FREE
APRIL 2019
E I GH T
ON E
FEATURE
NIGHTLIF E
BY ERIC GRIFFEY
BY ROBERT PHILPOT
The craft barbecue explosion promises to make Fort Worth a destination city for meat lovers.
S E V E N
Blackland Distillery’s attractive, modern-looking bar is an appropriate setting for its sophisticated hooch.
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Explore acres of freshness with more than 700 varieties of climatecontrolled produce from around the globe, including 150 varieties of seasonal organics. We work directly with our growers to stock our shelves with only the freshest fruits and veggies. Our expert buyers source as much local produce as possible. Daily deliveries ensure freshness, and, once tested by our dedicated inspectors, produce goes right out to the floor.
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April 2019
E I GH T
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For Readers of Extraordinary Taste
Zest 817 Magazine is the premier culinary lifestyle authority for Fort Worth and surrounding areas. As the only food-andbeverage-focused print publication in Tarrant County, Zest pairs sophisticated, witty writing with stunning, styled photography, delivering the most relevant and interesting insights on local dining, beverages, home cooking, events, and entertainment.
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April 2019
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EDITOR’S PICS 6 Review
8
Night Life
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Secret Sauce
25
Coming Soon
27 Zest Eight One Seven Editorial Editor-in-chief Eric Griffey Copy Editor Anthony Mariani Contributors: Ian Connally, Robert Philpot Proofreader: Taylor Provost Contributing Photographers: Twig Capra, Velton Hayworth, David Hollister, Brian Hutson, and Crystal Wise. For editorial questions or pitches, contact Eric Griffey at eric@zest817.com.
on the
Production Art Director Ryan Burger
COVER
Advertising Marketing Director Lauren Lackey For advertising questions, please contact Lauren Lackey at Lauren@zest817.com. Zest 817 is available free of charge in North Texas, limited to one copy per reader. Additional copies of Zest Eight One Seven may be purchased for $1 each.
Blackland Distillery purveys craft cocktails using housemade spirits. More on page 12. Photo by Twig Capra.
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editor’s pics
Treat your Easter guests to Eggs Benedict at Winslow’s Wine Café (4101 Camp If you’re of the seafood bent, the brunch menu at Little Red Wasp (808 Main St, 817-877-3111) offers this scallop miso yaki with braised pork cheek, glass noodle Bowie Blvd, 817-546-6843), featuring a grilled English muffin topped with a salad, peanuts, and cilantro. Photo by Brian Hutson. poached egg, Canadian bacon, and Hollandaise sauce, served with sautéed spinach and fresh fruit. Photo by Velton Hayworth.
In the mood for toast? On its usual brunch menu, Righteous Foods (3405 W 7th One of the stars of Denise Shavandy’s new brunch menu at Café Modern (3200 St, 817-850-9996) serves [front] avocado toast with feta cheese, fresh guacamole, Darnell St, 817-840-2157) is this Korean BBQ pork bowl, with a sunny-side-up and marinated kale; [back] toast with almond cream cheese, coho salmon, and egg, go chujang, grilled pineapple relish, pickled cucumbers, watermelon radish, marinated kale. Photo by Velton Hayworth. sugar snap peas, red cabbage, green onion, and steamed rice. Photo by Brian Hutson.
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UNPRETENTIOUS GLOBAL CUISINE
1310 W MAGNOLIA AVE. FORT WORTH April 2019
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review
The fresh-tasting guacamole with bacon was buried beneath gleaming cherry tomato halves and jalapeñotinged pico de gallo. Photo by Velton Hayworth.
Shined to a Polish El Bolero’s haute Mexican cuisine offers something for everyone. BY ERIC GRIFFEY
Like sushi rice, the corn tortilla is fundamental to authentic Mexican food –
both as an essential flavor component and a vessel for other ingredients. A good housemade tortilla alone can elevate an entire menu while lending an air of legitimacy to the restaurant. El Bolero, the three-month-old eatery set in Crockett Row –– formerly and colloquially known as the West 7th development –– takes its individually pressed corn tortillas seriously. Earthy, sweet, and pleasantly soft, the uncommonly thick saucer-sized morsels are an appropriate opening
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salvo for the rest of Chef Hugo Galvan’s regional Mexican menu, which lives in the space between upscale multi-component haute Mex-Mex and more traditional chips-and-salsa, cheese-slathered Tex-Mex. There’s adventure on offer but always a safety net below. Speaking over the phone while vacationing in his hometown of San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, Galvan said this something-for-everyone ethos was intentional. “With El Bolero, I tried to work my original recipes with a Texas approach,” he said. “We want-
ed familiar items but with an upscale twist.” Galvan fully understands the competitive West 7th dining scene. His critically lauded Hacienda San Miguel shuttered five years ago, and a handful of other Mex-Mex/Tex-Mex places have vanished as quickly as they appeared since then. El Bolero, which refers to the ubiquitous shoe-shiners on the streets of Mexico, is the third outpost of the Dallas-based chain. Though the colorful décor, replete with cactus wallpaper and an imposing mosaic of Don Cenobio Sauza –– the man credited with first bringing tequila stateside
April 2019
–– looks every bit like a focus-group’s idea of an upscale Mexican concept, the food doesn’t at all feel like it’s been Where 2933 Crockett St, 682-250-7583 watered down, in part because Galvan created the menu based on his experiences in Mexican markets. “When I was very young, I spent a lot of time in the market helping the Entree Prices businesses,” he said. “So, a lot of the $15-$29. All major credit cards things I saw in the markets, I applied to accepted. the concept.” Like many other newly opened concepts in town, the menu’s watchword is “fresh.” For example, the mammoth appeWhen tizer portion of the just-made guacamole 10am-10pm Sun, 11am-10pm was loaded with onions and cilantro and Mon-Thu, 11am-11pm Fri, expertly seasoned with salt and limejuice. 10am-10pm Sat. Pilled atop that hillock sat gleaming cherry tomato halves, jalapeño-tinged pico de gallo, and, for a few extra bucks, decadent, salty cubes of bacon. When scooped by the still-warm pepper-dusted chips, the creamy, spicy, salty, acidic flavors were a master class in balance. Just as fresh-tasting was the chilled gazpacho –– a clean, focused, and refreshing starter perfect for a light beginning or a mid-meal palate-cleanser. Though the bobbing strands of jicama didn’t add much in the way of flavor, the color contrast and texture raised the soup to a total sensory experience. Also on the lighter side was the kaleidoscopic ceviche de huachinango, which skewed sweet thanks to the amalgam of watermelon, orange, grapefruit, and pineapple occupying real estate alongside diced cucumbers and jalapeños, chopped heirloom tomatoes, and chunks of citrus-soaked snapper.
April 2019
More exploratory diners should experience the beautifully presented cochinita pibil, achiote-braised pork wrapped in a banana leaf and served atop refried beans and rice, with a halo of fiery haDon’t-Miss banero sauce surrounding the plate and Dishes slivers of pickled onions strewn here and Cochinita pibil, there. Once unfurled, the leaves revealed chilled gazpacho, a ball composed of shredded pork partiand ceviche de cles –– tender, spicy, and a tad sweet. All huachinango. of these components were individually delicious, but only when swaddled inside Vibe the large, thick housemade corn tortillas Relaxed, did they feel like ingredients to the same colorful, dish. fun, a little As a part of the pork, the tortillas upscale. proved to be a unifying element –– in the case of the wagyu tacos, a smaller, just-as-thick blue corn version of the tortillas masked the flavor of the beef, queso fresco, and guacamole. When eaten on their own, the flank steak slabs were expertly seasoned, juicy, and fork-tender. The guacamole added a cooling, creamy, and citrus-laden kiss. If you’re more of the Tex-Mex bent, the chile relleno de queso delivers on its promise of cheese –– and then some. The amply portioned poblano peppers were coated in layers of Oaxaca and Monterey cheeses, filled with cremini mushrooms, and served alongside the habanero sauce. This is not the entree that will thrill the types of people who run to the hottest new restaurant, but the ooey, gooey pools of cheese and piquant peppers are a perfect lunch entree for, say, your parents or someone whose palate is less daring. Just make sure they don’t fill up on the corn tortillas –– it’s easy to do.
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LITTLE RED WASP KITCHEN + BAR 808 Main St, Fort Worth, TX 76102 / (817) 877-3111 / littleredwasp.com
April 2019
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Into the Blackland
Fort Worth’s newest distillery might be its most modern. BY ROBERT PHILPOT PHOTOS BY TWIG CAPRA
Blackland Distillery is not a speakeasy, but on your first visit, you may have trouble finding the door. You might even have trouble finding the place. There’s a patio out front, with a fence that shields it from traffic. There’s a sign, but if you’re not looking for it, you might not see it. “People seem to find it,” said founder Markus Kypreos, who then added with a laugh: “And then they get lost at our door. But I think there’s some allure. There’s something about this idea of when you do find the door and you come in and walk in, it takes you a good five minutes to acclimate yourself. ‘Wait a minute? What is this place?’ ” “This place” is a small, unassuming spot that opened March 20 next to Doc’s Records and Tapes in the Foundry District, a collection of old warehouses that have been transformed into retail and food establishments and decorated in enough murals to form an Instagram theme park. Once acclimated, you’ll see that Blackland has five modern European stills imported from Amsterdam, some of them named for Kypreos’ family members –– “Nick” for his dad, “Maximus” for his son, and “NiKole” for his daughter. You can take a geeky tour of the stills, tanks, and barrel room to learn more. The place to hang out is the cocktail lounge, with its modern-stone, horseshoe-shaped bar and cozy-looking booths lining the perimeter. There are no TVs, and there’s a no-talking-on-the-cellphone rule. You can, however, text or take pictures. There is also a turntable, and customers can contribute to Blackland’s soundtrack. “We’re doing this thing where if you go next door to Doc’s to buy a record, and you bring it over here and have a drink, we’ll play one of your songs,”
The bar at Blackland offers a small cocktail menu, including a $10 tasting flight of all four spirits.
Kypreos said. There are limits, but if you want to play something as aggro as, say, Slayer, the bartenders will play it if they think it won’t break the mood at the time. The bar seats 56 people and the patio an additional 45. The bar offers a small cocktail menu, including a $10 tasting flight of all four spirits, as well as an on-tap Old Fashioned that’s so potent you may find yourself walking over to nearby Craftwork Coffee to make an attempt to counteract it. “We have yet to be accused of making a weak drink,” Krypeos said. You can also get some help from the food on the menu: a meat-and-cheese tasting board, seasonal hummus, or marinted olives from Meyer & Sage, longtime Fort Worth chef Callie Salls’ catering/retail business that recently launched its own brick-andmortar in the Foundry. Kypreos is a former attorney who followed his passion, going to culinary school at night while he
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practiced law, then to spirit schools to learn about distilling. “It’s not that I disliked being a lawyer,” he said. “This is just much more of a passion of mine, and I wanted to do something a little bit different. The culinary world has taken off, and you’ve seen all these craft breweries take off, but I still think that here in
April 2019
Texas, we’re still behind in the distillery world compared to the Portlands and Seattles and Denvers of the world.” That has been changing. Fort Worth is already home to several distilleries, including Firestone & Robertson, which makes TX Whiskey; BLK EYE Distillery, makers of BLK EYE Vodka, on the Near Southside; Acre Distillery in downtown Fort Worth; Trinity River Distillery southeast of downtown; and North Texas Distilleries near DFW Airport. Distribution is planned for Blackland’s spirits, labeled simply Blackland Bourbon, Blackland Rye, Blackland Vodka, and Blackland Gin. They all come in attractive decanter-style bottles with hints of Art Deco in the design. It will be a few months before you see Blackland in stores. “We’re doing that on purpose,” Kypreos said. “We’re trying to build buzz for the brand here in Fort Worth. We’ve gotten a lot of good feedback, and I want people to know what we’re about and come see the bar.” Distribution is planned for Blackland’s spirits, labeled simply Blackland Bourbon, Blackland Rye, Blackland Vodka, and Blackland Gin.
t For
’s h t r o W
Who
Where
Blackland Distillery
2616 Weisenberger St, 682-268-5333
Don’t-Miss Cocktails
Blackland Old Fashioned, Hibiscus Fizz, and Sunshine Swizzle.
Largest Farmers
Mar k
Vibe
Hip, sophisticated, and comfortable.
When
5pm-12am Sun-Wed.
Prices
$8-12. All major credit cards accepted.
et
Member of the North Central Texas Farmers Market Corp.
everything sold is grown/produced within 150 miles of Fort Worth and is sold by farmers/producers directly to you! Open saturdays 3821 sOUtHWest BLVD Year-round FOrt WOrtH, tX 76116 8 aM - 12 PM Visit our website
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MELT ice creams is celebrating five years of smiles and scoops this April, with a percentage of sales going to Center for Transforming Lives, a non-profit dedicated to helping Tarrant County’s most vulnerable women. Photo by Crystal Wise.
April 2019
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Riscky: “You go to Joe Riscky’s Barbecue, and nine times out of 10, Joe Riscky is going to be there cutting the meat because I’ve been there all day cooking it.” Photos by Crystal Wise.
E IG H T ONE SE V E N
The Craft Explosion Fort Worth is on the verge of becoming a barbecue destination thanks to a new breed of pitmasters. BY ERIC GRIFFEY
Listening to Joe Riscky discuss his barbecue was something akin to attending a sommelier’s master class. He casually tossed
around trade jargon like “bark” and “smoke ring,” as well describing his brisket smoking process with the
precision of a chemist. At his small walk-up counter enclave tucked inside the warehouse complex that houses Wild Acre Brewing Company in South Fort Worth, owner/pitmaster Riscky, who split from his family of local ’cue luminaries, beamed over a large
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Wild Acre cardboard box crammed with brisket, ribs, jalapeño-and-cheese-stuffed sausage, and more. Sitting on that “plate” was his life’s work –– and a harbinger of important changes to our city that could impact far more than just your choices for lunch.
April 2019
Riscky, whose outdoor picnic-table patio seats roughly 20, is at the forefront of a local craft barbecue explosion. Before last year, there were sparingly few legitimate barbecue eateries that might qualify as crafty –– and that topic was and still is the subject of much debate in the insular barbecue world. Over the next several months, more than 12 such places will open in Tarrant County –– several of which have been serving food out of a truck or trailer and are now moving to brick-and-mortar locales. Aside from Joe Risky’s, Fort Worth will welcome several new, soon-to-open, expanded, and/or relocated eateries, including 407 BBQ, Brix Barbecue, Dayne’s Craft Barbecue,
Flores Barbecue’s Michael Wyont said the menu at his soon-to-open storefront will incorporate some Tex-Mex elements, in addition to more traditional offerings. Flores will be located at the Trailhead of the Clearfork development. Photos by Brian Hutson
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April 2019
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Derek Allan’s Texas Barbecue, Flores BBQ, Goldee’s Barbecue, Heim Barbecue & Catering, Hurtado Barbecue, Panther City BBQ, Patriotic Pig, Roosters, and White Beards. Even longstanding ’cue kitchens like Billy Bob’s Texas are starting to offer high-end meats cooked for hours by pitmasters who treat a smoker like it’s a pod in a NICU. So what exactly is the difference between the old-fashioned barbecue style and this new craft upsurge? Risky said there are four pillars to this nouvelle cuisine. “First thing is you’re starting with premium product,” he said. “Old-school barbecue is more of a cheap cut cooked well. Back in the day, everyone used select-grade brisket. Now everyone has gone to a premium brisket –– a prime or some kind of branded-beef prime, like certified angus beef like I use. “Two,” he continued, “it’s more of a hands-on cooking style. It’s using fresher ingre-
April 2019
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One-time pop-up king Dayne’s Craft Barbecue has set up shop inside the space formerly occupied by Americado on West Berry Street. Dayne’s prime brisket and beef ribs are sourced from 44 Farms and Halperns’ 1855 angus beef. Photos by Velton Hayworth. dients, not using [preservatives] on your rubs, mostly the SPG [salt, pepper, garlic] with maybe a little chili powder and stuff. “The next thing,” he went on, “would be using a true offset smoker. Now, granted, I do use a rotisserie, but it is a wood-burner –– a stick-burner would be what they call it. All of the guys doing craft barbecue are using quality pits that are stick-burners, indirect, no gas-assist or anything like that. “The final thing would be –– I’m just speaking for myself and a lot of guys around town that are getting a buzz –– we’re hands-on. You go to Joe Riscky’s Barbecue, and nine times out
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of 10, Joe Riscky is going to be there cutting the meat because I’ve been there all day cooking it.” Flores Barbecue’s pitmaster Michael Wyont said he moved his operation from Whitney to Fort Worth partly because of an opportunity that arose when his business was recruited to The Shops at Clearfork by head honcho Crawford Edwards but also because he recognized that Fort Worth is on the verge of becoming a barbecue destination similar to Austin. “I’m excited that there’s going to be so much great barbecue in one place,” he said.
April 2019
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Derek Allan’s Texas Barbecue is taking over the tiny building vacated by Paco & John’s on 8th Avenue. Allan’s is another food truck that graduated to a brickand-mortar. He uses wagyu beef smoked over oak. Photos courtesy of Derek Allan’s Texas Barbecue.
As for all of the new, highly regarded pitmasters, he continued, “we all keep tabs on each other. This is a movement. We’re friends with a lot of them, and we support each other, mostly because we like to eat each other’s food.” In the tradition of showdon’t-tell, Zest 817 visited five purveyors of this new brand of Texas barbecue to give you first look at these meat pioneers. Thanks to Dayne’s Craft Barbecue, Derek Allan’s Texas Barbecue, Flores BBQ, Joe Risky’s Barbecue, and Panther City Barbecue for letting us take these photos.
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April 2019
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April 2019
Who
Madea’s Down Home Cooking
Where
1019 W Enon Av D, Everman, 817-551-9295.
Vibe Homey, warm, family friendly
Madea’s Secret Ingredient This Everman soul-food bastion is hardly a secret to locals. BY IAN CONNALLY PHOTOS BY DAVID HOLLISTER
From time to time in my wanderings through the mom-andpop restaurant landscape of Fort Worth, I’m able to experience
we laid out a simple plan: order three representative entrees and attempt to try all of the side dishes on offer. At Madea’s, like most legit home-cooking restaurants, the sides are indispensable. that special combination of joy and reWe decided on chicken-fried steak, gret that comes with discovering a truly meatloaf, and smothered pork chops as great restaurant that I could have been anchor points and agreed that we each frequenting for the last 15 years. That wouldn’t duplicate any of the sides we Madea’s Down Home Cooking in Evordered. erman serves some of the best Southern This plan, as simple and elegant cuisine in town was evidently not news as it was, unraveled quickly as I came to the 40 or so people ahead of me in face-to-face with a half-pan of steaming line at the counter-service restaurant on slow-braised oxtails. In a last-ditch effort a recent weekday visit –– many of whom to stay the course, I asked for advice were clearly regulars. from behind the counter. Pork chops My guests and I arrived about half or oxtails? Oxtails, unambiguously, a an hour before the confusingly early sentiment echoed by several people closing time of 7 p.m. and noted as behind me in line, sitting atop rice, they we stood in the fast-moving line that recommended, to soak up the clear, rich Madea’s does a brisk take-out business. broth, and served alongside yams and Strategizing ways to sample the great steamed cabbage. Not one to veer from range of food from the overhead menu, unanimously voiced guidance, I followed these instructions, agreeing as well to crispy hot-water cornbread and, sure, some sweet tea. At the table, I discovered that my deviation from our in-line agreement had resulted in duplication of side dishes. We all had yams, spiced and lightly sweetened, still bright and rich, avoiding the dessert-like territory that they tend to approach in less skilled hands. Two of us had cabbage. Tender and perfectly seasoned, it was accented with At Madea’s, like most home-cooking restaurants worth finely diced flecks of their salt, the sides are indispensable. red bell pepper, an
April 2019
Madea’s fork-tender, enormous chicken-fried steak was slathered in fresh-made, expertly seasoned gravy. outstanding counterpoint to the richness hunks of meat hanging loosely off the of the yams. Collard greens, dotted with pile of tailbones on my plate. I had been steered in exactly the smoked ham hock, did similar work, right direction. Sweet and rich, with their pungent earthiness accented by the texture of all-day vinegar and sugar, pot roast, the oxtails still lively despite were a lesson in the their tenderness. Don’t-Miss Dishes alchemy of care, time, Broccoli-rice casOx tail, chicken-fried steak, and heat, a magic that serole and mac ’n’ meatloaf, and yams. tastes a whole lot like cheese rounded out love. This is closeour samplings, both Entree Prices your-eyes-and-takeexcellent examples of $TK. All major credit cards a-moment territory the dish. But we had accepted. –– the kind of wholemissed at least three body reaction to food of the other sides. When that briefly puts you And it was my fault. 11am-5pm Sun, out of touch with the My dining com11am-7pm Tue-Sat room around you and panions kindly did forces you to consider not give voice to the whether you could betrayal they clearly live on just this dish forever. The way it’s felt, and I assuaged any hard feelings done at Madea’s, I’m pretty sure I could. by sharing the glistening, deeply beefy
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Serving traditional Mexican food since 1999! 1106 U.S. 377 Roanoke 817-491-4600
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4320 Western Center Blvd. 817-306-9000 www.losmolcajetes.com
960 Hwy 287 North MansďŹ eld 817-473-1882
April 2019
Coming Soon BY ROBERT PHILPOT
The Bearded Lady
300 S Main St In June 2018, the popular gastropub announced that it would close its five-year-old location on West Magnolia Avenue and move a couple of miles east to the growing South Main Village. At press time, the South Main Street itteration was still under construction, but it’s expected to open before the end of April. It won’t be in an old craftsman house like its old spot, but the interior will be about twice as big and the entire space will be visible from the bar instead of from seats in a few separate rooms. Expect some of the same throw-pillow atmosphere, and you’ll also see a modern, gleaming tap wall, with the rotating beer selection displayed on screens above the bar. The Lady’s former spot had one of the best patios in town, and the South Main one will remain dogfriendly. There’ll be some menu changes, some important Bearded Lady staples will remain: the grilled cheese of the month, the burger of the month, and the L.U.S.T. Burger that once graced the cover of Texas Monthly.
Ben’s Triple B
3020 E Rosedale St The Ben is Ben Merritt, executive chef of Magnolia Avenue hangout Fixture Kitchen + Social Lounge. The “Triple B” stands for “biscuits, burgers, and brews,” which describes the fare at Merrit’s months-in-the-making Texas Wesleyanarea restaurant, which is finally open. Biscuit concoctions range from the Basic B (biscuits and gravy) to the Dirty B (chicken-fried steak, queso, and chili con carne). The burgers, in tribute to the Griff’s and Braum’s burgers of Merritt’s youth, are kept simple –– the Queso Burger, a single-patty topped with queso, jalapeños, and pico de gallo, is about as crazy as this place gets –– and will use the same Pearl Snap Kolache buns that Merritt uses at Fixture. The half-dozen draft beers –– er, brews –– will lean heavily on Fort Worth breweries, while some domestics will be available in cans and bottles. The place is open 8am-9pm to start, and the hours may expand in the future.
Black Cat Pizza
401 Bryan Av Ste 109 Jaime Fernandez gained a fan base last year with his twice-a-week pizza pop-ups inside Stir Crazy Baked Goods on West Magnolia Avenue, but his creative pizzas have been MIA for a few months while he’s worked on launching a brickand-mortar in South Main Village. It could open as early as late April on Bryan Avenue, where there is much restaurant/bar-in-the-making activity right now. Black Cat’s past creations have included
April 2019
The patio at Rogers Roundhouse is probably nicer than your backyard. a veggie pizza dubbed the TMNT (after the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), an al pastor pizza, and even an Indian-inspired Aloo Gobi Masala pizza, as well as pies with traditional toppings. With his own home to play in, Fernandez can really indulge his inventiveness.
Frios Gourmet Pops
242 Rufe Snow Dr, Keller The first Tarrant County location of this Alabamabased gourmet-popsicle chain is expected to open April 15, or possibly sooner, in a busy little shopping strip in Keller that already houses a Sunny Street Cafe and a Rush Bowls. Think Alchemy Pops or Steel City Pops, and you have the general idea: Frios’ menu is divided among fruity pops (an online version includes such offbeat flavors as Red Hots, Russian tea, and mulled cider) and creamy pops (where the fun really begins, with such flavors as coffee and donuts, banana moon pie, and cookie butter).
Heim Barbecue River District
5333 White Settlement Rd Heim announced an early-March opening date for its second brick-and-mortar, set in a renovated former VFW building. Obviously, that’s come and gone, but things are looking good for an April opening. The new location will house eight smokers as opposed to three at the nearly three-year-old West Magnolia Avenue location, as well as a larger patio and a beer garden with live music. And there’s always room for more bacon burnt ends.
Photo by Ryan Burger
Rogers Roundhouse
1616 Rogers Rd Forget about “coming soon” –– this one’s already here. It opened March 25 in a rare instance of a restaurant beating its projected opening date, which was originally early April. Half of Rogers Roundhouse’ name honors Fort Worth’s railroad history –– its location is near Davidson Yard, a historic railyard whose “retired” engine-repair facility, or roundhouse, provided some inspiration. Owners Bourke Harvey (the man behind Curly’s Frozen Custard) and Tommy Koons (a Fort Worth-based restaurant-bar operator whose resume includes Dallas’ 18th and Vine BBQ as well as Katy Trail Ice House) say they’re going for a feel like “an extension of your own backyard,” although the patio is much nicer than ours. The 225-capacity restaurant will offer burgers, tacos, “chicken-fried chicken nuggets,” and more, as well as 30 rotating draft beers, frozen margaritas, and, yes, Curly’s Frozen Custard.
Also: Shell Shack,
the seafood chain that already opened locations in Arlington, Dallas, Mesquite, and Plano, should open its first Fort Worth location in April at 3001 Heritage Trace Pkwy, Ste 105, next to Grub Burger Bar in far north Fort Worth. Unicorn –– Magical Dessert Bar, which has been drawing crazy lines in Dallas thanks to its wacky sugar-shock concoctions (a shake with a slice of cake on top of it), will open a Fort Worth location in mid-April at 1005 Foch St in the West 7th corridor.
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