Editor's note: What was Fort Worth reading this year? Let's take a peek. We've already covered the hottest headlines in dining, arts & entertainment, society, and city life, as well as the year's best and worst movies. Now we turn our attention to the most-read stories of all.
This year, stories about restaurant closures, sadly, appear multiple times on the list. But the dining news wasn't all bad: We also eagerly anticipate the opening of an Asian grocery giant in Haltom City, and a Fort Worth BBQ favorite was declared best in Texas by a social media star. Readers also clamored to keep up with local billionaires and clicked excitedly on stories about best places to live and work.
Here, we present the most-read stories of 2025 in Fort Worth:
1. Asian grocery giant H Mart to open first Fort Worth-area location. An Asian grocery giant is opening its first location in the Fort Worth area: H Mart, the largest Asian-owned grocery chain in the U.S., will open a store at 820 N. Beach St., at the intersection of NE Loop 820, with a planned-for debut in December 2025 (now spring 2026).
Korean barbecue featured at another location of H Mart, coming soon to Haltom City. H-Mart/ Facebook
2. Holiday-crazed Arlington restaurant Campo Verde turns out the lights. In January, a Tex-Mex restaurant that made every day feel like Christmas with its over-the-top holiday decor turned out the lights: Campo Verde closed its location at 2918 W. Pioneer Pkwy. in Arlington — and then was revived in June. In September, it was announced that the final day open (really this time) would be December 24, 2025.
3. 11 Dallas-Fort Worth companies named best places to work by U.S. News. Nearly a dozen distinguished Dallas-Fort Worth-based companies have been hailed among the best places to work in 2025 by U.S. News and World Report.
4. Fort Worth suburb makes the list of best places to live in the U.S. Similarly, nearly a dozen Dallas-Fort Worth cities, including Mansfield, are among the best places to live in 2025, according to U.S. News & World Report.
5. Fort Worth suffers sudden burst of restaurant closings all at once. September was a tough month for Fort Worth restaurants, with Belzoni's Catfish Cafe, The Colossal Sandwich Shop , and others all shutting their doors.
6. Fort Worth billionaire Alice Walton is America's richest woman in 2025. America's wealthiest billionaires are $1.2 trillion richer in 2025, bringing their collective worth to a staggering $6.6 trillion. And Fort Worth's own Alice Walton is leading the charge as the wealthiest woman in America, according to the Forbes 400. Walmart heiress Walton, 75, simultaneously holds the title as the richest woman in the world in 2025 and belongs to the world's richest family.
Siblings and Walmart heirs Rob, Alice, and Jim Walton belong to the world's richest family. Photo by Rick T. Wilking/Getty Images
7. YouTube star crowns Fort Worth BBQ joint best in Texas. Fort Worth has arguably the best barbecue restaurants in the state of Texas right now, and the scene earned another accolade, this time from YouTube star and Austinite Joshua Weissman. This chef-turned-YouTuber went on a statewide expedition to try some of Texas Monthly's best barbecue restaurants. His conclusion: The best Texas barbecue can be found in Fort Worth.
8. Longtime Italian restaurant closing after 19 years in Fort Worth. In sad shutdown news, the long-standing Italian restaurant Mamma Mia Italian Grill & Pizza closed its location in north Fort Worth after 19 years. A manager confirmed the closure over the phone, saying that they were closing because their lease was up and they chose not to renew. Their final day open was February 28.
9. Bedford company to auction guns from Clint Eastwood and Frank Sinatra. A Bedford auction house was offering a passel of celebrity guns including a trio of weapons used in the 1985 film Pale Rider. Three on-screen Remingtons used by Clint Eastwood in the film were offered in an auction hosted on December 5-7 by Rock Island Auction Company, a Bedford company famous for selling historic arms.
Gun presented to Frank Sinatra RIAC
10. 2 cities in Texas rank as most affordable to buy a home on the beach. Texans who have longed to buy a home on the Gulf Coast can make their dream a reality by searching for their next home in Port Lavaca or Corpus Christi — both named on Realtor.com's list of the 12 most affordable American beach towns for homebuyers in 2025.
