school to give literacy a lift. On page 26 What’s happening in January. Here’s one hint: moo. On page 32 The fascinating — and ironic — story of Post, Texas. On page 36 A Fort Worth true-crime drama full of ambiguity.

F W T X .CO M | JA N UA RY 2026

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THE FORT

by Stephen Montoya

CITY DWELLER

A Literacy Lift

A surprise $65,000 gift boosts Bookworms’ early-literacy work in high-need FWISD schools.

A

routine afternoon of phonics drills at Contreras Elementary turned into a holiday surprise one day in December when restaurateur Marcus Paslay, accompanied by his wife Emily, Santa, and an elf, delivered a $65,000 check to Literacy United to support its Bookworms after-school reading program.

The donation, presented to Literacy United executive director Kary Johnson, will fund Bookworms, which provides reading intervention for Pre-K through second-grade students who are struggling with literacy and often lack books or academic support at home.

For Paslay, who grew up with dyslexia, wrestling with words that refused to behave on the page, the moment was personal.

“I performed really poorly in school growing up, and it was always a struggle for me,” he said while sitting at a tiny student desk.

His turning point came when his parents moved him to Hill School, where he spent three years getting the kind of targeted instruction that changed the trajectory of his life.

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“We feel very pressed to help out and especially at a young age where we can get ahead of that confidence curve and reinstall confidence in learning in kids who are very bright,” Paslay added.

That urgency has shaped the Paslay Foundation’s broader mission. The couple recently committed $250,000 to Fort Worth organizations serving young learners with dyslexia, ADHD, autism, and related learning differences — a group that includes Hill School, LinkED, and Literacy United.

The goal is to support early testing, evidence-based tutoring, and individualized interventions before children fall years behind.

Johnson has spent the last two years building Bookworms into a model for early literacy support in the Fort Worth school district. Selected schools are high-need campuses where students frequently arrive without books at home or the kind of language-rich interactions that help reading take root.

Bookworms provides structured lessons grounded in the science of

reading, led by a certified teacher with advanced training in reading therapy or special education and supported by carefully trained volunteers.

“We were very intentional that we are working with children under third grade,” Johnson said. “By the time kids get to third grade, they’ve often had several years of school failure. We’re trying to prevent those problems from developing.”

The results show up not only in phonics skills and decoding scores but also in confidence — an ingredient Johnson argues is as essential as any curriculum. Parents agree.

“My daughter wasn’t reading fluently, not even small words,” said Jennifer Davila, whose second grader participates in Bookworms. Once teachers identified dyslexia and added Bookworms to her daughter’s support system, “she gets home, she grabs a book, and she will read on her own.”

Bookworms leans heavily on partnerships — from FWISD educators and university volunteers to local churches, private schools, and civic organizations. Volunteers include master’s degree-level professionals.

Saturdays bring Bookworms Parent University, where families gather for workshops and shared meals. Summers bring extended programming, because, as Johnson puts it, “time is the enemy when it comes to reading problems.”

Thoughtful expansion is the longterm goal. Johnson insists on landing in campuses where principals, teachers, and families are all committed to sustained collaboration. She has a waiting list of schools that want the program, as well as parents from across the district calling for help navigating testing and intervention options.

“So many children will be impacted,” Johnson said. “We’re serving a hundred children this year. This [check] will help a hundred children have a better trajectory.”

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THE FORT

by John Henry

CITY DWELLER

Fort Worth Footing

Ariat will invest $72.6 million and add 250 jobs in a twophase expansion of its Fort Worth regional headquarters.

A

riat International is tightening the cinch on its relationship with the city where the West begins, betting big on a future rooted in shared heritage along Fort Worth’s fast-growing frontier.

Ariat, a global leader in performance western, work, and equestrian footwear and apparel, announced in December that it will invest $72.6 million and create 250 new jobs as part of a two-phase expansion of its regional headquarters in Fort Worth.

The initiative strengthens the company’s long-term commitment to North Texas while deepening its roots in a city that mirrors Ariat’s heritage and fast-growing brand identity.

“Fort Worth and the state of Texas have been an incredible partner in Ariat’s growth, and we’re proud to expand our presence here,” said Beth Cross, co-founder and CEO of Ariat.

“Creating 250 new jobs in the community is especially meaningful to us, and we’re committed to building opportunities that strengthen both Ariat and Fort Worth for the long term.”

In Phase 1, Ariat will expand its existing regional headquarters, a

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move that includes $8.9 million in property improvements and equipment. This phase will create 150 new jobs in Fort Worth.

Phase 2 will add a new regional distribution center a few miles away — an investment of $63.7 million that will support an additional 100 jobs.

Ariat’s latest commitment marks a major milestone in Fort Worth’s momentum as one of the fastestgrowing commercial and logistics centers in the country.

“This expansion strengthens our city’s position as a hub for innovation, logistics, and world-class brands, while creating quality jobs and opportunities for our residents,” Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker said in a statement.

Ariat already operates a strong footprint in the city. The company opened its regional headquarters and 1 million-square-foot distribution center in 2020, followed by the launch of a brand shop in Mule Alley at the Fort Worth Stockyards in early 2022.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott used the opportunity to boast of the state’s fertile ground for business and investment, declaring that Ariat’s

decision “showcases the strength of our state’s economy … with a skilled and growing workforce and the best business climate in America.”

The governor’s office also announced that Ariat has been provided a grant of $1.5 million from the Texas Enterprise Fund.

Fort Worth, meanwhile, continues to draw national attention for its economic momentum. Among large U.S. cities, it ranks as the fifth-best for economic growth — driven by strong performance in education and international trade, according to a study from CoworkingCafe.

The report also placed Fort Worth ahead of Dallas, which landed at No. 15.

Ariat’s product lineup stretches well beyond its signature boots. The company offers everything from square-toe slippers and colorful Western styles to work shoes built for durability. Its apparel selection is equally broad, with jackets, shirts, hoodies, and jeans available for men, women, and children. And true to its equestrian roots, Ariat also produces riding boots and show coats.

“We are happy to welcome Ariat International to an even deeper relationship with Fort Worth,” said Robert Allen, president and CEO of the Fort Worth Economic Development Partnership. “As a leader in equestrian sports brand products, Ariat is the perfect match for Fort Worth.”

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THE FORT

CITY DWELLER

Around Cowtown in 8 Seconds A smattering of things you might’ve missed

by FWTX Staff

A Good Boy Mourned

Fort Worth remembers Henry, the beloved shelter ambassador whose service helped save thousands of animals.

F

ort Worth said goodbye to a faithful friend and civic ambassador in late November.

Henry, the black Lab with the velvet gaze and famously gentle manner who spent more than a decade serving as Fort Worth Animal Care & Control’s most trusted public face, died at age 16.

Henry passed while surrounded by companions Brandon Bennett and Barry Alexander, the superintendent who served as his handler.

His service, captured in an award-winning video, is reflected in the thousands of animals who found safety because he once did. Fort Worth Animal Care & Control is honoring that legacy through donations made in his memory.

“He meant so much to so many people across the department and across the city and state,” Alexander said. “He was a great team member, he was loved by so many, and he will truly be missed.”

Henry’s story began in 2011 when he arrived at the Chuck & Brenda Silcox Animal Shelter in rough shape. He was thin, sick, and out of second chances — until Bennett, then the City’s Code Compliance Director, spotted him and sensed something worth saving.

What followed was a slow, steady restoration. By the time Henry grew strong enough to trot comfortably across a room, he had also formed a bond with Bennett

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that would last the rest of Henry’s life. Bennett and Henry even retired side by side last year.

Once healthy, Henry threw himself into public service with the sort of earnest devotion Texans tend to appreciate.

He padded through special events, delighted schoolchildren, joined former Mayor Betsy Price on community visits, and became the shelter’s most persuasive advocate for the animals left waiting behind its doors.

He wasn’t merely a mascot — he was a working dog with a mission, guiding Fort Worth toward a deeper understanding of the needs of its homeless pets.

With the help of generous local donors, Henry helped raise more than $1 million to build a dedicated medical treatment ward at the Silcox center — a facility that opened in 2014 and changed the shelter’s ability to save sick and injured animals.

As his reputation grew, so, too, did the scale of his impact. Supporters eventually rallied nearly $5 million in additional funds to construct that treatment ward and, later, secure a bond package for a modern shelter.

The city’s live-release rate soared, earning Fort Worth recognition as one of the most pet-friendly communities in the country.

Henry, a great Fort Worth life.

Passing the Hat: TCU QB Josh Hoover last year turned down a lucrative offer to join Tennessee’s football team.

TCU football coach Sonny Dykes says he’s trying to fight off would-be poachers of the QB, who would undoubtedly be an attractive piece in the transfer portal.

“They’re coming for him right now,” Dykes says. “That’s why I’m fundraising.”

Sprawl, Meet Subsurface: Seven of America’s fastest-growing inland cities and regions are slowly dropping under their own weight — literally. A new study shows that DFW, Denver, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, Phoenix, and Las Vegas are sinking more than 3 millimeters a year as groundwater pumping and rapid development pull the ground beneath them down. This is the quicksand of our youth, isn’t it?

Cough-cough—ghk! Fort Worth’s air quality was so rough this year it managed to tie Frisco — Frisco? — for the region’s worst ozone score, and that’s before the EPA even double-checks the math.

Top of the Class: TCU’s Neeley School is wrapping up the semester with bragging rights, after Poets & Quants named supply-chain professor David Weltman one of the nation’s 50 Best Undergraduate Business Professors.

A Longevity Clause? Only God and the state know what will happen with the FWISD, but the short-timing school board quietly tweaked Superintendent Karen Molinar’s longevity pay clause — a change they approved 8–1 without offering details to the public. If Molinar makes that clause, she will have earned it.

Curtain Still Down: A year after shuttering the Fort Worth Community Arts Center for $30 million in needed repairs, city officials still don’t know what the building’s future looks like — or how they’ll pay for it.

Art Funds Impact: M2G Ventures’ Art of the Mind gala pulled in more than $500,000 for mental health research and care this year, pushing the firm’s Mental Health Initiative past $2 million raised since 2019.

Fort Worth Cuts the Red Tape: Fort Worth topped the nation in permitting efficiency in a new AI-driven Red Tape Index — a feat Minnesota managed four times, though all four wins, unfortunately, are still in Minnesota.

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THE FORT

by John Henry

CITY DWELLER

Breaking Convention

Phase I of the Fort Worth Convention Center expansion signals a shift — and sets the stage for a dramatic remake.

T

he ever-evolving identity of the Fort Worth Convention Center took on its newest dimension one Monday morning in December with yet more overhauls planned.

Civic leaders cut the ribbon on the first phase of the convention center renovation project, part of the city’s wider economic development strategy to attract meetings from across the state and country.

“Fort Worth provides the Texas experience that meeting planners want, and the Phase I convention center expansion and modernization exceed those expectations,” said Mayor Mattie Parker. “This milestone, along with Phase II construction, will increase capacity to host conferences from across the nation, bolstering our already impressive convention and tourism industry.”

The expansion is taking place in two phases, and the facility is remaining operational during both. Totaling 76,794 square feet, the $95 million Phase I includes a grand southeast entrance and terrace, state-of-the-art

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food and beverage facilities, a retail coffee bar for casual networking, 11 new loading docks (up from seven), and the realignment of Commerce Street to create a site pad for a future convention hotel and additional retail or restaurants.

The project emphasizes pedestrian access and improving the area’s walkability and connection to the surrounding neighborhood, which includes the Water Gardens, Trinity Metro Central Station, the new Texas A&M Fort Worth campus, and surrounding hotels.

Thompson, Ventulett, Stainback & Associates Inc. teamed with local firm Bennett Partners to deliver design and construction administration services.

AECOM Hunt, Byrne Construction Services, and E.J. Smith Construction served as construction manager at risk.

Phase I was backed by $52 million in federal pandemic-era stimulus funds and another $43 million in debt.

Revenue generated by the city’s voter-

approved hotel tax rate, passed in May 2024, will cover the debt service and help fund Phase II. The complex opened as the Tarrant County Convention Center in 1968 at a cost of $18 million ($168 million today), covering 12 city blocks, with an extra 3½ blocks to the west for surface parking. It was a win-win proposition, considering the first order of business was the demolition of 16 blocks of blight in this section of “lower downtown.”

The complex’s identity went through a couple of complicated iterations.

Sometime in the 1980s, the county leased the facility to the city for $1, and it became the Tarrant County–Fort Worth Convention Center. A judge later ruled that arrangement unconstitutional, saying the lease amounted to an improper gift from the county to the city.

Another arrangement was worked out until the city ultimately purchased the complex from the county for $16 million in 1997. That set the stage for a major makeover in the aughts, which included demolishing the theater to add convention space.

Tourism today is a $3.5 billion industry for Fort Worth and one of its largest employers, with more than 30,000 jobs, according to Visit Fort Worth. In 2024, Fort Worth welcomed 11.5 million visitors, generating $251 million in state and local taxes. The convention center expansion is part of the city’s larger economic development strategy to attract meetings from across the state and nation.

“We’ve delivered Phase I on budget and on time, and design is almost complete for the second phase,” said Mike Crum, the city’s director of public events.

Phase II construction, estimated at $606 million, is anticipated to begin in late 2026 and run through early 2030.

It will include a scheduled appointment for the arena — with a wrecking ball. It will be a sad but fully necessary event, progress being what it is.

Lots of life has been lived in that arena.

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THE FORT

CALENDAR

January

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Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl

Disney’s ‘The Lion King’ in Concert

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One of Disney’s most successful animated features gets the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra treatment — performing the tunes penned by Elton John — as the movie plays behind them.

Bass Performance Hall basshall.com

Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl Fort Worth can expect some visitors from Houston and the Hill Country, as this year’s Armed Forces Bowl pits two mid-major Texas squads against one another, the Rice Owls and Texas State Bobcats.

Amon G. Carter Stadium armedforcesbowl.com

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The Smithereens and Deep Blue Something

‘Mark Twain Tonight!’

16–Feb. 7

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Shine your boots and bolos, the nation’s best three weeks of bronco bustin’, hog showin’, and calf-fry eatin’ makes its annual return to Cowtown.

Dickies Arena and Will Rogers Memorial Center fwssr.com

Emmy Award-winner Richard Thomas, who previously graced the Bass Hall stage as Atticus Finch in “To Kill a Mockingbird,” brings Mark Twain to life in this one-man show originated by Hal Holbrook.

Bass Performance Hall basshall.com

17–May 24

29–Feb. 14

New Horizons: The Western Landscape

A Night With Janis Joplin

Featuring the work of 14 living artists, including Tony Abeyta, Sarah Ayala, and Dean Mitchell, this exhibition “presents contemporary interpretations of the American West’s terrain.”

Amon Carter Museum of American Art cartermuseum.org

Billed as a tribute to the legendary singer who took the stage at Woodstock, this concert-style performance pairs the counterculture icon with the likes of Aretha Franklin and Bessie Smith.

Circle Theatre circletheatre.com

Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo

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Three alternative bands of yesteryear — The Smithereens, Denton’s own Deep Blue Something, and The Nixons — swing by Tulips for a night of ’90s nostalgia.

Tulips tulipsftw.com

JA N UA RY 2026 | F W T X .CO M

29–Feb. 15 ‘Where We Stand’

A co-production with Dallas Theater Center, this interactive play recreates a town hall gathering, where a lone storyteller puts the future of a town in the hands of the audience.

Stage West Theatre stagewest.org

‘Mark Twain Tonight!’

Jan. 17

Corey Kent Hot on the heels of releasing a single, “Rocky Mountain Low,” featuring local country star Koe Wetzel, the “Wild as Her” singer makes his way to the world’s largest honky-tonk.

Billy Bob’s Texas | billybobstexas.com

Disney’s ‘The Lion King’ in Concert

30–Feb. 1 Turnpike Troubadours

The popular red-dirt country outfit gets a three-night residency at Billy Bob’s Texas, where they’ll weave old classics with songs from their latest release, The Price of Admission.

Billy Bob’s Texas billybobstexas.com

CE L E B R AT E S I TS

5

TH

ANNIVERSARY

Join us during the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo for special weekend events and first access to the Fort Worth Capsule.

Enjoy $5 off museum tickets throughout the Stock Show.

Scan the QR code to see the full schedule + enter the raffle J W S T O C K A N D S U P P LY . C O M

@ J O H N W AY N E B R A N D

Addie Morales Actor

By John Henry

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P H OTO P R OV I D E D BY CA S A M A Ñ A N A

THE FORT FORT WORTHIAN

FROM THE FEED

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1. A portrait of a young woman radiating warmth and ease, happy with her life as a stage actor. Photo by: Sam Pickart 2. Bows for the Broadway National Tour of “Les Misérables,” as Cosette. 3. Our wedding in August. Addie Morales + Jordan Arredondo = Love. Photo by: Chase Castor with Kindling 4. Photographer Shelby Griswold catches me in a moment of quiet, radiant repose. 5. Opening night of “Austen’s Pride” at STAGES in St. Louis. 6. Backstage, readying for a night with Maria in “West Side Story” at Casa Mañana.

I

n November, Addie Morales slipped back to her adopted hometown to fill the iconic dome at Casa Mañana with her angelic soprano, delivering Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim’s celebrated show tunes from “West Side Story.”

She was taking on the role of Maria, the story’s luminous leading lady.

Little did I know that before me, as I watched her onstage, was a gifted performer who literally represented that unfurled rosebud revealing color that no one — except perhaps her parents — knew was waiting inside.

“I went to a camp at Casa when I was 11,” Morales says. “I was forced [by her parents] to do it. I was incredibly shy as a child. I didn’t want to be onstage. I cried when I had to audition. I got a call back, and I cried because I was like, ‘I have to sing again!?’”

It was “Seussical,” she remembers, she says, like it was yesterday.

“When we got into it, I fell in love. It totally changed my life.”

Morales, 28, today is a professional actor — a member of the Actor’s Equity Union — based in New York carving out a career in the uber-competitive realm of stage acting. She has enjoyed two national tours of “Les Misérables” (Cosette) and “Austen’s Pride” (Jane Bennet).

She is also a newlywed. She and fellow performer Jordan Arredondo tied the knot in August.

Her credits in regional productions include “American Mariachi,” “In the Heights,” “Evita,” “The Sound of Music,” “Steel Magnolias,” “Tick, Tick …

Boom!,” “The Buddy Holly Story,” and, yes, “West Side Story.” “’West Side Story’ is one of my first professional roles,” she says of portraying Maria. “And it was hard. That is a journey. You’re taking from a girl to a woman. And the first time I played that role, I was 19. I had the girl part down. The woman part was hard. So, it was a formative role, and I think one of the best formative roles to have to teach you everything that you need to be a leading lady.”

She eventually enrolled in the Fort Worth Academy of Fine Arts.

“I feel like by middle school I wanted

to move to New York,” she says. “I wanted to be a performer, and I was lucky enough to have parents to support that.”

Just two short years or so after being “mortified” by the thought of an audition.

Morales is the fourth of five siblings born in New Orleans. The family was forced to relocate in 2005 after Katrina’s very unwelcome visit. The Morales family settled in Arlington.

“Everything was gone and, so, it was like you stay and rebuild or you moved and started over. We just started over.”

Morales spent her first year of college at TCU before transferring to Baldwin Wallace University in Ohio, renowned for its conservatory of music.

“Music is my first love,” Morales says. “The voice is my first instrument.”

She stayed two years in Ohio before going off to work to New York in 2018.

“I’ve been working ever since.”

Her transition to the Big Apple was smooth because of the acting community in Fort Worth and Dallas, she says.

She had a ready network because of Casa and the shows she did in Dallas.

“Fort Worth is so wonderful, and the training that is available is unmatched.

I felt ahead of the curve when I got to college, and it is because of the arts and culture that is in Dallas-Fort Worth. I am excited for the next generation of kids to get bit by the bug and go into it. It really is a passion of mine, and I’m happy to come home anytime, truly.”

BY THE WAY....

A selection of Addie Morales’ favorite roles: Cosette — “Les Misérables” (Broadway National Tour, directed

by Lawrence Connor & James Powell) Jane Bennet — “Austen’s Pride” (National Tour, directed by Igor Goldin) Maria — “West Side Story” (Barrington Stage, Casa Mañana, North Carolina Theatre, New London Barn, various directors) Eva Perón — “Evita” (Drury Lane Theatre, directed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge Nina Rosario — “In the Heights” (Marriott Theatre, Cleveland Playhouse, directed by James Vasquez)

F W T X .CO M | JA N UA RY 2026

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T H E F O R T S TAT E L I N E S

Garza County Historical Museum

by Shilo Urban Photos by Billy Hathorn

Post, Texas Population: 3,594

D

o you suffer from indigestion, tuberculosis, or blood that isn’t quite red enough? Are your children listless and lazy? Want to prevent appendicitis? All you need is a bowl of Grape-Nuts cereal — those hard, crunchy little nuggets that contain neither grapes nor nuts.

Pair it with a steaming mug of Postum, a coffee substitute made from wheat and molasses, then calm your nerves with some Post Toasties Corn Flakes.

All three revolutionary products made millions for C.W. Post, the cereal mag-

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nate who founded the town of Post as a utopian colony in 1907.

Post is 40 miles southeast of Lubbock at the foot of the Caprock Escarpment, the dramatic dividing line between the flat High Plains and the eastern rolling prairies. But its story begins far away in Illinois, where Charles William Post was born. Post grew from a sickly child into a serial inventor, achieving early success designing and manufacturing farm equipment — before suffering

a stress-induced mental breakdown in 1885. He said, “You may all go to hell, and I will go to Texas” (or something like that) and moved to Fort Worth, leaving his old life behind. He invested in a real estate development in today’s Riverside neighborhood, named it Sylvania…then had another mental breakdown.

Post crossed oceans in search of a cure and wound up at Michigan’s world-renowned Battle Creek Sanitarium, overseen by the clean-living pioneer and Seventh-day Adventist Dr. John Harvey Kellogg. Kellogg’s holistic outlook held that exercise and nutrition were vital to good health, a radical idea back then. Your prescription from Kellogg might entail vegetarianism, yogurt enemas, and baths that lasted days or even weeks — and don’t even think about having any tobacco, coffee, alcohol, sugar, or sex.

Healthy eating was essential, and the sanitarium’s kitchens churned out bland, easily digestible foods designed to tamp down sexual stimulation — including Kellogg’s most famous libido-busting invention, corn flakes. Work therapy was another therapeutic pillar, and C.W. Post worked in the kitchen baking granola for his fellow patients and for Kellogg’s dry goods company.

Finally healed and greatly inspired by/obsessed with Kellogg, Post moved permanently to the town of Battle Creek, opened his own sanitarium, and launched his own dry goods company. Post started producing Grape-Nuts and Elijah’s Manna (soon renamed Post Toasties), which bore striking resemblances to Kellogg’s granola and cornflakes with one addition: sugar. Americans didn’t like it — they loved it. Sales skyrocketed, thanks to Post’s marketing genius and questionable health claims (Grape-Nuts prevent appendicitis!), and soon he was so rich that he could build his own utopia.

What better place for paradise than West Texas? Post bought a quarter-million acres of the U Lazy S Ranch in 1906 and began parceling out farms and building houses in “Post City.” He

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T H E F O R T S TAT E L I N E S

planted trees and opened a hotel, cotton gin, and textile factory. Saloons and brothels were not allowed. He tried forcing his ranch’s cowboys to drink Postum instead of coffee, but you can guess how that turned out. Post’s colony soon had a school, a bank, a newspaper, and a railroad. There was only one thing it didn’t have: rain.

It was common knowledge in those days that rain followed cannon battles (false), and Post deduced that explosions must condense atmospheric moisture and stimulate precipitation. So, like any of us would do, he tied sticks of dynamite to kites and detonated the explosives high above town. It didn’t rain. Assuming the kites were his problem, Post took his TNT up to the Caprock Escarpment and continued his experiments by clifftop.

Alas, they’re still waiting for rain in West Texas. Post’s namesake city maintains the can-do spirit of his undying ambitions, but the man had a tragic end. He took his life due to debilitating pain and complications from a severe medical condition: appendicitis.

Hotel Garza

C.W. Post statue in front of the Garza County Courthouse

Holly’s Drive Inn

Explore Post Savor: Don’t miss the magnificently messy burgers at Holly’s Drive Inn, a nostalgic joint with carhops (or indoor seating if you prefer) along with tasty BLTs and crinkle-cut fries. Local roaster Coffee Wizards crafts killer java and a variety of fried hand pies, including sausage and gravy pies for breakfast, taco pies for lunch, and fruit pies for the sweet tooth. Visit Winehouse at 127 for charcuterie boards and High Plains chardonnays, or drop by Smokin’ Dick’s BBQ for their popular Dick-a-Roni: homemade mac and cheese topped with brisket or pulled pork. The Dick-nic Box feeds a family of four, and if you’re in the mood for Mexican, go for the Dick-a-Dilla.

Shop: Browse eclectic gift and clothing boutiques on Broadway and Main streets, like Plum Crazy, where you can shop for rustic stencil art and necklaces made from vintage coin purses. For a one-of-a-kind Taylor Swift or Dolly Parton flannel shirt, head to 8th Day Customs, which also offers funky tees and handcrafted silver jewelry. You’ll find playful outfits and Consuela bags at Buffalo Creek Threads, and cute-as-a-button kids’ hairbows at La Ysabel. Buy road trip snacks at Jackson Brothers Meat Locker, a beef jerky legend with plenty of pork chops and bacon to boot.

Enjoy: Housed in the colony’s former sanitarium, the Garza County Historical Museum has 26 rooms of Native American artifacts, C.W. Post’s personal belongings, and exhibits on ranching, farming, and the oil industry. Discover impressive fine art from around the world (like Fabergé eggs) at the OS Ranch Museum or catch an original religious-themed play at the Ragtown Gospel Theater. Outside of town, explore the red-rock beauty of Caprock Canyons State Park and meet the official Texas State Bison Herd.

Snooze: You can walk everywhere from Hotel Garza, a 110-year-old brick charmer built by the parents of the first child born in Post (they named her Post Toastie). It has been

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home to a boarding house, post office, and seamstress shop — and now features 11 renovated rooms and suites that ooze Old West ambiance. Antique furniture, clawfoot tubs, and pressed-tin ceilings make you feel like you’re back on the frontier. There’s also a cozy library with a veranda and a pretty garden courtyard, plus a hot-cooked breakfast in the morning.

How to Get There: Drive west toward Abilene on Interstate 20 for 191 miles. Just past Sweetwater, exit to US-84 W toward Lubbock.

Continue on US-84 W for 75 miles to reach Post; the entire trip takes about 4 1/2 hours.

THE FORT by John Henry

T H E R E V E R I E : M U S I N G S , C O M M E N TA RY, A N D I N S I G H T S

‘I Was Deathly Afraid of Him’

T

he events inside the home on Lindenwood Drive on the night of Nov. 11, 1945, were largely undisputed.

Doris Bradshaw shot and killed her husband, Army 1st Lt. George Bradshaw.

Her motive, however, became the source of intrigue in a Fort Worth courtroom across two criminal trials in 1946.

Was she a ruthless killer — a “pistol-packing mama” who “reveled in the carnival of high living” and sought a financial payoff, as prosecutors claimed? Or a woman who acted in self-defense against an abusive husband, as Doris and her defense attorney, W.P. McLean, argued?

Twenty-four jurors across two trials struggled with that question while weighing a charge of murder with malice.

Doris and George Bradshaw married in Arizona in 1940. During World War II they lived in San Diego, Dayton, Ohio, — where George served as an Army airman — and twice in Fort Worth.

The first stay came in 1943, when George worked at Convair. The couple returned in 1945 and settled into a house on Lindenwood Drive after first living on Spanish Trail.

They had three children: two daughters Doris brought from a previous marriage and a son, George III, born to the couple. Financial stability came from Doris’ inheritance from her grandmother. George, the son of a U.S. Navy captain, had worked in advertising sales and planned to open an industrial engineering office in Fort Worth, following his experience at Convair.

Court testimony suggested George liked to drink — and did not handle it well.

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Sunday, Nov. 11 — Armistice Day — was cool and overcast, with temperatures in the low 50s. Fort Worth, like the rest of the country, was still basking in the glow of victory while reckoning with the war’s horrors. The day before, a 3-year-old child had been critically injured in a toy-gun accident.

At TCU, trustees approved a $2 million campus expansion.

That evening, George picked up several acquaintances and brought them to the Lindenwood home for a night of drinking, according to news reports.

Guests later testified that Doris played selections on her accordion while George recorded them on a home unit.

She was not rude to the guests, but when the group decided to head to a bar, Doris refused to go — and did not want her husband to go either.

“I’m sorry, dear,” she told him, according to testimony. “When you come home, the door will be locked.”

Margaret Cobb Turner, one of the guests, testified that shortly after, she heard the couple arguing in the bedroom. When she entered, Doris had retrieved George’s .32-caliber pistol from a telephone table drawer and was pointing it at him.

At the first trial, Doris testified that George sneered that she “hasn’t got the guts” to pull the trigger. She said he twisted her arm, shoved her into the bedroom, and spun her across the room.

“He was coming at me with an insane look in his eye that I recognized,” Doris told jurors after four hours on the stand. “All those experiences over the years came into my mind, and I knew he’d get me this time.”

She said she warned him not to come closer.

“He leaned forward … took a step toward me, and I — I guess the gun went off. I was deathly afraid of him.”

Doris testified to years of mistreatment and repeated threats on her life, including an incident the day George was inducted into the Army, when she said he struck her and threatened her with a gun.

Defense witnesses sought to corroborate her account. Former California neighbor Douglas A. Deeble testified in a deposition that Doris once arrived at his home hysterical, with two blackened eyes. Later that night, George arrived intoxicated, carrying a case of beer. Deeble’s wife testified to another incident. A third witnessed did the same.

Maj. William K. Beare, the autopsy surgeon, testified that the bullet’s downward trajectory indicated George was crouched and moving toward Doris when he was shot.

Prosecutors countered by highlighting inconsistencies. Doris initially told reporters the shooting was accidental and told detectives George had been teaching her to use the gun. They questioned her about a double-indemnity clause in his life insurance.

“I have enough to live on the rest of my life without any insurance policies,” Doris snapped.

The first trial ended in a 6–6 deadlock. At the second trial in June, jurors deliberated just 14 minutes before convicting Doris. At the request of both defense and prosecution, they assessed a two-year sentence and recommended suspension.

“No, it’s not consolation,” Doris said to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “My kids are still branded with a mother that was convicted.”

Later that month, Doris married for a fourth time. She was denied her husband’s Army life insurance but later reached a settlement naming her son, George III, as beneficiary — a result she said left her “tickled to death.”

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NO Saddle REQUIRED

By Brian Kendall Photos by Kasey Arnette

Though a proud member of rodeo royalty, the world’s best bareback bronc rider will continue to buck conventions and do things his way. Even if it means ruffling a feather or two.

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T

hings aren’t going according to plan. And, without even a verbal hint that someone’s hitting the skids, you can tell.

The blond-haired bronc rider, sporting shorts, socked feet, and a white tee, sits in a nondescript hotel-room armchair. With the curtains drawn and a single nightstand lamp providing the only light, the energy in the hotel room is pensive and solemn — a far cry from the activity occurring 15 stories down on the Las Vegas Strip, where a sea of cowboy hat-wearing folk are killing time by drinking booze and placing bets before the ninth round of the National Finals Rodeo.

Despite the room’s general atmosphere, the bronc rider, Rocker Steiner, is chatting away with his youthful rasp, cutting jokes and critiquing his last few rides — the horses, the judges, even himself.

“I’m sure they’ll (PRCA) fine me,” Rocker says, wryly, about his private criticisms.

“How many times have you been fined?” I ask.

“Just three or four,” he responds.

The 22-year-old is clearly at ease with his present company, which includes his father, Sid Steiner; fellow rodeo competitor Stetson Wright; a man with a portable massage bed who I’m told is “kind of a chiropractor”; me and my PR chaperone, Terran; and a couple of men wielding cameras — which are recording.

Wright, who on this day is in the lead for both the PRCA allaround and bull riding championships, is lying on the massage bed and getting “worked on” by, what we’ll call, the physical rejuvenation specialist. Between Rocker’s sentences, one can hear the grunts, cracks, and pops coming from Wright’s mouth, back, and legs, respectively, as the specialist pushes, prods, and pokes the rodeo star’s ailing muscles — taking the thorn out of his side, so to speak. Having gone eight straight days straddling tempestuous bulls and broncs, such therapy sessions, which look and sound almost as brutal as a bull ride to these eyes and ears, are a must.

Rocker, casually sitting in the armchair with his left elbow resting on his bent knee, has already had his turn with the specialist and is loose and limber for tonight’s ride — the penultimate ride of the NFR. And, for Rocker, eight seconds of do or die.

He wasn’t expecting to be in this position — riding simply to keep his championship hopes alive. Rocker, who had held the No. 1 spot in bareback riding for much of the year and was on pace to smash the record for annual earnings, entered the NFR with a comfortable and sizable lead.

But, yesterday, the margin for error had disappeared, and for the first time in months, Rocker was no longer sitting atop the leaderboard.

Sin City Of all the commercial airline trips in the world, which amount to over 100,000 daily flights, perhaps none are as exciting, boisterous, and flat-out fun as those that land in Las Vegas.

There’s a specific energy about a person who’s an hour away from touching down in Sin City — at 30,000 feet above sea level, the devil on one’s shoulder pipes in, “Fun will be had, and dagnabbit, I’m the one who’s gonna have it.”

And on this particular flight from DFW, in addition to devilclad shoulders, there’s a cabin full of cowboy hats, plaid collars,

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and calfskin boots with ornate stitchings. I wouldn’t be shocked if extra cups were requested to serve as dip spittoons. Yes, it appeared the majority of my fellow passengers were headed to the same place as me: the NFR, the crème de la crème of rodeo events.

Calling the Thomas & Mack Center home since 1985, the NFR is a 10-day competition that crowns the world champs of ProRodeo’s seven disciplines based on year-end earnings. The top 15 earners in each discipline get the invite and, unlike other rodeos, elimination rounds at NFR are nonexistent. All 15 cowboys ride all 10 days as the competition becomes a battle of attrition. It’s the Super Bowl, All-Star Game, and Tour de France all rolled into one, while also serving as a de facto conference for cowboys, cowgirls, and those pretending to be one or the other. According to the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, the event draws more than 340,000 people to the city each year, roughly half of whom attend at least one night of competition. The others? Well, there’s plenty at NFR to keep line dancers, compulsive shoppers, and country music listeners busy beyond the rodeo.

No doubt also headed to the NFR, on this its eighth day, were two young women sporting black cowboy hats — I would suspect in their early 20s — sitting in the row directly behind me on my flight. With my earbuds out after landing, I couldn’t help but overhear their conversation, especially upon hearing the name “Rocker Steiner,” the very man I was traveling to Las Vegas to see.

While my shoddy ears kept me from hearing the context of their back-and-forth, I did pick up the name “Rocker” repeated several times interspersed with giggles. Curious, I asked before I exited the plane if they were talking about Rocker Steiner, which they confirmed with the slightest bit of embarrassment, like revealing a tween crush.

This isn’t new or rare for Rocker; on rodeo culture’s barometer of attractiveness, he registers as a heartthrob. Go to an event where he’s competing, and you’re likely to hear the biggest — and perhaps even highest-pitched — cheers as an arena’s announcer calls his name. And in this world of bull riding selling out Madison Square Garden, rodeo entering the mainstream, and the Cowboy Channel’s growing national reach — on which Steiner has a reality show, “Hell on Wheels” — he’s a bona fide superstar.

“Somebody’s got to be the superstar,” Rocker says. “I guess it might as well be me.”

“So, what would be your superstar qualities?” I ask.

“Oh, man, I think I’m just going to let that speak for itself,” he says. “I guess I just do things a little bit different than everybody else. I’m not too afraid to voice my opinion, and I kind of just do whatever I want. That’s not meaning I’m going to go rob a bank, but I don’t accept people trying to tell me who or what to be.”

Such an independent, unfiltered, to-hell-with-it-and-the-haters attitude has also come with its fair share of criticism and controversy — the worst of which being an incident where he repeatedly yelled “What the f*** do you want from me?” during the 2022 NFR after he received a disappointing score from the judges. “Seemed like a good question to ask,” Rocker says, half-jokingly.

Ultimately, this has led to fines, fiery Facebook comments, and strange rumors concerning suspensions and arrests that never happened. But it also marshaled in his image as a maverick

willing to buck the traditionalists. He became the Bad Boy of Rodeo, a moniker he now wears with pride.

“The best way to describe Rocker is loud,” Fort Worth writer, director, and producer Taylor Sheridan said during a talking-head segment on the first episode of “Hell on Wheels.”

“And I don’t necessarily mean with his voice; it’s with his emotions … he’s incredibly exciting to watch, and the crowd goes crazy. They will not cheer louder at a rodeo than they do when Rocker Steiner gets on.”

While traditionalists may scoff, others love Rocker’s emotive and unfiltered nature. In a sport where men are hurled off raging animals 10 times their size, perhaps something more than a clutched fist in the air or a wave to the crowd should be considered appropriate. And, I can attest, any time Rocker completes a ride and exhausts the remainder of his adrenaline rush by remaining on the dirt and hyping up the crowd — a coda to his ride — it infuses energy into the building and into the competition. One could call it bad-boy behavior, and one could also call it showmanship.

And it also makes for great TV. In early October, “Hell on Wheels,” a raw, no-holds-barred reality show that follows Rocker’s life on the rodeo circuit premiered on The Cowboy Channel. And viewer beware: The show, which wrapped up its first season in early December, contains more than its fair share of bruises, bravado, and four-letter words — rated G it is not.

Rocker, apparently as much a marketing whiz as he is a bronc buster, hatched the idea for the show a couple years ago with his father, Sid. “I wanted a Prevost bus to go on the road and take my friends and some cameras and document [my life on the rodeo circuit],” Rocker says, explaining what would eventually become the show’s premise to a tee. And he understood that such a platform, putting his personality wouldn’t just bolster him, but the sport, as well.

“You ever watch college football?” he then asks me.

“Yeah, sure.”

“So, on ‘College GameDay’ (a Saturday-morning show hyping the upcoming games), they’ll do stories on guys who you’ve never even heard of,” Rocker continues. “These guys will have these crazy backstories, and you automatically become a fan and start pulling for their team just because they’re on it. And I’m like,

‘Man, rodeo doesn’t have that.’

There are so many different personalities and so many different people with great stories to tell, but nobody ever gets to see that. And it’s hard to be fans of somebody you don’t know. So I was like, ‘Man, I want to take a camera crew, and I want people to get to know me.”

If this is an abridged version of Rocker’s actual pitch to The Cowboy Channel, it’s easy to see why the ears of the channel’s head honchos perked up. “I told [the Cowboy Channel] how big I think I could get [rodeo] right now,” Rocker says. “I think this is the best era of cowboys and rodeo of all time. And I’m not shit talking to anybody, but I don’t think anybody can get this started like I can. I pretty much told ‘em, ‘If you guys are going to do it with anybody, I think it needs to be me.’”

In retrospect, Rocker admits it was a blessing the show took two years to go from conception to being broadcast on over 40 million living-room screens.

“I probably wasn’t exactly the best person for people to get to know [at that time],” Rocker says. “And I’m not saying I was a bad guy, but I was probably not the smartest guy when I was 18.”

But it’s not just the TV show or the bad-boy image — or possessing thick blond locks and the square jaw of an A-list actor — that’s catapulted Rocker’s popularity; he’s also really, really damn good at riding bucking broncos. And this measly compliment doesn’t come close to appropriately lauding his natural talent at hopping on the bareback of an angry, 1,200-pound equine. After all, if you want to be the most popular, you also have to be the best.

“He’s a prodigy,” Rocker’s mom, Jamie Steiner, says. “What he’s been able to accomplish this year, at his age — it’s unheard of.”

And this isn’t a mom doting on her son. She’s absolutely right; it’s unheard of.

This year, Rocker broke the record for regular-season earnings in PRCA bareback riding, accumulating over $300,000 and, going into NFR, is on track to break the end-of-year earnings record for bareback. And over his career, which began in 2022 at the age of 18 — when he also qualified for his first NFR and won the Resistol Rookie of the Year Award in bareback riding — he’s earned over $1.1 million in PRCA competitions alone. At the age of 22, Rocker has already amassed enough records, wins, and accolades to be considered a future ProRodeo Hall of Famer.

Not shy about his ambitions or reminding one of his abilities, Rocker sees himself becoming a transformational figure in the

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world of rodeo. The sport’s Michael Jordan, Babe Ruth, or Muhammad Ali. Its GOAT. “I’m a huge fan of all major athletes, everybody that’s taken their sport to the next level,” Rockers says. “I mean, I don’t even watch soccer, but I f****ng love David Beckham. He took soccer to the next level. Connor McGregor took the UFC to the next level.

And I really think I’m the guy for rodeo.”

But needing the hardware to back up his confidence, there remains one massive, all-important title that has thus far eluded him: a PRCA World Championship.

By the time my American Airlines flight landed in Las Vegas on Thursday evening, Rocker had completed night eight of the NFR. And the results were not good.

For the first time in months, Rocker was no longer leading the field of bareback bronc riders. Jess Pope, the 2022 PRCA World Champion, placed first in Rounds 7 and 8 and, now controlling his own destiny, was in the driver’s seat to play spoiler and turn Rocker’s Hollywood ending into a tragedy. Rocker would need to bounce back in Round 9 to give himself a shot.

The Steiners If genetics play any part in determining rodeo success, Rocker Steiner’s prodigious career was written in the family tree.

Beginning five generations ago, Steiner is the descendant of rodeo producers Buck and Tommy Steiner of Steiner Rodeo Company.

Tommy’s son and Rocker’s grandfather, Bobby Steiner, became a world champion bull rider and 2020 National Rodeo Hall of Fame inductee who also competed in bareback and qualified for the NFR three years. Then Bobby’s son and Rocker’s father, Sid Steiner, competed as a steer wrestler and took home the PRCA World Championship in 2002.

But not to be outdone by previous generations, Rocker also got a double dose of rodeo DNA courtesy of his mother, Jamie, who was an accomplished barrel racer and had also qualified for NFR a couple decades ago. Rocker’s sister, Steely, has followed in her mom’s footsteps and is also a barrel racer.

Whatever innate personality traits rough stock competitors must have to be successful — resilience, aggressiveness, perhaps even a little impatience — Rocker had from the get-go.

“He was just a little pistol from the beginning,” Jamie says. “I mean, once he finally got moving, it was a run.”

As his father, Sid, tells it, Rocker was partially named after his own nickname (Sid Rock) and partially named after the iconic and controversial Atlanta Braves closing pitcher, John Rocker. “I just remember [John Rocker] had a lot of passion,” Sid says. “He’d sprint out to the mound, and I remember seeing ‘Rocker’ on the back of his jersey and thinking, ‘Man, what a badass name.’”

Despite his lineage, Rocker grew up in a city that many a rodeoattending Texan would consider the antithesis of cowboy culture: Austin.

And in Austin, he did what Austinites do: grow dreads and take up wakeboarding — only most don’t dive into aquatic sports at the age of 3.

“He was my little wakeboarder,” Sid says. “He and I were just river rats. He had his flat-rim hat and dreadlocks, and, man, he was just my little buddy.”

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But his wakeboarding abilities were advancing at a Tiger Woods-like rate, and he’d participate in his first competition and complete his first flip by the time he was 8. In the competitive world of wakeboarding, it wasn’t a stretch to claim Rocker a prodigy.

“It’s the way it’s always been,” Jamie says. “Anything that he ever did, he was just always able to do and do well. We put him on the swim team and his first meet, when everybody else jumped in feet first, he did a perfect dive. I mean, hands touching straight ahead. A perfect little dive right in.”

Exceedingly talented yet so distinct from other children, Rocker was never destined for a normal childhood with classrooms, recesses, and homework. It’s not that school just wasn’t his cup of tee. Tee’s harmless. For Rocker, society’s rigid education system was a proverbial cup of poison. “He was going to be miserable [in school],” Jamie says. “We were going to have to torture him to make him do anything school related, and that just didn’t seem right.”

So, a decision was made when Rocker was in the fourth grade to begin homeschooling him. “But that didn’t work very good, either,” Sid admits. “About the fifth grade, I just took him with me everywhere. And the funny thing is, you’d never know it. No one would walk away from a conversation with Rocker and think he was a stupid kid that didn’t go to school.

“But I used to tell him all the time, this is kind of an experiment.

I might be screwing your life up, so don’t let me down.”

Proof that Sid and Jamie weren’t clamoring to rebel against societal norms and tell the Department of Education to shove it, Rocker’s older sister, Steely, graduated high school as her class’ salutatorian. According to Jamie, “school is set for her. It’s perfect for Steely; she’s going to excel in that situation.”

Despite his early successes in wakeboarding, at 13, Rocker’s grandfather, Bobby, would show him a video of kids riding bareback horses, and, if you’ll pardon the cliché, it was love at first sight. From that day forward, like everything Rocker had pursued up to that point in his life, he would pour himself into bareback riding.

“Rodeo was never something I wanted to be a part of,” Rocker says. “I never wore a cowboy hat. I had a pony that I would ride maybe twice a year with my mom. I was just the kid that was a wakeboarder. I grew up on the lake, and I was just that guy. [Committing to bareback riding] really just snuck up on me one day, and here we are.”

The Steiners would move to Weatherford in 2020 when Rocker was 16 and the entire family has remained in this hub of rodeo and Western sports ever since.

They’re a close-knit group, the Steiners. One could argue Rocker’s nontraditional upbringing of foregoing schooling for a different kind of education has made him even closer to his family.

And with this bond can come feelings of vicarious pain when a family member is hurting, stressed, or in trouble. This empathy is what has made the last few days in Las Vegas particularly difficult for the Steiners. When one of them is happy and joyous, or distressed and downtrodden, they all feel similarly. So, it’s been one heck of an up-and-down NFR for every member of the family.

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A quick recap of how we got here: After failing to land a payoff in Round 1 eight days earlier, finishing 12 out of 15, Rocker rebounded by winning Round 2, earning $36,000 and adding a little cushion to his lead. He’d follow this up with two solid performances in Rounds 3 and 4, taking home third and fourth place, respectively, and adding nearly $40,000 to his total earnings. And another victory in Round 5 would serve as a giant step toward claiming his first Gold Buckle.

This is where things, or more specifically, the horses, would go sideways.

Over the next three rounds, no matter if it was deserved or not, Rocker failed to tally a ride that would give him a payoff, leaving the door open for others.

In this sport, there are no goals or baskets or touchdowns. Victory is, in many ways, a subjective outcome determined by two things that are — at least in part — outside of a rider’s control: judges and horse draws. The random draws decide which bronco gets assigned to which rider. And getting a bad bronco, one who doesn’t put on the right kind of show, can be devastating to a score, which is decided by two judges. Whatever these appraisers perceive in the chaos-filled eight seconds of a ride is, ultimately, the final word, which doesn’t always concur with the audience, color commentators, or the parents, siblings, and significant others of a rider. In these instances, one has a knee-jerk reaction to assume the best of anything a loved one does — a natural rosecolored tint to everything, including bareback bronc rides. So, the Steiners, understandably so, are hurt and asking questions.

I met Rocker’s mother for an interview early Friday morning, the morning after three straight days of disappointment at the NFR, for a cup of coffee. She warned me right from the get-go, fighting back tears, that this conversation was going to be difficult for her. “[The family] is always there when it’s hard and disappointing and dream crushing,” Jamie says. “There’s also the part of being positive when things are bad and you try real, real hard to do that.

So, tonight we have to pray that he and his horse have the best trip, and the judges see it [positively].”

The Payoff Rocker, still in his hotel room and not yet sporting his iconic red uniform for bronc riding — clad with logos from “The Punisher” on his chaps — slaps on a pair of black jeans, a black cowboy hat, and rings for five of his 10 fingers and makes his way to the elevator with his dad and Stetson Wright. Round 9 begins in just over two hours, and bareback always kicks off the rodeo — the perpetual premiere for rough stock.

At Thomas & Mack Center, the mecca of the NFR, there isn’t an empty seat to be found. And the energy, if we were to compare it to our own Stock Show & Rodeo at Dickies Arena, is in a class of its own. The people in this arena aren’t bandwagon fans of rodeo or johnny-come-latelies. No, they’re watching every rider of every event intently and cheering their asses off. And such attention and audience engagement brings an extra level of intensity to the atmosphere.

Rocker is riding last and will know precisely what he must do to either sink, stay afloat, or take command of the World Title. Riding

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a bronc named Café Risque, the crowd cheers loudly at the sound of the announcer calling Rocker’s name. The young, red-clad rider, leaning back — almost reclining — with spurs near Café Risque’s shoulders, gives an affirming nod, the chute opens, and Rocker and Café Risque are released onto the dirt of the performance area.

Unlike bull riders, bareback competitors don’t sport helmets and stick to the traditional cowboy hat as their headwear of choice, which, inevitably goes flying through the air as if collecting style points for accessory hangtime. Arguably the most physically difficult and demanding of all rough stock sports, the bronc’s violent bucking swings Rocker’s head to a point where it nearly clashes with the top of the horse’s hindquarters, something that happens so quickly and repeatedly that you could set its rhythm as a metronome on machine-gun mode. And Rocker, as if a glutton for punishment, continues to spur the bronco in its shoulders, causing him to buck even harder. It’s frantic and disorderly, but there’s also a rhythm to the madness.

Is Rocker doing well? Is his ride on Café Risque going better than the 14 that preceded it? If one were judging solely on the decibels emitting from the audience at Thomas & Mack, Rocker would no doubt be at the top of the heap. The eight-second timer buzzes, and Rocker soon after falls to the ground before the pickup man — those on tamed and saddled horses who assist riders off the bucking bronco — could arrive. As Rocker falls, the arena lets out a collective gasp cut short by the bronc rider quickly rising to his feet. With his red chaps dirtied and his blonde hair mussed, Rocker emphatically puts his hands up in the air, both as a sign of relief and exhilaration. He knows, with that ride, that he’s done it; he’s wrestled back control of the World Title. And the crowd, as if the Dallas Cowboys kicked through a last-second field goal, lets out a thunderous cacophony of hoots, hollers, and claps. No other competitor for the remainder of the night would receive such an ovation.

For the next 24 hours, commentators and Cowboy Channel talking heads would describe Rocker’s Round 9 ride as “gutsy,” “pressure-packed,” and “composed.” He’d score an 85.75 and end up tied for second on the round. But, most importantly, his closest rivals would finish outside the payoff positions, giving Rocker the lead.

The following day, Round 10, Rocker controlled his own destiny.

Riding last again, he’d pull a horse called Disco Party, one with which Rocker had shared a positive history. And, with the title on the line, he’d outdo himself and score a 90.5 and again come in second for the round, securing the PRCA World Title and the gold buckle — the last vacancy on his stellar resume. Though one might still criticize Rocker’s unabashed confidence as hubris or vanity, Rocker now has the hardware to back it up. At this moment, he is the greatest.

Following his victory, Rocker said winning the title was “everything I’ve ever wanted, dreamt about, worked for, bled for, cried for. This is everything. But this wasn’t necessarily about the gold buckle (World Title), [I did] this for my family. I want my family to know their son is the best at something.”

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BY SHILO URBAN GRAPHICS BY SYD STROOPE

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SPORTS FANS AND CITY LEADERS ARE GEARING UP FOR A OF HIGH-PROFILE EVENTS.

landmark year

Fort Worth’s stature on the worldwide sports stage is taller than ever in 2026 as Tarrant County prepares to host a stacked schedule of prestigious international and national competitions. Global championships like the FIFA World Cup soccer tournament and FEI World Cup Finals Jumping & Dressage will bring in hundreds of thousands of visitors to North Texas. But the World Cups are just the beginning.

From racecar drivers and rodeo riders to college basketball stars and karate blackbelts — the best of the best will converge in the 817 this year.

“This is our moment,” says Drew Hays, the new executive director of the Fort Worth Sports Commission. “This is our biggest event lineup ever, and anything we can do to elevate the experience for the athletes and the fans attending, we’re going to do it.”

The year may have just arrived, but the city has been preparing for months.

Being proactive is key to Hays’ strategy: working out all the little details long before showtime arrives, from arranging hotel welcomes to lining up restaurants

for team dinners. “There are tons of meetings with our venues, our hotels, our other external partners, and there’s a ton of meetings internally that go on too.”

Newly formed city committees have been tackling infrastructure and transportation issues, and marketing initiatives are connecting with domestic and international media outlets to spread the word about Fort Worth. “If we’re doing the things proactively, by the time we get to event week, that should be the easiest part of the execution,” Hays says. “Knock on wood.”

The Fort Worth Sports Commission projects that this year’s biddable events will garner over $88 million in direct spending — and that doesn’t include any annual legacy events like the National Cutting Horse Association’s Triple Crown. A sizable chunk will no doubt be generated from the biggest event ever to take place in North Texas, the FIFA World Cup 2026.

Fresh venues, upgraded infrastructure, cinematic visibility, and a surging creative scene have propelled Fort Worth

into the spotlight for event planners and promoters. But it’s the city’s Western heritage and genuine hospitality that set it apart. “We offer that authentic Texas experience that international visitors want,” says Hays. Travelers will discover the Texas of their imagination in our hometown, with cowboys and cowgirls, cattle drives, rodeos, big hats, and barbecue. They’ll also encounter the city’s most valuable asset: us.

“What makes Fort Worth so great is our people,” he says. “We can’t do any of these events without a welcoming community.” Having just moved to the city last year, Hays speaks from experience. “When I first showed up to Fort Worth, I felt that warmth and hospitality. So I know when travelers come here, they’ll feel it as well.”

Visiting sports fans may forget the final score, they may forget the stats — but they will never forget the way we made them feel. Or our barbecue. And we’d better crank up those smokers, because three World Cups are headed our way.

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FOOTBALL

FÚTBOL

VS.

MOST POPULAR SPORT: On Earth

In America

COMPETITION: Game

Match

SETTING: 100-yard-long field

100- to 110-meter-long pitch

PLAY: Stop-start,

Continuous flow,

strategy-driven

improvised

CLOCK: Four 15-minute quarters

Two 45-minute halves

HEADCOUNT: 11 players

11 players

CROWD CHANT: De-FENSE

Olé, Olé Olé Olé

HALFTIME SHOW: Of course

First-ever at the FIFA World Cup 2026

CHEERLEADERS: Always

Very rarely and never at the World Cup

STADIUM FASHIONS: Oversized foam gear

Scarves, flags as capes

FACE PAINT: Yes

Yes

FAN SCENE: Tailgate parties

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Tifos (large, choreographed visual displays, like hundreds of fans holding up colored cards in the stadium to form a giant flag)

THE WORLD CUPS ARE COMING FIFA WORLD CUP 2026

JUNE 11-JULY 19 AT AT&T STADIUM

THE BIGGEST EVENT ON THE PLANET DESCENDS ON DFW Held every four years, the FIFA World Cup tournament crowns the ultimate champion in men’s soccer (aka football, fútbol, or footy) and has an unparalleled cross-cultural impact. The World Cup is the most-watched event on Earth, with tens of billions of viewers tuning in for the series of 104 games.

And for the first time in history, FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) has selected three World Cup host countries: the U.S., Mexico, and Canada. It’s the largest footprint ever for the competition, which runs from June 11 to July 19 with 48 teams competing in 16 different cities: Dallas/Arlington, Atlanta, Boston, Guadalajara, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Miami, Monterrey, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, Toronto, and Vancouver.

AT&T Stadium (to be temporarily renamed Dallas Stadium) will stage nine matches, including one semifinal on July 14, the game held in Arlington. MetLife Stadium in New York/New Jersey will host the final match on July 19. Dallas will also be home to the World Cup’s International Broadcast Center, turning Kay Bailey Hutchinson Convention Center into a massive media hub for thousands of media professionals from over 150 countries.

Much more than a sports tournament, the World Cup is a global celebration

that showcases the music, cultures, and traditions of participating countries.

Part of the fun is cheering alongside the proud and passionate fans who have traveled from around the world to support their teams.

According to the North Texas Organizing Committee, more than 100,000 travelers will pour into the DFW metroplex for each match. But it’s unclear how the crowds will affect Fort Worth. “We all know it's going to be big, but how big?” asks Hays. “We don't know if this is going to be nine straight Super Bowls or if this is going to be just a normal day in Fort Worth.”

TCU will also serve as a basecamp for one of the four national teams based in North Texas.

In addition to the games in Arlington, you can expect a slew of watch parties, fan zones, and other special initiatives in Fort Worth. But most of the details are still up in the air, says Hays. “As we get closer to June and July, there are plans you'll hear about that we’ve been working on forever.” Whether you have kids who play soccer, you’re an ardent Arsenal fan, or you’re simply curious about the much-loved sport, there’s never been a better year to get swept up in the world’s game.

FEI WORLD CUP FINALS JUMPING & DRESSAGE

APRIL 8-12 AT DICKIES ARENA

THE FINE ART OF ELITE EQUESTRIANISM You’ve seen horses trot, gallop, and buck cowboys off their backs — but have you seen them dance? On April 8 through 12, Dickies Arena will host the vaunted FEI World Cup Finals Jumping & Dressage, the global championship and the highest level of horse-and-rider performances you’ll see anywhere.

FEI stands for Fédération Équestre Internationale, which is the governing body of equestrian sports, the counterpart of the PRCA in rodeo.

And like the rodeo, FEI has multiple

disciplines, including cross-country outdoor racing and equestrian vaulting (gymnastics on horseback). But the two preeminent FEI sports are show jumping and dressage.

Show jumping pits the horse and rider against an obstacle course of 5-foot-tall fences and tight angles; prizewinners must be fast and flawless.

Knock down a single rail, and you could lose it all. In dressage, riders guide their horses through a sophisticated series of maneuvers, such as side-stepping, 360-degree turns, and rhythmic trotting in place. With plenty of prancing and gliding going on, dressage is known as the ballet of the equestrian world.

Both sports exhibit the near-telepathic communication between the horse-rider duo and their formidable grace and athleticism.

Local spectators accustomed to rodeos will encounter a different breed of sport at the FEI World Cup. Dickies Arena won’t require a black-tie dress code like Toronto’s Coca-Cola Coliseum does, but the vibe will feel noticeably more serious and proper — more like a golf tournament or opera than a rodeo.

“It will be a unique event,” says Matt Homan, president and general manager of Dickies Arena. Unlike rodeo competitions at Dickies, such as the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo, FEI sports require synthetic turf flooring. “It won't be a dirt floor, and that's something that'll be new. And I don't know if people are ready for that.”

The opening of Dickies Arena in 2019 has driven significant economic growth in the city, with more than 1.1 million people now walking through its doors every year. “The way that the city has supported coming to events at Dickies Arena has catapulted us to getting some of these big-name events that we have coming up,” says Homan. The FEI World Cup is certainly a big name. Top riders from Europe, Australia, the Middle East, and North America will descend on Fort Worth to vie for the world crown, a career-defining achievement.

“It's such a big international event that we'll see a lot of people coming in from out of town and hopefully taking up lots of hotel rooms and restaurant

reservations,” Homan says. More than 60,000 fans and journalists will arrive in the city for the show.

Keep an eye on the athletes; you’ll see many of them in the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. “To get the pinnacle of the sport competing in our backyard at Dickies Arena is just an awesome win, not only for Dickies, but also for the city,” says Homan. “It's just another chance for us to put Fort Worth on that global stage.”

PBR WORLD FINALS

MAY 10-17 AT COWTOWN COLISEUM & DICKIES ARENA

BULL RIDING AT ITS BEST The bravest bull riders and the baddest beasts around return to Fort Worth this year for the PBR World Finals on May 1017, with the first four days at Cowtown Coliseum and the last four at Dickies Arena. This showstopping spectacle of man vs. bull offers rock concert-style intensity with raucous music, pulsing lights, and an electrified audience that loves every minute of it. The two venues give PBR fans the best of both worlds: gritty, old-school rodeo energy at the Coliseum and high-tech, arena-scale drama at Dickies.

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FIERCE FEMALES WOMEN STEP INTO THE SPOTLIGHT HIGH-STAKES COLLEGE BASKETBALL & GYMNASTICS — PLUS A CHEERLEADER BLITZ Dickies Arena continues its starring role with the NCAA Women’s Basketball Super Regionals, which brings the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 rounds to Fort Worth for the first time ever this March. It will be the final stop this season for the top two teams before they travel to Phoenix for the Final Four. “Anytime you get to host an NCAA Champion or NCAA event, it's something that's special to the community. It jars a lot of memories,” says Homan. “We're going to get a great mix of teams coming in, and hopefully we'll see a couple of Texas teams in there, maybe TCU.” The NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championship will also return to Dickies Arena in March, delivering gravitydefying flips and twists from the best gymnasts in America — who are also the best on the planet. Watch Olympiccaliber athletes perform in a fast-paced contest with four sports: balance beam, uneven bars, vault, and floor exercise.

Every tenth of a point matters, keeping the tumblers on their toes and the spectators on the edge of their seats. If you catch yourself holding your breath, you’re not alone.

You can also see backflips in January when three cheerleading championships kick off Fort Worth’s banner year, including two national trophies. These ladies don’t just shake pom-poms and shout go-team-go; they are absolute athletes, acrobats, and stuntwomen (with a few men mixed in, too).

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NCAA Women’s Basketball Super Regionals March 27-30 at Dickies Arena

NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championship April 16-18 at Dickies Arena

National Cheerleading Association High School Championship Jan. 23-25 at Fort Worth Convention Center

American Cheerleaders Association Grand Nationals Jan. 31-Feb. 1 at Fort Worth Convention Center

UIL State Spirit Championship Jan. 15-17 at Fort Worth Convention Center

ON THE HOOF RIDING FOR FORTUNE AND GLORY RODEO RICHES AND CUTTING HORSE HERITAGE Underdogs will go head-to-head with titleholders for $2 million at the American Rodeo Championship, one of the richest weekends in rodeo. It has been staged in Arlington since its creation in 2014, first at AT&T Stadium and now at Globe Life Field. The twoday competition is a major showcase for athletes who can’t chase the timeconsuming, travel-heavy PRCA circuit all year, which means that you may see weekend warriors, unknowns, and teenagers out there with the pros.

With sudden-death rules and lifechanging payouts, the stakes are immense: One ride can make or break you. Nobodies can become instant stars and millionaires with a single perfect run. Add in hefty bonus prizes and PBR-influenced production (think pyrotechnics and pounding music), the American Rodeo Championship is one of the most exciting events on dirt.

If you prefer your riding contests without a side of pyrotechnics, head to the National Cutting Horse Association’s Triple Crown. Held at Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum for decades, this three-part series includes the NCHA World Championship Futurity in November and December, the NCHA Super Stakes in March and April, and the NCHA Summer Spectacular in July and August.

A Fort Worth tradition, these events pay out $10 million in total and demonstrate the intimate partnership between horse and rider. Each horserider duo tries to separate a calf from the herd, captivating the crowd in suspenseful silence. Winning the Triple Crown is exceedingly difficult; only four horses have ever achieved the prize. The event provides the top titles in cutting, alongside the American Performance Horseman competition, which was held at Dickies Arena last year. At the time of print, Homan says that the venue is “in discussions” about bringing it back.

American Rodeo Championship May 22-23 at Globe Life Field

NCHA Super Stakes March 18-April 11 at Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum

NCHA Summer Spectacular July 11-Aug. 1 at Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum

NCHA Championship Futurity Nov. 9-Dec. 5 at Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum

W ES TE RN RO

DEO

VS.

ENGLISHn

trian uestria Eques Eq

THAT’S NOT A COWBOY HAT — AND THE FEI WORLD CUP AIN’T NO RODEO. HERE ARE FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT JUMPING AND DRESSAGE (DRUH-SAAZH), BEFORE THE HIGH-STEPPING HORSES PRANCE INTO TOWN.

01 WHERE’S ALL THE DIRT? English equestrianism grew out of aristocratic cavalry traditions rooted in military exactitude and classical technique — and that’s a long way from the working cattle ranch that birthed the rodeo. The horses compete on engineered flooring to achieve a consistent, precise performance that would be impossible on dirt.

02 WHAT THE HECK ARE THE RIDERS WEARING? The equestrian uniform is elegant and refined: tailored jackets, collared shirts with neckties, crisp white breeches, sleek helmets, gloves, and polished boots. Dressage is the most formal, and you may even see a top hat and tails.

04 WHAT KIND OF FANCY HORSE IS THAT? Warmblood breeds, Irish Sport Horses, and Iberians dominate dressage and jumping. They’re generally taller and have longer necks and legs than the rodeo breeds like quarter horses and American paint horses, which have broader chests and more compact, muscular bodies.

03 WHY IS IT SO DANG QUIET? Unlike the rowdy crowd at the rodeo, FEI World Cup audiences should be quiet during a round of show jumping — and absolutely silent during dressage. In fact, try not to even move. Equestrian steeds need to concentrate; they’re not accustomed to chaos like rodeo horses are. Only clap after the round has finished.

05 AND THE SADDLE? The English saddles you’ll see at the FEI World Cup are much smaller and thinner than Western saddles, allowing for increased communication between a rider’s thighs and horse. The rider keeps both hands on the reins and sits upright in the saddle, which has no horn (the protruding front part on a Western saddle used to anchor a rope).

F W T X .CO M | JA N UA RY 2026

53

NASCAR INDYCAR VS.

BOTH ARE PULSE-POUNDING, HIGH-OCTANE AUTO RACING SPORTS — BUT HOW DO THEY STACK UP AGAINST EACH OTHER? FASTEST: Low-slung Indy racers can exceed 240 mph on oval tracks, while NASCAR cars top out around 205 mph.

LOUDEST: NASCAR’s rumbling roar is so loud and low-end that you can feel it, whereas Indy cars emit a higher-pitched scream. Both frequently exceed 130 decibels, comparable to jet engines.

NIMBLEST: IndyCars are like fighter jets on wheels, supremely aerodynamic with front and rear wings that generate tremendous levels of downforce for lightning-fast cornering.

HEAVIEST: NASCAR wins this one hands-down, with cars weighing a minimum of 3,200 pounds compared to IndyCar’s 1,500 to 1,800 pounds.

STRONGEST: Both are comparable in power. IndyCar’s twinturbocharged 2.2-liter V6 engines produce 550 to 750 horsepower, and NASCAR’s 5.8-liter V8 engines produce 650 to 770 horsepower. But lightweight IndyCars have a much greater horsepower-to-weight ratio, which translates into explosive acceleration and razor-sharp handling.

RICHEST: NASCAR has more expensive cars, higher driver salaries, and many more races per season to draw in viewers and ad revenue.

RISKIEST: IndyCar’s open-cockpit vehicles, open-wheel contact, and unpredictable street courses spike the risk of airborne crashes and driver injury. NASCAR’s enclosed cockpits and sturdier cars provide a bit more protection from the highspeed contact common in the sport.

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JA N UA RY 2026 | F W T X .CO M

FOR SPEED FREAKS: INDYCAR GRAND PRIX OF ARLINGTON

MARCH 13-15 AT ARLINGTON ENTERTAINMENT DISTRICT Open-cockpit race cars will scream through the streets around AT&T Stadium and Globe Life Field during this fast-and-loud weekend, turning Arlington’s Entertainment District into a high-thrills racecourse. Part street circuit race and part motorsports festival, the city’s inaugural IndyCar Grand Prix lets you stand meters away from cars zooming past at 180 miles per hour, often just inches from one another. With sharp corners and bumpy surfaces, the 2.73-mile track leaves little room for error for the expert drivers behind the wheel.

FOR GAMERS: BLAST PREMIER: RIVALS ESPORTS TOURNAMENT

MAY 1-3 AT DICKIES ARENA You may not watch people play video games online, but millions do — and this gaming competition is part of the multibillion-dollar esports industry. Eight top-tier teams from across the planet will gather in Fort Worth to play CounterStrike, a first-person shooter game that pits Terrorists against CounterTerrorists. Just like other professional sports, esports have organized leagues, coaches, and commentators. Many fans follow every game and travel far and wide for tournaments like BLAST

Premier Rivals. Energetic and aggressive, it’s a theatrical spectacle with enormous LED stages and dramatic special effects that whip the crowd into a frenzy, from UFC-style player entrances to lasers, smoke, and fire. “One of the great things about Dickies Arena is the space that we have for production, both backstage and front of house,” says Hamon. What about the Fortnite and Rocket League World Championships, which took place at Dickies in 2024? “We look forward to them coming back here in the fall.”

FOR NINJAS: USA OPEN KARATE CHAMPIONSHIPS & JUNIOR INTERNATIONAL CUP

APRIL 2-5 AT FORT WORTH CONVENTION CENTER

Watch blackbelts punch and kick their way to victory at one of North America’s largest karate contests, where thousands of martial artists from dozens of countries compete for the win. In addition to Karate Kid-style sparring, you’ll see impressive demonstrations of traditional weapons like nunchucks, sickles, and three-pronged daggers — by professional athletes, as well as little girls whom you would not want to mess with. Some performances are set to music or feature acrobatics and flips, and teams also compete together in synchronized routines.

UIL State Spirit Championship Jan. 15-17 | Fort Worth Convention Center

National Cheerleaders Association High School Championship Jan. 23-25 | Fort Worth Convention Center

American Cheerleaders Association Grand Nationals Jan. 31-Feb. 1 | Fort Worth Convention Center

National Cutting Horse Association Super Stakes March 18-April 11 | Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum

NCAA Women’s Basketball Super Regionals: Sweet 16 & Elite 8 March 27-30 | Dickies Arena

USA Open Karate Championships & Junior International Cup April 2-5 | Fort Worth Convention Center

FEI World Cup Finals Jumping & Dressage April 8-12 | Dickies Arena

NCAA Women’s Gymnastics Championship April 16-18 | Dickies Arena

BLAST Premier: Rivals Esports Tournament May 1-3 | Dickies Arena

PBR World Finals

May 7-17 | Cowtown Coliseum & Dickies Arena American Rodeo Championship May 22-23 | Globe Life Field

FIFA World Cup 2026

June 11-July 19 | Dallas (AT&T) Stadium National Cutting Horse Association Summer Spectacular July 11-Aug. 1 | Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum

National Cutting Horse Association Championship Futurity Nov. 9-Dec. 5 | Will Rogers Memorial Coliseum

F W T X .CO M | JA N UA RY 2026

55

TRUE TEXANS

Tarleton State University, the Stephenville college that embraces its Western identity, expands to “Where the West Begins.”

By Brian Kendall Photos by Olaf Growald

56

JA N UA RY 2026 | F W T X .CO M

T

arleton State University President James L. Hurley has created a monster in Stephenville — a hungry one, at that. And it’s spilling over 70 miles northeast to Fort Worth.

These are his words, not mine.

The monster in this metaphor is the school of which Hurley is president, Tarleton State — a university whose growth in student enrollment and expansion to markets outside Stephenville, including Fort Worth, has signaled a hard right turn from the once obscure rural college to a first-class, first-choice, destination university.

Yes, Fort Worth, those large, purple, block T’s you see don’t stand for the Texas in TCU. In the world of institutes of higher education, there’s a new purple player in town, and its choice of hue is jarringly similar. But don’t worry, our Horned-Frog contingent, Tarleton State’s football is a division below — for now, anyway. If one were to extrapolate the school’s growth and popularity over the next decade or two, they just might be knocking on the Big 12’s door.

In fall 2025, Tarleton State enrolled a record 3,200 freshmen, a record for the school (breaking its own records has become an annual tradition at the Stephenville school). Due to the school’s current capacity and what’s been a steady increase in applications over the years, Tarleton State is becoming more selective — this year accepting somewhere around half of 22,000 applications received, according to many sources. In other words, the school’s physical

growth can’t keep up with its growth in name recognition and application rates, which, let’s face it, would be a fool’s errand.

According to Hurley, “[Tarleton State is] busting out the seams.”

And there is reason behind the growth. It’s not as if high school-aged Texans were suddenly blindsided by a desire to attend Tarleton State. As Hurley said, this monster was very much created.

And in a public university landscape that includes juggernauts like the University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University, a university must show a level of success to pry away a student’s desire to attend such institutions.

One such number, which is likely the most important number to many a college-bound student, is the school’s 84% employment rate within a year of a student’s graduation, which leads all public universities in the state of Texas. This marked the sixth year in a row that Tarleton State led the Texas public schools in this statistic. Add to this the university’s affordability; location within earshot of the DFW metroplex; and a distinct, leaned-in Texas culture (they have a

F W T X .CO M | JA N UA RY 2026

57

freakin’ rodeo team), and it’s no wonder Tarleton State is one of the fastest-growing schools in the nation and sits No. 1 in Texas.

“So many of our students are choosing to come here first,” Hurley says. “They don’t want to go to Texas A&M. They don’t want to go to UT Austin. They don’t want to go to Texas State. They want to come here.”

It seemed for so long that such brand-name universities had a student’s desire to attend their universities in their back pockets.

Perhaps even operating under an assumption that every other public university within state lines was a bona fide safety school — the second choice when one gets turned away from a more “exclusive” institute of higher learning.

Yet, the numbers speak for themselves. Tarleton State is entering another weight class. After his initial monster metaphor, Hurley then exclaimed, “And then you have to figure out how to feed this monster.”

In August 2019, Tarleton State officially opened two new buildings on the site of 80 donated acres off Chisholm Trail in southwest Fort Worth. These buildings, full of architectural odes to Fort Worth and Stephenville, serve as the cornerstones of a new Fort Worth campus. While the university has had a presence in Cowtown since 1978, when the school held its first Fort Worth class with eight students, this marked an incredible and undeniable investment in the Fort Worth market. Accepting freshmen in 2024 and already accounting for 4,000 of Tarleton State’s 21,000 student population, the new campus also represents the first four-year public institution of higher education to be located within the city of Fort Worth.

The university expanding its commitment to Fort Worth is filling a void: accessible and affordable higher education to prepare young Fort Worthians for a competitive job market — a necessity for every city. “Stepping up and meeting the educational workforce needs of the state is paramount to who we are and what our charter is,” Hurley says.

Tarleton State, perhaps the most Texas school in Texas, has come to the most Texas city in Texas. The partnership makes a heck of a lot of sense.

Walton Global Holdings donated the Fort Worth campus’ 80 acres, which rest within a currently unspoiled prairie, in 2014. At the 2019 ribbon cutting, John Vick, vice president of Walton Holdings, spoke about the gift.

“Someone recently asked why we donated the best 80 acres along Chisholm Trail Parkway to Tarleton,” he said. “The answer is simple. It’s right where Tarleton belongs.”

During my conversation with Dr. Hurley, he exclaimed that university founder John Tarleton was, himself, one heck of a story.

He isn’t wrong.

No one knows where or when John Tarleton — namesake of Tarleton State University — was born, and historians cast a pretty wide net: somewhere between 1807 and 1828 in either New Hampshire or Massachusetts. To put it plainly, Tarleton was born in the first quarter of the 19th century somewhere in New England.

Orphaned early in life, Tarleton would live with his aunt in Virginia before leaving as a teenager. There’s much conjecture about

58

JA N UA RY 2026 | F W T X .CO M

his life immediately following this, but he’d eventually receive an education and become a teacher in Knoxville, Tennessee, where he earned a salary of $30 a month. And he’d follow this with a position as a clerk at Cowan and Dickinson dry goods for $25 a month.

Mysteriously, during this time, Tarleton began to acquire massive amounts of land in the Knoxville area. That’s right, on a $25 per month salary, Tarleton was amassing a lot of Tennessee acres, and the explanation largely remains a mystery.

However, what’s not a mystery is how he acquired his land in the Lone Star State — a big section of this becoming the grounds of Tarleton State in Stephenville.

As payment to veterans of the War of 1812, the U.S. government issued bounty warrants, which allowed veterans to settle on not-yet-surveyed land — in other words, Western states. Most who

received these warrants thought them worthless. Akin to those websites where one can “purchase” a distant star, most thought this land remote, unfarmable, untenable and, thus, worthless.

Recognizing the value in these certificates, Tarleton would take these warrants as payment at the dry goods store where he was employed — subsequently purchasing the dry goods items himself to attain the warrants. At this time, mid-19th century, Texas had only recently become a state, and anything west of the Mississippi was largely unsettled. And Tarleton would subsequently use the warrants to acquire thousands upon thousands of acres in Texas, Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, and Kansas.

Tarleton would move to the Waco area in the early 1870s and bought an interest in a local dry goods store. In Waco, he’d get married, divorced, and nearly lose half the property he’d acquired in the subsequent divorce suit.

He’d sell his interest in the dry goods store and move to Santo in 1880 before acquiring acreage to enter the cattle business. A volatile industry, his involvement would prove a financial disaster but, thanks to a minor grazing infraction, would lead to his introduction to J.C. George, a Stephenville lawyer. It was George who, when assisting Tarleton with his will, would recommend Stephenville as the ideal location when Tarleton wished to leave his money to a school. Tarleton initially snubbed his nose at the idea of Stephenville, saying he didn’t care for the “people down there” after a resident cheated him on a tax matter. But, as Tarleton wished to “aid the families of small farmers,” George finally convinced Tarleton that Stephenville was the ideal location. And it would be a “school for the class of people designated in his will.”

Yet, not much is known as to why Tarleton wished to leave his money for a school. Truth is, Tarleton just might be the most mysterious founder of a university, ever. But there’s little doubt he was someone who understood the importance of education in a

community. Whether it was ranch hands, drovers, blacksmiths, or farriers, everyone deserved a higher education if they so desired.

“A self-made millionaire in those days, leaving his life’s fortune to create an institution was unheard of,” dean of Tarleton State Fort Worth, Rachael Capua, says. “And it was founded upon his premise of creating opportunity, access, and affordability.”

And Capua thinks that Tarleton’s mettle and altruism perfectly encapsulates Fort Worth, the city his Stephenville university is bringing into the fold.

“John Tarleton was a rancher, was an entrepreneur, was philanthropic,” Capua says. “And the attributes and characteristics and a sense of service above self and giving to others was so much a part of who he was and what he did. That is, to me, the same as Fort Worth. We are, as a city, philanthropic. We are, as a city, wanting to serve and meet our community in ways that matter. And I think that for Tarleton State, which was founded on those very same principles, our Fort Worth campus is able to be an extension of that continued story and that continued narrative.”

Tarleton would pass in 1895, and John Tarleton College would teach its first courses in 1899.

Though it began as a private college, the school would become part of the Texas A&M system in 1917 and change its name to Tarleton State University in 1973. Five years later, the university would begin its first classes in Fort Worth.

The exact location of this satellite campus would change three times between 1978 and 2019, even spending 13 years in the large glass edifice that is the Hickman Building, the same building our magazine calls home.

The two buildings that make up today’s Tarleton State Fort Worth campus, which will soon be expanding, are also purposefully rife with homages to Cowtown. One fascinating touch, which Fort Worth foodies would certainly recognize, is the paintings of birds that line the walls of the second-story hallway. These paintings,

by Stuart and Scott Gentling, once graced the walls of Bird Café, a Sundance Square gastropub that closed its doors after COVID. The paintings were donated by their sister, Suzanne.

“I hope and believe we’re building a community and a campus that connects students to a sense of place and a sense of belonging that has this tie to Fort Worth,” Capua says. At the end of the day, we want Tarleton State Fort Worth to be a place where students feel seen and supported.”

Moving forward, we’ll start seeing more buildings on Tarleton State Fort Worth campus — as you can see by a recently released rendering showing the school’s upcoming plans. Ultimately, Hurley and Capua see the Chisholm Trail campus become a full-blown, comprehensive, self-contained university with the three halls: residence, dining, and academic.

“You’re going to see a campus that, over the next decade, will have all of those components built out,” Hurley says. “And our goal is to have just at our Fort Worth campus alone, by the year 2034, 2035, we’ll have 10,000 to 12,000 students on that campus.”

In other words, don’t be shocked to see more purple in the city — just not the TCU kind.

F W T X .CO M | JA N UA RY 2026

59

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JA N UA RY 2026 | F W T X .CO M

2026 Private School Guide School Name

Enrollment

Grades Taught

Accreditation

All Saints Catholic School Fort Worth, Fort Worth, 817.624.2670, ascsfw.org

132

Pre-K – 8

TCCB ED

All Saints' Episcopal School Fort Worth, Fort Worth, 817.560.5700, aseschool.org

1,230

Pre-K – 12

ISAS

Allegiance Academy, Euless, 847.732.0611, allegianceacademy.com

120

6 – 12

COGNIA

Alliance Christian Academy, Fort Worth, 817.439.8425, acaknights.com

143

Pre-K – 12

COGNIA

Anderson Private School for the Gifted Talented and Creative, Fort Worth, 817.448.8484, andersonschool.net

23

Pre-K – 12

COGNIA

Azle Christian School, Azle, 817.444.9964, azlechristianschool.org

169

Pre-K – 12

ICAA

Bethesda Christian School, Haltom City, 817.281.6446, bethesdachristianschool.org

524

Pre-K – 12

ACSI

Braveheart Academy Inc., Arlington, 817.422.9135, braveheartacademy.org

13

Pre-K – 8

COGNIA

Burleson Adventist School, Burleson, 817.295.6812, burlesontx.adventistschoolconnect.org

105

Pre-K – 8

TSDA

Burton Adventist Academy, Arlington, 817.572.0081, burtonacademy.org

378

Pre-K – 12

MSA

Cassata High School - Fort Worth, Fort Worth, 817.926.1745, cassatahs.org

139

9 – 12

TCCB ED

Children's University, Arlington, 817.784.6655, childrensuniversity.com

190

Pre-K – 6

COGNIA

Chisholm Trail Academy, Keene, 817.641.6626, cta.school

160

9 – 12

MSA

Christian Life Preparatory School, Fort Worth, 817.293.1500, clpsfamily.com

368

K – 12

COGNIA

Cleburne Adventist Christian School, Cleburne, 817.645.4300, cacs.school

34

Pre-K – 8

TSDA

Cleburne Christian Academy, Cleburne, 817.641.2857, ccacleburne.org

193

Pre-K – 12

COGNIA

Community Christian School, Mineral Wells, 940.328.1333, ccsmw.org

89

Pre-K – 12

ICAA

Coram Deo Academy, Flower Mound, 682.237.0232, coramdeoacademy.org

759

Pre-K – 12

ACCS

Cornerstone Christian Academy, Granbury, 817.573.6485, ccagranbury.com

236

Pre-K – 12

ACSI

Couts Christian Academy, Weatherford, 817.599.8601, coutschristianacademy.org

64

Pre-K – K

TAAPS

Covenant Christian Academy, Colleyville, 817.281.4333, covenantchristian.net

735

Pre-K – 12

ACCS

Covenant Classical School, Fort Worth, 817.820.0884, covenantfw.org

470

K – 12

COGNIA

Cristo Rey Fort Worth Catholic High School, Fort Worth, 817.720.3023, cristoreyfortworth.org

204

9 – 12

COGNIA

Crossing Heritage Academy, Fort Worth, 817.903.8259, crossingheritage.com

129

K – 12

CSI

Crown of Life Lutheran School Colleyville, Colleyville, 817.251.1881, colschool.org

135

Pre-K – 8

LSAC

Denton Calvary Academy, Denton, 940.320.1944, dentoncalvary.org

263

K – 12

COGNIA

E.A. Young Academy, Roanoke, 682.831.1776, eayoungacademy.com

90

K – 12

COGNIA

Fellowship Academy, Kennedale, 817.483.2400, fellowshipacademy.com

365

Pre-K – 12

COGNIA

Fort Worth Academy, Fort Worth, 817.370.1191, fwacademy.org

169

K–8

ISAS

Fort Worth Adventist Junior Academy, Fort Worth, 817.370.7177, gofwaja.org

80

Pre-K – 8

TSDA

Fort Worth Christian School, Fort Worth, 817.520.6200, fwc.org

670

Pre-K – 12

NCSA

Fort Worth Country Day, Fort Worth, 817.732.7718, fwcd.org

1,097

JK – 12

ISAS

Grace Classical Christian Academy, Granbury, 509.954.3911, graceclassical.com

105

Pre-K – 12

ACCS

Grace Preparatory Academy, Arlington, 817.557.3399, graceprep.org

478

Pre-K – 12

COGNIA

Grapevine Faith Christian School, Grapevine, 817.813.2484, grapevinefaith.com

800

Pre-K – 12

COGNIA

Green Oaks School, Arlington, 817.861.5000, greenoaksschool.org

37

K – 12

COGNIA

Harvest Christian Academy - Keller, Keller, 817.485.1660, hcasaints.org

257

K – 12

COGNIA

*school information not updated in most recent three years

62

JA N UA RY 2026 | F W T X .CO M

Where Every Child’s Potential is Possible

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As part of the Child Study Center at Cook Children’s, we go beyond the classroom with hands-on learning, communitybased experiences, and enrichment programs designed to prepare students for meaningful, independent lives.

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2026 Private School Guide School Name

Enrollment

Grades Taught

Accreditation

Harvest Christian Academy - Lantana Campus, Bartonville, 940.240.2550, hcasaints.org/lantana

210

Pre-K – 12

COGNIA

Heritage Christian Academy, Haslet, 817.439.3833, hcahaslet.org

205

Pre-K – 12

AACS

Hill School of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, 817.923.9482, hillschool.org

108

K – 12

COGNIA

Holy Cross Christian Academy, Burleson, 817.295.7232, hccaburleson.com

250

Pre-K – 12

ACSI

Holy Family Catholic School Fort Worth, Fort Worth, 817.737.4201, hfcsfw.org

213

Pre-K – 8

TCCB ED

Holy Trinity Catholic School Grapevine, Grapevine, 817.421.8000, holytcs.org

337

Pre-K – 8

TCCB ED

Immaculate Conception Catholic School Denton, Denton, 940.381.1155, catholicschooldenton.org

255

Pre-K – 8

TCCB ED

Jane Justin School, Fort Worth, 682.303.9356, childstudycenter.org

84

Pre-K – 12

COGNIA

Joshua Adventist Multi-Grade School, Joshua, 817.556.2109, jams.joshuasda.org

72

Pre-K – 8

TSDA

Joshua Christian Academy, Joshua, 817.295.7377, joshuachristianacademy.org

166

Pre-K – 12

COGNIA

Keene Adventist Elementary School, Keene, 817.645.9125, kaes4kids.com

173

Pre-K – 8

TSDA

Key School and Training Center, Fort Worth, 817.446.3738, ksfw.org

80

K – 12

COGNIA

Koan School, Denton, 940.294.6520, koanschool.org

111

K – 12

COGNIA

Lake Country Christian School, Fort Worth, 817.236.8703, lccs.org

406

Pre-K – 12

COGNIA

Lakeland Christian Academy, Lewisville, 972.219.3939, lakelandchristian.org

254

Pre-K – 12

ACSI

Legacy Classical Christian Academy, Haslet, 817.382.2322, legacyclassical.org

68

Pre-K – 12

COGNIA

Liberty Christian School, Argyle, 940.294.2000, mylcs.com

1,291

Pre-K – 12

ACSI

Mercy Culture Preparatory Academy, Fort Worth, 817.332.3351, mcprep.org

366

K – 12

COGNIA

Mercy Preparatory Academy, Waxahachie, 469.505.8377, mercyprep.org

118

Pre-K – 12

COGNIA

Merryhill School Arlington, Arlington, 817.472.9494, arlington.merryhillschool.com

254

Pre-K – 8

COGNIA

Messiah Lutheran Classical Academy, Keller, 817.431.5486, mlcatexas.org

141

Pre-K – 8

LSAC

Miss Endy's Christian Academy, Fort Worth, 817.737.9031, missendyschristian.com

31

Pre-K – 7

COGNIA

Montessori School of Fort Worth, Fort Worth, 817.732.0252, msftw.org

220

Pre-K – 6

AMS

My Dreams Academy, Fort Worth, 972.876.9861, mydreamsacademy.org

50

9 – 12

TAAPS

Nazarene Christian Academy, Crowley, 817.736.3113, nazarenechristianacademy.org

236

K – 12

ACTABS

Nolan Catholic High School, Fort Worth, 817.457.2920, nolancatholichs.org

940

9 – 12

TCCB ED

North Central Texas Academy, Granbury, 254.897.1361, northcentraltexasacademy.org

108

K – 12

COGNIA

Northstar School, Arlington, 817.478.5852, northstarschool.net

33

7 – 12

COGNIA

Ovilla Christian School, Red Oak, 972.617.1177, ovillachristianschool.org

312

Pre-K – 12

COGNIA

Pantego Christian Academy, Pantego, 817.460.3315, pantego.com

549

Pre-K – 12

ACSI

Park Row Christian Academy, Arlington, 817.277.1021, parkrowchristian.net

144

Pre-K – 6

COGNIA

Rivertree Academy, Fort Worth, 817.420.9310, rivertreeacademy.org

98

Pre-K – 5

COGNIA

Salam Academy Frisco, Frisco, 972.704.4373, salamfoundation.us

126

K – 12

COGNIA

School of Lexia, Mansfield, 817.823.9014, schooloflexia.org

33

1–8

COGNIA

Southwest Christian School - Lakeside Campus, Fort Worth, 817.294.9596, southwestchristian.org

980

7 – 12

ACSI

Southwest Christian School-Chisholm Trail Campus, Fort Worth, 817.294.0350, southwestchristian.org

413

Pre-K – 6

ACSI

St. Andrew Catholic School, Fort Worth, 817.924.8917, standrewsch.org

696

Pre-K – 8

TCCB ED

64

JA N UA RY 2026 | F W T X .CO M

2026 Private School Guide School Name

Enrollment

Grades Taught

Accreditation

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School Keller, Keller, 817.431.4845, seascc.net

614

Pre-K – 8

TCCB ED

St. George Catholic School, Fort Worth, 817.222.1221, stgeorgecatholicschool.org

143

Pre-K – 8

TCCB ED

St. John the Apostle Catholic School, North Richland Hills, 817.284.2228, stjs.org

262

Pre-K – 8

TCCB ED

St. Joseph Catholic School, Arlington, 817.419.6800, stjosephtx.org

281

Pre-K – 8

TCCB ED

St. Joseph Catholic School Waxhachie, Waxahachie, 972.937.0956, stjswaxtx.org

182

Pre-K – 8

TCCB ED

St. Maria Goretti Catholic School, Arlington, 817.275.5081, smgschool.org

407

Pre-K – 8

TCCB ED

St. Paul Lutheran School Fort Worth, Fort Worth, 817.332.2281, stplcfw.org

204

Pre-K – 8

LSAC

St. Paul's Preparatory Academy, Arlington, 817.561.3500, stpaulsprep.com

254

Pre-K – 12

TAAPS

St. Peter the Apostle Catholic School - Fort Worth, Fort Worth, 817.246.2032, spsfw.org

72

Pre-K – 8

TCCB ED

St. Rita Catholic School Fort Worth, Fort Worth, 817.451.9383, saintritaschool.net

172

Pre-K – 8

TCCB ED

Starpoint School, Fort Worth, 817.257.7141, starpoint.tcu.edu

63

1–6

SAIS

Temple Christian Academy, Flower Mound, 972.874.8700, templechristian.com

140

K – 12

AACS

Temple Christian School, Fort Worth, 817.457.0770, tcseagles.org

406

Pre-K – 12

ACTABS

The Agape School, Bedford, 214.267.8571, theagapeschool.org

12

Pre-K – 12

COGNIA

The Clariden School, Southlake, 682.237.0400, claridenschool.org

115

Pre-K – 12

TAAPS

The Montessori Academy of Arlington, Arlington, 817.274.1548, tmaonline.org

182

Pre-K – 6

AMS

The Novus Academy, Grapevine, 817.488.4555, thenovusacademy.org

51

K – 12

COGNIA

SHAPING HEARTS. SHARPENING MINDS. SENDING OUT LEADERS. At Trinity Christian Academy, we believe education is about more than academics. It’s about raising up leaders who love Jesus, think critically, serve others, and impact the world.

OUR STUDENTS EXPERIENCE: A BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW IN EVERY SUBJECT COLLEGE-PREP ACADEMICS & SMALL CLASS SIZES CHAMPIONSHIP-LEVEL ATHLETICS VIBRANT FINE ARTS

Faith First.

Excellence Always.

ENROLLMENT OPENS SOON — CONNECT WITH US TODAY! 66

JA N UA RY 2026 | F W T X .CO M

WEEKLY STUDENT-LED WORSHIP LOCAL & INTERNATIONAL MISSION TRIPS

4954 EAST I-20 SERVICE RD SOUTH WILLOW PARK, TEXAS 76087

817-441-5897 | WWW.TCAEAGLES.ORG

2026 Private School Guide School Name

Enrollment

Grades Taught

Accreditation

The Oakridge School, Arlington, 817.451.4994, theoakridgeschool.org

694

Pre-K – 12

ISAS

The Selwyn School, Argyle, 940.382.6771, selwynschool.com

150

Pre-K – 12

COGNIA

The Spellmon Fine Arts Academy, Forest Hill, 817.534.4646, tsfaa.org

17

Pre-K – 5

ACTS

Trinity Christian Academy, Willow Park, 817.441.7901, tcaeagles.org

500

Pre-K – 12

COGNIA

Trinity Preparatory Academy, Keller, 817.683.1453, trinityprepkeller.org

400

K – 12

COGNIA

Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, 817.321.0100, trinityvalleyschool.org

1,042

K – 12

ISAS

Victory Baptist Academy, Weatherford, 817.596.2711, vbainfo.com

250

Pre-K – 12

AACS

Victory Christian Academy, Decatur, 940.626.4730, victorychristianacademy.org

302

Pre-K – 12

COGNIA

Waxahachie Preparatory Academy, Waxahachie, 972.930.0440, wpacademy.org

147

K – 12

ACSI

Waypoint Montessori School, Colleyville, 817.354.6670, waypointmontessori.org

122

Pre-K – 6

TAAPS

Weatherford Christian School, Weatherford, 817.341.0000, weatherfordchristian.com

272

Pre-K – 12

NCSA

State-Recognized Accrediting Commissions: Accreditation Commission of the Texas Association of Baptist Schools (ACTABS) American Association of Christian Schools (AACS) American Montessori Society (AMS) Association of Christian Schools International (ACSI) Association of Christian Teachers and Schools (ACTS) Association of Classical and Christian Schools (ACCS) Christian Schools International (CSI)

Cognia (COGNIA) Independent Schools Association of the Southwest (ISAS) International Christian Accrediting Association (ICAA) Lutheran Schools Accreditation Commission (LSAC) Middle State Association Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS) National Christian Schools Association (NCSA) Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS) Southwestern Association of Episcopal Schools (SAES)

Texas Alliance of Accredited Private Schools (TAAPS) Texas Catholic Conference Education Department (TCCED) Texas Seventh-Day Adventists (TSDA) Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod School Accreditation (WELSSA)

Girl Scout Cookie Season Every Girl Scout Cookie inspires real change.

Let’s unbox the future by supporting our local Girl Scout entrepreneurs!

Find a Cookie Booth near you from January 9 to March 1. gs-strong.org/cookiefwtx

© 2025 Girl Scouts of the United States of America. All Rights Reserved.

FWTXM J A N U A R Ad.indd Y 2 0 2 6 1| F W T X . C O M 68 - January Issue_Cookie

12/1/2025 3:39:33 PM

BE Enrolling Pre-K-12 Discover a Christ-centered, college preparatory education at Southwest Christian School, where every student is seen, supported, and valued.

KNOWN southwestchristian.org

70

JA N UA RY 2026 | F W T X .CO M

2026 College & University Guide School Name

Enrollment

Tuition and Fees (*In District)

Acceptance Rate

Abilene Christian University, Abilene, acu.edu

3,188

$44,200

64%

Amberton University, Garland, amberton.edu

111

$9,060

n/a

Angelo State University, San Angelo, angelo.edu

9,623

$8,460

79%

Arlington Baptist University, Arlington, abu.edu

268

$20,140

Open

Austin College, Sherman, austincollege.edu

1,128

$48,680

47%

Baptist University of the Américas, San Antonio, bua.edu

98

$9,180

Open

Baylor University, Waco, baylor.edu

15,155

$58,100

51%

Concordia University Texas, Austin, concordia.edu

1,391

$23,500

91%

Criswell College, Dallas, criswell.edu

118

$15,750

92%

Dallas Baptist University, Dallas, dbu.edu

2,850

$40,190

91%

DeVry University-Texas, Irving, devry.edu

26

$17,408

n/a

East Texas A&M University, Commerce, tamuc.edu

8,318

$10,026

93%

East Texas Baptist University, Marshall, etbu.edu

1,659

$30,680

60%

Hardin-Simmons University, Abilene, hsutx.edu

1,283

$32,960

97%

Houston Christian University, Houston, hc.edu

2,787

$39,430

85%

Howard Payne University, Brownwood, hputx.edu

768

$34,982

68%

Huston-Tillotson University, Austin, htu.edu

982

$26,709

Open

Jarvis Christian University, Hawkins, jarvis.edu

730

$11,720

Open

Lamar University, Beaumont, lamar.edu

7,998

$8,905

86%

LeTourneau University, Longview, letu.edu

3,227

$37,160

41%

Lubbock Christian University, Lubbock, lcu.edu

1,320

$28,540

73%

McMurry University, Abilene, mcm.edu

2,544

$32,340

58%

Midwestern State University, Wichita Falls , msutexas.edu

4,508

$10,580

87%

Nelson University, Waxahachie, nelson.edu

1413

$25,064

84%

North American University, Stafford, na.edu

573

$15,436

Open

Our Lady of the Lake University, San Antonio, ollusa.edu

1,147

$32,106

Open

Paul Quinn College, Dallas, pqc.edu

600

$13,498

34%

Prairie View A&M University, Prairie View, pvamu.edu

8,527

$11,299

75%

Rice University, Houston, rice.edu

4,574

$63,799

8%

Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, shsu.edu

18,179

$9,228

85%

Schreiner University, Kerrville, schreiner.edu

1,062

$39,266

88%

Southern Methodist University, Dallas, smu.edu

7,115

$67,040

61%

Southwestern Adventist University, Keene, swau.edu

813

$25,380

56%

Southwestern Christian College, Terrell, swcc.edu

128

$14,638

Open

Southwestern University, Georgetown, southwestern.edu

1,457

$53,813

39%

St. Edward’s University, Austin, stedwards.edu

2,731

$51,384

84%

St. Mary’s University, San Antonio, stmarytx.edu

2,147

$37,434

89%

Stephen F. Austin State University, Nacogdoches, sfasu.edu

9,575

$11,128

88%

Sul Ross State University, Alpine, sulross.edu

1,441

$7,592

96%

Tarleton State University, Stephenville, tarleton.edu

15,937

$8,302

94%

Tarrant County College, Fort Worth, tccd.edu

41,472

$1,863*

Open

Texas A&M International University, Laredo, tamiu.edu

7,004

$7,894

46%

Texas A&M University, College Station, tamu.edu

59,933

$13,154

63%

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JA N UA RY 2026 | F W T X .CO M

2026 College & University Guide School Name

Enrollment

Tuition and Fees (*In District)

Acceptance Rate

Texas A&M University-Central Texas, Killeen, tamuct.edu

1,702

$7,363

100%

Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi, Corpus Christi, tamucc.edu

7,822

$9,748

89%

Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Kingsville, tamuk.edu

5,187

$9,892

92%

Texas A&M University-San Antonio, San Antonio, tamusa.edu

6,706

$9,654

92%

Texas A&M University-Texarkana, Texarkana, tamut.edu

1,760

$8,349

80%

Texas Baptist College, Fort Worth, texasbaptistcollege.com

351

$11,934

53%

Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, tcu.edu

10,937

$61,740

43%

Texas College, Tyler, texascollege.edu

644

$10,008

Open

Texas Lutheran University, Seguin, tlu.edu

1,290

$36,230

95%

Texas Southern University, Houston, tsu.edu

6,619

$9,173

93%

Texas State University, San Marcos, txst.edu

34,547

$11,450

89%

Texas Tech University, Lubbock, ttu.edu

32,635

$11,852

71%

Texas Wesleyan University, Fort Worth, txwes.edu

1,910

$39,582

62%

Texas Woman’s University, Denton, twu.edu

10,260

$8,640

95%

The King's University, Southlake, tku.edu

272

$12,480

100%

The University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, uta.edu

31,112

$11,950

81%

The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, utexas.edu

42,444

$11,688

29%

The University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, utdallas.edu

21,333

$14,644

65%

74

JA N UA RY 2026 | F W T X .CO M

®

Member of The Texas A&M University System

TEXAN MADE TRANSFORMING LIVES

INSPIRING GENERATIONS

†

For more than 125 years, Tarleton State University has delivered transformational education, real-world experience and innovative impact. Every Texan who enters our gates is shaped by a journey that inspires generations to follow.

This year, that proud legacy rode even higher. The Texan Rodeo team claimed two national championship titles at the College National Finals Rodeo, proving once again that determination and tradition define the Tarleton State spirit.

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR CHAMPIONS — YOU MAKE EVERY TEXAN PROUD! Today, our Texans are creating lasting impact in their communities, across Texas and around the world. Their achievements, in the arena and beyond, reflect the purpose that sets Tarleton State apart. Texans are made to make a difference.

They are Texan Made — and that’s why our purple won’t fade.

INAUGURAL TARLETON STATE DAY – JANUARY 26TH

Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo

Join us for a new Tarleton State tradition!

BUY TICKETS

@TarletonState

Tarleton.edu

2026 College & University Guide Enrollment

Tuition and Fees (*In District)

Acceptance Rate

The University of Texas at El Paso, El Paso, utep.edu

29,609

$9,744

100%

The University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, utsa.edu

30,310

$9,011

88%

The University of Texas at Tyler, Tyler, uttyler.edu

7,287

$9,736

92%

The University of Texas Permian Basin, Odessa, utpb.edu

4,654

$9,236

84%

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Edinburg, utrgv.edu

27,040

$9,987

85%

Trinity University, San Antonio, trinity.edu

2,531

$53,676

28%

University of Dallas, Irving, udallas.edu

1,427

$53,930

54%

University of Houston, Houston, uh.edu

37,946

$9,717

70%

School Name

University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, Belton, umhb.edu

3,024

$30,020

95%

University of North Texas, Denton, unt.edu

33,858

$11,309

72%

University of North Texas at Dallas, Dallas, untdallas.edu

3,018

$9,595

94%

University of St. Thomas, Houston, stthom.edu

2,969

$34,634

93%

University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, uiw.edu

4,726

$37,090

93%

Wade College, Dallas, wadecollege.edu

205

$17,692

Open

Wayland Baptist University, Plainview, wbu.edu

2,162

$23,782

54%

Weatherford College, Weatherford, wc.edu

5,440

$5,250*

Open

West Texas A&M University, Canyon, wtamu.edu

6,786

$9,101

97%

Wiley University, Marshall, wileyc.edu

636

$12,500

Open

Flamingo_Fort Worth Zoo Animals Gallery

MAKE A STATEMENT Bring the stories of Cowtown into your space. From our pages to your walls, Fort Worth Magazine’s exclusive fine art images are now available for you to own and appreciate.

From well-known personalities to music and Western, you’ll find the perfect piece for your space.

Fine art prints from our award-winning photographers are now available. Get yours today at art.fwtx.com or scan the QR code on your mobile phone.

76

JA N UA RY 2026 | F W T X .CO M

fine art as unique as fort worth

THANK YOU TO OUR 2026 GRAND ENTRY GALA SPONSORS P resenting Sponsor Reserve Grand Champion

Avondale Dealerships • Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo Teresa and Luther King / Luther King Capital Management B reed Champion

BKV Corporation • Bluejack Ranch

Class Champion

Ben and Madolin Rosenthal and Ashli and Todd Blumenfeld • Billy and Rozanne Rosenthal Brazos Midstream • Double Eagle • Fort Worth Magazine • Frost • Kim & J C Johnson Mary Lynn and Fred Bangs • Pheasant Energy • RLK Co. / Leigh & J. Riley King • Sewell The Rios Group, Inc. • The Roach Foundation S tock S how

95.9 The Ranch • Akin • Brumbaugh's Furniture and Design • Dickies Arena • Kelly Hart & Hallman Kimberlin Ranches • Majestic Realty • Marty Leonard • Texas Health Burleson, Fort Worth, and Willow Park Texas Health Southwest • The Navejar Family • Trail Drive Management Corp.

Rodeo

2025-2026 JLFW Board of Directors • 3W Restoration, Harwell, Mooring, Polson, Sims, and Wallace Adams, Harrison, Murray, Pifer, and Starnes • Becky and Carson Bullard • Brandy and Wade Hudson Brightpoint Auto • Bryson Kuba, LP • Cook Children's Health Foundation • CustomBootjacks.com DePriest, Faith, Milliken, Ray and Rein • Elaine Agather • Gretchen and David Miller • Hillwood, a Perot Company HUB International Texas • J.P. Morgan Private Bank • JJ Saltsman and Steven Magsig Kathleen and Lance Carter and Megan and Dustin Valusek • Kearney, Lawrence, Marlow, Pate, Tuomey, and Wright Law Office of Jason Mills Immigration Law and Vaden Drywall-Plaster-Masonry • Loretta and Don Marable Marsh McLennan Agency (MMA) • Michelle and Dan Lowrance • Midkiff & Co. Real Estate • Ofi Chito • PNC Bank Saturn Freight Systems Inc. • Shay Gipson and Rosemary Cruz • Suzanne and Travis Sanders Texas Health Harris Methodist Hurst-Euless-Bedford The Robinson Petronis Group of Baird Private Wealth Management • The Rodgers Family UBS Private Wealth Management • UMB Bank • Virginia Durham • Virginia Hobbs Charitable Trust

Saddle Box

American Cancer Society • Ana and John Landreth • Jennifer and Philip Williamson Kendall and Adam Riddell • Kim and Glenn Darden • Larkin and Richard McMillan • Lynsey Blair Oral & Maxillofacial Network • Texas Christian University

Special Thanks to

6666 Ranch • Ben E. Keith • ByGeorge Press • LALO Tequila • Pernod Ricard • Reata Sponsors as of November 25, 2025

CHOWTOWN LOCAL EATS AND RESTAURANT NEWS

83

Buonissimo

There’s a buzzy new Italian restaurant downtown, and it’s already setting itself apart. Buonissimo, led by three chefs who all hail from Italy, is showcasing modern Venetian flavors, starting with standout dishes like the grilled octopus featured here.

WHAT WE’RE CHEWING OVER THIS MONTH:

On page 80 2026 is giving us some serious hunger pangs. Fort Worth’s dining scene is poised for fresh arrivals.

A look at the restaurants expected to open in the year ahead. On page 84 The Chowtown Lowdown.

F W T X .CO M | JA N UA RY 2026

79

CHOWTOWN DINING

Beren Mediterranean Empire Kitchen Opening: Early 2026

One of Fort Worth’s best new restaurants of 2025 is getting an upgrade for 2026. The popular Turkish spot from the Erhan family is leaving the Funky Town Food Hall for a fullfledged brick-and-mortar. They’re not going far, just a few blocks over, into the sleek Near Southside space recently vacated by vegan restaurant Maiden. The move will give the restaurant room to stretch its legs, with a bigger, warmer dining area and expanded menu of modern and classic Mediterranean dishes.

Details: 1216 Sixth Ave., berenmediterranean.com

Beverly’s Downtown Opening: March

Chef Jenna Kinard and her husband Micah

by Malcolm Mayhew

Foodie Forecast Fort Worth’s culinary landscape is looking mighty tasty in ’26.

Easily one of the city’s most anticipated restaurants comes from the team behind one of last year’s biggest culinary success stories, The Mont. Now, the same owners turn their attention to this high-end Mexican restaurant, which will open this spring in the basement of the historic Hogan Building downtown.

Designed by Fort Worth firm Maven — which also designed The Mont — the 7,000-square-foot restaurant will be open for quick downtown lunches and will morph into a more leisurely dinner-and-drinks destination at night. Menu items haven’t been unveiled yet, but a release promises a combination of Northern and coastal Mexican dishes made by hand with fresh, local and seasonal ingredients.

Details: 901 Houston St.

Broadway 10 Bar & Chophouse

E

ach December, we look back at the greatest restaurants that opened in Fort Worth over the last 12 months. In January, we flip the culinary calendar to look at what’s ahead.

This year’s new restaurant forecast, strangely enough, may sound a bit like last year’s, since many of the restaurants slated to open in ‘25 got bumped to ‘26. But as anyone in the restaurant industry will tell you, never bank on your restaurant opening until it actually opens.

With that being said, here’s a look at some of the new restaurants slated to open in Fort Worth this year.

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JA N UA RY 2026 | F W T X .CO M

Opening: Spring/summer, maybe

Originally slated to open late 2024 and now bumped to this spring/ summer, this new downtown steakhouse will serve as the on-site restaurant for Deco, a 27-story highrise featuring deco-style, luxury apartment homes and penthouses.

Says a release, the 8,500-squarefoot restaurant will spotlight

hand-cut steaks and seafood grilled over a blend of pecan, oak, and hickory woods. Accompanying the entrees will be family-style sides such as smoked Gouda mashed potatoes and lobster mac and cheese.

They’ll also serve sushi because, well, why not? The restaurant comes from Provisions Concepts, an Oklahoma-based restaurant group. Fort Worth will be Broadway 10’s second location; the original is in Oklahoma City.

Details: 969 Commerce St., b10chophouse.com

Cafe Mirador

Opening: Early 2026 Fort Worth’s Cultural District is getting its own version of Dallas’ Forty Five Ten shopping mecca, and with it will come a new location of Café Mirador, its in-house, lunch-and-lounge restaurant.

The menu will feature some of the restaurant’s signature dishes — an Instagram-ready lobster roll, silky whipped ricotta, and playful ahi tuna cornettes — executed with a bit of flair by, according to PaperCity, Fort Worth native and chef Manny Gutierrez, who’ll use seasonal ingredients and locally sourced produce to level up each dish.

Details: 3220 West Seventh St., mirador-dallas.com

Drinks ’N Such

Opening: First quarter 2026 Think of Drinks ’N Such as a restaurant supergroup, a culinary Traveling Wilburys. The new TCUarea concept — which is taking over the former Carter’s Coffee space — brings together talented Fort Worth chef David Hollister, whose resume includes Wild Acre and Gas Monkey Bar ’N Grill, and partners Clayton Grunewald and Tino DeFranco of Funky Lime Hospitality, the team behind spots like Reservoir, The Whiskey Garden, and Shot:30.

Rounding out the crew is Drew Boatman, known for Rusty Nickel and Star Cafe. Together, they’re crafting

a food-hall-inspired menu served in a sports-bar setting, with dishes drawn from multiple culinary styles and locales.

Details: 2736 Stanley Ave., instagram.com/drinks.n.such

Duong DeVille

Opening: Spring/summer Duong DeVille marks the longawaited first solo restaurant from Hao Tran, our city’s beloved dumpling virtuoso. After years of pop-ups, collaborations, and running her self-named market and bistro on the Near Southside, Tran will finally put her full range on display inside a 4,000-square-foot space that’s part of siblings Will Churchill and Corrie Watson Fletcher’s new Entrepreneur Park development in White Settlement. The menu will go well beyond dumplings, blending traditional Vietnamese flavors with Tran’s inventive, homey style. Look for dishes such as a rich beef rib pho and delicate steamed rice cakes; the latter is a specialty dish from the Vietnamese city of Hue, from where many of Tran’s recipes originated. She’ll also carve out space for market items, she says, and she’ll have plenty of room to continue her popular cooking classes. For those of us who’ve followed Tran’s culinary journey, it’s a milestone that can’t come soon enough.

Details: 405 Jim Wright Freeway

Willow, an upscale cocktail lounge, and Public Market Café & Goods, a community-focused cafe offering baked goods, coffee, and local products. The food and bev concepts are a part of Wilks’ multimillion reno of the nearly 100-year-old property.

Details: 1400 Henderson St., madronerestaurant.com

Enchiladas Olé Express Opening: Dec. 3, 2025

Bless Mary Patino Perez, who can’t seem to find a permanent home for her roving Tex-Mex concept and her newish barbecue biz, Holy Cue. Here’s hoping that’ll change with her latest spot. Her two concepts have come together under one roof at Cat City Grill’s old digs on Magnolia Avenue. There, Perez is serving her signature enchiladas and smoked brisket in a fast-casual setting, with great prices: There’s nothing priced over $16.

Details: 1208 W. Magnolia Ave., enchiladasole.com

Felina

Opening: First quarter of 2026 Felina is the next move from the Texas brothers behind Bocca Osteria Romana, the wonderful Italian

Fort Worth Public Market Opening: Early May

Fort Worth’s Wilks Development is teaming up with local chef Jenna Kinard, her husband Micah, and Kansas City restaurateur Christian Moscoso to revive the historic Fort Worth Public Market with three new food/beverage concepts and an artisanal market. Known for her Southern-influenced cooking at Max’s Wine Dive and Jellico’s, Kinard will lead Madrone, a fine-dining restaurant built around tasting menus and seasonal Texas ingredients. The project will also include

Enchiladas Olé Express

F W T X .CO M | JA N UA RY 2026

81

CHOWTOWN DINING

restaurant found down a back-alley in the South Main area. Opening early ‘26 in the former Funky Picnic space on Bryan Avenue, next door to Ichiro Izakaya, the new concept will offer a culinary snapshot of Alessandro and Alfonso Salvatore’s globe-trotting background — Texas-born, raised across Mexico, Italy, and Puerto Rico — with Italian cooking that wanders into Latin and Mediterranean territory. Alessandro, who was named Fort Worth Chef of the Year at the 2025 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards, says to expect a relaxed, neighborhood feel and a menu built around seasonal ingredients, wood-fired Neapolitan-style pizzas, and a custom-made trompo that will turn out everything from lamb to thinly sliced rib-eye. Vegetables will play a big role, along with housemade pastas, salads, and street-food items like panuozzo sandwiches — handhelds made with baked pizza dough. Drinks will include prosecco, cocktails, and natural wines on tap. Can’t wait for this one.

Details: 401 Bryan Ave., Ste.117, instagram.com/felina_fortworth

H Mart

Opening: Spring H Mart’s long-awaited first store in Tarrant County is slated to open in the spring as part of a massive 50-acre mixed-use development near Loop 820 and North Beach Street in Haltom City. Known for its extensive selection of Asian groceries and specialty goods, the popular chain — which already has locations in Carrollton and Plano — will be the centerpiece of the new plaza. Hoping to snag H Mart shoppers, dozens of new Asian-inspired restaurants will open throughout the plaza, including Chowdang Village, a Korean chain known for its sundubu-jjigae tofu and hot pots; It’s KBBQ & Shabu Shabu, an all-you-can-eat chain where apps and small plates come to your table via conveyor belt and servers cook Korean barbecue meats

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at your table; Lantern Thai Kitchen, a New York restaurant making its Texas debut; several coffee and dessert shops like SomiSomi and Hui Lau Shan; and 85°C, a beloved bakery making its second attempt at a Fort Worth-area store (a location in the Left Bank opened and closed a few years ago). Look for H Mart to open March/April.

Details: 3920 NE Loop 820, Haltom City, hmart.com

The Henry McCarty Irish Pub Opening: First quarter of 2026

The long-vacant Cork & Pig Tavern space in The Artisan Circle/West 7th will soon be home to a new Irish pub — good news for those bummed by the recent closure of nearby Trinity College Irish Pub. McCarty’s takes its name from famed outlaw Billy the Kid, who was born Henry McCarty and was the son of Irish-Catholic immigrants, giving the concept a nod to Irish-American folklore. The pub comes from good stock: Owner Alan Kearney, a native Dubliner, is behind several successful North Texas Irish spots, including Patrick Kennedy’s Irish Pub and The Playwright Irish Pub, both in the Dallas area. At McCarty’s, expect a menu built around Irish comfort staples — fish and chips, corned beef and cabbage, full Irish breakfast — alongside an extensive lineup of Irish beers, whiskeys, and cocktails.

Details: 2869 Crockett St., thehenrymccarty.com

Partenope Ristorante

Opening: First quarter 2026 Pizza is coming back to 2949 Crockett St. — once home to the much-missed Fireside Pies — thanks to master pizzaiolo Dino Santonicola and his wife, Megan, who are opening a Fort Worth outpost of their acclaimed Dallas restaurant in Artisan Circle/West 7th. Santonicola hails from Naples, where he trained in the craft of true Italian pizza before making a name for himself in North Texas at

Cane Rosso. In 2019, he and Megan branched out with their own concept, Partenope Ristorante, which has locations in downtown Dallas and Richardson. The Fort Worth restaurant will follow the same formula that has earned them a loyal following: a warm, family-friendly atmosphere and meticulous, oldworld pies anchored by high-quality ingredients and traditional technique.

Details: 2949 Crockett St., partenopedallas.com

Shug’s Bagels

Opening: Mid 2026 Dallas’ bagel go-to spot is opening a location in west Fort Worth in the old J&G Oasis Beverage Center building, best known for its neon “Oasis Liquor” sign. Owner Justin Shugrue has made a name for himself for his New York-style bagels, in flavors such as jalapeño cheddar, French toast, and garlic, and other NY-inspired eats, including lox and egg. In addition to offering breakfast bites, Shug’s will be open for lunch, too, serving deli-style sandwiches.

Details: 5101 Camp Bowie Blvd., shugsbagels.com

Top of the Morning Brunch House Opening: Early 2026

Opening in the former Mash’d space in Artisan Circle/West 7th., is this all-day breakfast and brunch spot, spearheaded by Chicagoan Nick Roditis, who helped expand the Yolk brand across Dallas-Fort Worth, according to CultureMap. Look for dishes such as chicken & waffles done the old-school way, with bone-in chicken, to more luxe eats like a truffle steak sandwich.

As did Mash’d, the restaurant will feature a large patio where diners can get a front row view of Artisan Square buffoonery.

Details: 2948 Crockett St., tombrunchhouse.com

Power trio: Pastry chef Fabio Dicataldo (left), executive chef Armando Sobatti (middle), and sous chef Gian Daniele Solinas lead the kitchen at Buonissimo.

Tre Italiani

With three chefs from Italy and a menu shaped by Venetian traditions, Buonissimo aims to push Fort Worth’s modern Italian movement forward

by Malcolm Mayhew Photos by Thanin Viriyaki

M

odern Italian cuisine has been on the rise in Fort Worth for several years now. The city still loves a classic red-sauce joint — neighborhood faves like Prima’s and Milano’s aren’t going anywhere — but diners have increasingly embraced restaurants like Piattello, 61 Osteria, and il Modo.

That is, restaurants that skip the kitsch and lean into housemade pastas, modern decor, and a more contemporary style of Italian cooking.

Newly opened Buonissimo fits

neatly into this revolution. Found in a corner pocket of downtown near the courthouse, in the space last occupied

by Avanti, it joins a wave of restaurants broadening the horizon of Fort Worth’s Italian cuisine landscape.

But it easily sets itself apart, offering cuisine that heavily zeros in on a specific region of Italy — Venice — and, what may be a culinary first for Fort Worth, a kitchen led by three chefs who all hail from Italy.

Executive chef Armando Sobatti,

sous-chef Gian Daniele Solinas, and pastry chef Fabio Dicataldo each bring their own regional sensibilities, experiences, and training from various locales in Italy, including Venice.

While Fort Worth is no stranger to chefs with Italian heritage or classical training, a trio of Italian-born chefs simultaneously steering one kitchen is something new for the city.

“In a lot of markets, especially on the coasts, you’ll find restaurant teams made up entirely of chefs who grew up in Italy,” says John Commodore, the restaurant’s general manager. “But here in Fort Worth, that’s incredibly rare. I’ve been in this business a long time, and I can say with confidence, a lineup like this doesn’t come around often.” (Ferdinand Plaku, co-owner of Keller Italian restaurant Acquario, was originally attached to the restaurant but is no longer affiliated; he, too, has roots in Italy).

Sobatti, the executive chef, is shaping the menu around staples of northern Italian cuisine, which is known for fresh seafood and pastas made by hand. His pastas include an excellent gnocchi with a Formaggio fondue cheese and truffle; ricotta and spinach tortelloni with butter, sage, and toasted hazelnuts; and tagliolini pasta with clams.

Seafood dishes include a sea bass filet with capers and a creamy, housemade lemon sauce and expertly grilled octopus with pumpkin cream that tastes better than it sounds. But the Cotoletta alla Milanese, a plate-engulfing breaded veal cutlet, may steal the show, with its fork-tender meat, perfectly seasoned and crisped sheath of breading, and side of snappy roasted potatoes.

Pastry chef Dicataldo helms a dessert program that blends classical Italian sweets with more contemporary presentations. Think pastry-case favorites like panna cotta and tiramisu, but also lesser-known desserts that highlight regional ingredients, such as the sublime salted caramel millefoglie, a unique play on the classic Italian puff pastry cake.

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Commodore says the power of the team isn’t just their resumes but the way their skills intersect.

“What stands out to me is the way they work together,” he says. “Each one has a completely different perspective shaped by where they’re from and how they trained. You put that in one kitchen, and suddenly you have this exchange of ideas that elevates everything, not in an over-the-top way, but in a way diners can genuinely taste.”

Commodore himself is somewhat of a catch for the restaurant. Originally from southern California, he began his restaurant career in 2011 and has since blazed a distinguished path through the food and beverage industry.

A certified sommelier through the Court of Master Sommeliers, Commodore has worked at several high-profile restaurants, including The Arthur J, a Michelin-starred steakhouse in Manhattan Beach, California; he moved to Texas in 2024.

While Buonissimo fits comfortably within Fort Worth’s expanding Italian dining landscape, owner Ervin Cibaku, opening his first restaurant, believes it will add something distinct. The chefs here, he says, are building a restaurant that mirrors how people in Italy eat today: a mix of cherished classics, regional comfort foods, and creative nods to modern Italian dining.

The restaurant itself is designed to match that sensibility, Commodore says. The space is warm but sleek, inviting but not leaning on rustic tropes. The intention, he says, is to give Fort Worth diners a place they can use in multiple ways: dates, business dinners, celebrations, or a pasta-and-wine night at the bar.

“We didn’t want to create a special-occasion restaurant that people only visit once a year,” Commodore says. “We want Buonissimo to feel like a regular part of people’s dining. We’re right across the street from the courthouse, and we get a lot of people from there. We want it to be a place you can drop in for pasta and a nice glass of wine or stay for a while and enjoy a long meal.”

The team has also put together a robust Italian wine list and a cocktail program built around Italian spirits and aperitivo culture.

Buonissimo’s opening underscores a larger trend in Fort Worth: Diners have become more adventurous, more informed, and more appreciative of restaurants that emphasize technique and authenticity over gimmicks. And the restaurant’s leadership believes the timing couldn’t be better.

“There’s real momentum right now in Fort Worth,” Commodore says. “People here are curious. They want the real thing. And when you have three chefs who were raised in the culture of Italian cooking, who understand the food intuitively, you can give guests an experience that feels both genuine and new.”

Buonissimo, 150 Throckmorton St., buonissimofw.com

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The Chowtown Lowdown White Rhino Coffee, the Dallas-born specialty coffee shop with locations in Fort Worth and Arlington, recently acquired Emporium Pies, another Dallas-bred snack spot with a store in Fort Worth. The deal brings together two majority women-owned businesses that share a similar ethos of quality and local roots. Emporium’s founding sisters — Landon Perdue, Jen Abohosh, and Addie Roberts — say in a release the handoff felt natural, thanks to aligned values and a shared commitment to doing things the right way. Continues the release, the bakery team, along with Roberts, will stay on board, ensuring the pies remain of high quality. “Emporium Pies will remain the same incredible pie shop customers know and love,” White Rhino CEO Chris Escamilla says in the release.

While operations won’t change immediately, White Rhino is looking at expanding Emporium’s footprint and rolling out pieand-coffee collabs in the future. whiterhinocoffee.com Eastside soul food spot Chef’s Corner, one of the best new restaurants to open in Fort Worth in 2025, has introduced several new dishes for winter. Exec chef Mike Douresseaux recently rolled out some magnificent lamb chops, a collard greens spinach dip, an apple, broccoli and almond slaw that has to be eaten to be believed, and a whole slew of barbecued meats. He’s also added a new brunch menu with items like eggs and fried dirty rice. Tricked out with crab legs bigger than the bowl they’re served in, Mike D.’s gumbo is still the best in the city. 1201 Oakland Blvd., chefscornerftworth.com New to open in Fort Worth pizza chain Mister O1 Extraordinary Pizza has decided we haven’t eaten enough

this season, so they’ve teamed up with Terry Black’s BBQ to unleash the Terry Black’s Brisket Pizza. It’s available at Mister O1’s Fort Worth locations in Alliance and West 7th through Feb. 28. The pie is stacked with Terry Black’s brisket, tomato sauce, mozzarella, red onions, jalapeños, dill pickles, spicy BBQ sauce, and cilantro. mistero1.com New York-inspired/Trophy Clubbred Dan’s Bagels has opened its first location in Fort Worth at 2430 Forest Park Blvd. It’s a franchise owned by Luis and Mona Lisa Galicia (if that’s not the best name in the world, I don’t know what is), an Arlington couple whose TCU-attending daughter helped steer them toward setting up shop near campus. As a further homage to their daughter, the couple does a blueberry pie bagel in TCU purple. The brand began in Trophy Club in 2020, when founders Dan and Jen Hilbert started baking triple-fermented sourdough bagels from home after missing the classic New York breakfast food of their East Coast youth; demand pushed them to open their first storefront in 2021.

In addition to the Fort Worth and Trophy Club locations, there’s a Dan’s Bagels in Grapevine and a new one will soon rise in Argyle. dansbagels.com

PROMOTION

Chad Marsh, DVMS, DACVS-LA., Dr. Marsh performs an ultrasound-guided SI-Injection

Equine Sports Medicine and Surgery When Performance Matters Just west of Fort Worth along I20, elite equine athletes arrive seeking what rodeo fans admire: soundness, heart, and longevity. At Equine Sports Medicine & Surgery (ESMS) in Weatherford, the mission is clear — keeping performance horses healthy, comfortable, and competing at their peak through expert care, advanced diagnostics, and specialized treatment.

ESMS is a true referral-level hospital designed for the unique demands of equine athletes. ESMS features a world-class team of equine veterinarians, including board-certified surgeons and an internist, supported by exceptional technicians and staff, delivering unparalleled expertise and compassionate care for every horse.

From weekend jackpot horses to world champions, the team at ESMS cares for some of the world’s finest rope horses, barrel horses, cutters, reiners, racehorses, show and ranch horses every single day.

Behind the scenes, ESMS facilities rival the finest in the world. ESMS features a cutting-edge, equine ER, intensive care

unit and neonatal ICU, a fully equipped surgery suite with multiple induction and recovery stalls, advanced imaging — including a standing equine CT, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, and more than 100 hospital stalls for short- and long-term care. Whether your horse needs a routine lameness workup or life-saving critical care, ESMS is equipped to respond 24/7.

Sports medicine is the heart of ESMS. Careful gait analysis, diagnostic nerve and joint blocks, digital radiography, computed tomography, ultrasound, endoscopy, and regenerative therapies help ESMS doctors pinpoint problems early and tailor treatment to each horse and discipline.

ESMS sports medicine and rehabilitation focus on more than recovery — helping horses return to competition, extend their athletic careers, and enhance overall health, comfort, and long-term quality of life.

Education and partnership with owners and trainers are a key part of the process.

ESMS doctors take time to explain each diagnosis, review treatment options, design

practical conditioning and maintenance plans that fit your program and your schedule. From pre-purchase evaluations and preventative wellness to post-injury rehabilitation, ESMS’ goal is to help horse owners make informed decisions for their horse’s future.

ESMS CEO Kirk Eddleman stated in a recent interview with Fort Worth Magazine: “As the rodeo world gathers in Fort Worth, we’re honored to stand behind the horses that make it all possible. Whether you’re hauling in from across town or across the country, you’ll find world-class medicine, down-to-earth horsemen and women, and a team committed to serving you with integrity, respect, and a servant’s heart.”

To learn more or schedule a visit, call Equine Sports Medicine & Surgery at 817.596.2829 or visit EquineSportsMedicine.com.

Dr. Marsh flexes a patient’s fetlock as part of a comprehensive soundness evaluation.

SNAPS

PA R T Y P I C S photos by Corinn Crippin

Ammy & Andy Hines, Haley Mitchel, Jennifer Grammer, Brandi Fletcher, Mike Herman, Giff Babb, John Vallance, Josh Agren

EOE Awards Fort Worth Inc. Entrepreneur of Excellence

T Patricia & Courtney Crawford

Susan & Marc Semmelmann

Ken Schaefer, Alex Klinedinst

Patrick Brophey, Alex Caroom, Campbell Schaefer

Celeena & Donnie Bedore, Shelly & Nick Pahanish

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he 2025 Entrepreneur of Excellence winners were revealed recently at a black-tie gala at the Fort Worth Club. Four Day Weekend served as master of ceremony, employing, of course, its patented wit to do it. Winners, including EO Fort Worth, the Supporter of Entrepreneurship recipient, were each awarded a personalized trophy and a pair of custom ostrich Justin Boots. A special acknowledgment to our Presenting Sponsor, Whitley Penn, whose collaboration with Fort Worth Inc. throughout the year ensures the ongoing success of the Entrepreneur of Excellence awards program.

Thanks to all of our program sponsors: Presenting Sponsor: Whitley Penn; Platinum Sponsor: Texas Capital Bank; Gold Sponsor: Phelps; Boot Sponsor: Justin Boots.

Claire Monsour, Hannah Beall

SNAPS

PA R T Y P I C S

T

Miss Estella Inés Turner, Mrs. Thompson Earl Purvis III, Miss Whitney Childers Reid

photos by Gittings

The Assembly Ball An evening inspired by Le Petit Trianon.

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he 108th Assembly Ball was held on Nov. 1 at Ridglea Country Club. President Mrs. Thompson Earl Purvis III (Michelle Purvis) transported guests to the romantic world of Le Petit Trianon in Versailles.

Guests entered through arched hedge passages overflowing with florals before arriving in a foyer where servers greeted them with champagne. A grand French-blue bar, adorned with ornate gilt detailing and crowned with the Assembly crest, anchored the space.

Music by Trey & the Tritones set the tone for the evening, beginning with French-influenced cocktail melodies and moving into an energetic set that kept the dance floor full well into the night. The debutantes—Miss Whitney Childers Reid, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Keller Reid and Mrs. Suzanne Keller Hyden Reid, and Miss Estella Inés Turner, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Pearson Turner— made their formal bows, a cherished Assembly tradition, before joining family and friends to celebrate.

GIVE BACK GREATER FORT WORTH’S CHARITY/SOCIAL EVENTS

Celebrating Over 25 Years of Giving Back Philanthropy is one of the ways Fort Worth Magazine carries out its mission of celebrating Fort Worth and making it better.

During the past quarter of a century, Fort Worth Magazine has partnered with more than 225 different Tarrant County nonprofits, contributing over $16 million in cash and in-kind donations.

Jan. 2

JANUARY

Armed Forces Bowl Amon G. Carter Stadium Multiple Charities

Jan. 24

Beyond the Bag Ridglea County Club Baylor Scott & White All Saints Health Foundation

Cervical Cancer Awareness Month

Be in The Room Where it Happens THE 29TH ANNUAL CIGAR SMOKER | MAY 6, 2026 A signature event as unique as Fort Worth

Once a year, community leaders, business executives, and library lovers gather to raise a glass and their auction paddle to support the public libraries.

The Smoker isn’t just an event. It’s a tradition steeped in history, inspired by Andrew Carnegie’s idea to ask for donations equal to the price of a good cigar to fund Fort Worth’s first public library in 1892. It’s a room where you can enjoy an exclusive cigar, in the Fort Worth Club, for one night only. A room where networking, client entertainment, and a good time all happen while supporting an important cause.

GET YOUR TABLE TODAY! FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:

Smoker The Cigar

Presented by HARRIS PACKAGING AND AMERICAN CARTON CO.

FORT WORTH CLUB | MAY 6, 2026 BAR SPONSOR:

MEDIA SPONSOR:

SMOKER@FWLIBRARYFOUNDATION.ORG

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EVERY MOMENT.

Photo Credit to Eduardo Martinez Zoo Amphitheatre, OKC, OK

Seismic Dance Event Austin

Photo Credit to Eduardo Martinez

A Miller Company

Texas’s Premier one stop shop for Entertainment, Corporate, and Tour Production specializing in Audio, Video, Lighting, Staging, and Custom Fabrication.

EagleAVL.com

CLOSE

It ain’t easy doing rough stock. The riders of the hard knock hard-knock events that include bull riding, bareback bronc riding, and saddle bronc riding, all fan favorites, will put their bodies on the line when they compete at Dickies Arena for the Fort Worth Stock & Rodeo beginning Jan. 16. According to a 2020 study published in the National Library of Medicine, rough stock riders account for 88.7% of all rodeo-related injuries. Despite being one of the world’s most dangerous sports, the cowboys continue to mount their bulls and broncs — whether saddled or not — with their minds on nothing but the clock hitting eight seconds. Such grit calls to mind a quote by writer Christopher Paolini, “A negative outlook is more of a handicap than any physical injury.”

Prints of this image, along with many others that have either appeared or not appeared in our publication, are available for purchase on the Fort Worth Magazine website.

Check out the QR code for the link.

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@jasonkindigphoto PHOTO BY JASON KINDIG

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