Bubbly News

Pinky's uncorks Champagne and jazz in Fort Worth's Near Southside

You can never have enough Champagne.

Photo by Greg Blomberg

UPDATE 3-18-2022: Pinky's opens on March 18.

There's a new lounge coming to Fort Worth's Near Southside that will specialize in three great things: Champagne, booze, and live jazz. Called Pinky's Champagne Room & Velvet Jazz Lounge, it's dubbing itself "a place for cool cats to break it down, imbibe, and enjoy local jazz," and it will open at 615 S. Jennings Ave., which was most recently a bar called Low Key Tavern, but has also been home to CraftCade, The Last Word Bookstore, and at one time, was part of Tony's Pizza.

Pinky's is from husband-and-wife John Cocke and Dena Mangrum-Cocke, who both have worked in the food & beverage industry and are opening their very first place.

John, who worked for Consilient for many years, moved to Fort Worth to work at Fireside Pies (then called Thirteen Pies) in the West 7th District. He also worked at Hotel Otto, the little hotel from chef Tim Love.

They're hoping to open Pinky's by March.

"Dena and I were thinking, 'What does Fort Worth need?'" John says. "And we thought about all these places that used to have jazz, like Sardine's, that have now closed. We're talking about jazz with no cover charge. We love the Scat Lounge downtown, but they're a different kind of place, and they charge cover."

Their inspiration was a lounge with the same name that they visited on a road trip.

"We visited a place called Pinky's Champagne Room, it's in the middle of Missouri, it's been closed for a while, but it was this little tiny room with so much charm," he says.

They're very into bubbles, which is fortuitous, since champagne bars are starting to trend.

"We're spotlighting sparkling wines," he says. "We'll be doing five glasses of champagne plus five other bubbles from around the world. And then a menu of 10 concoctions featuring bubbles like an Aperol Spritz, plus a few New Orleans-style cocktails. The back part of the menu will have about 14-15 bottles of champagne."

"We will be a Champagne room with live music — that's what we’re trying to accomplish," he says.

They're currently in the thick of construction which includes repositioning the entrance so that it's on the side of the building, speakeasy-style. The room will have 100 seats, and come with a certain degree of swanky kitsch, perhaps previewed best by their logo: A black background with Pinky's and a sexy coupe champagne glass with a few bubbles floating on top, all done in hot pink.

cocktails nightlife music wine

Closure News

Tropic Lady restaurant-bar on Fort Worth's Race Street says aloha

Tropic Lady

The dip trio at Tropic Lady.

A chill restaurant and bar in Fort Worth's River East district has closed: Tropic Lady, which opened in the former Fuzzy's Taco space at 2719 Race St. in 2023, has closed.

The restaurant, which closed in mid-December, was a sibling to Bearded Lady, the popular gastropub in Near Southside; their last Facebook post was on December 10. Their phone number is not working, and their website is no longer active. Owner Shannon Osbakken was unavailable for comment, but a Bearded Lady employee confirmed the closure.

Tropic Lady was a tropical-themed gastropub opened by a trio of friends: Bearded Lady owner Shannon Osbakken, her business partner Sarah Allen, and general manager Amanda Yunger. It offered a similar menu as Bearded lady but with more tropical-inspired fare, including shrimp tacos, bacon-wrapped grilled pineapple bites, and guacamole dotted with mango.

For a gastropub, they did interesting food with dishes like watermelon salad with feta and cucumber; or their Dip Trio, with mango guacamole, tomatillo salsa, and queso blanco served with house-made tortilla chips. Definitely not run-of-the-mill. They also had great lunch specials like a smashburger with curly fries for $10.

Food did not seem to be the problem.

Decor featured artwork and murals created by local artists. A beautifully landscaped patio wrapped around the building’s facade. So the setting did not seem to be a factor.

It's tempting to point the finger at its location on Race Street, which has witnessed a round of closings in the past two years including buzzy birria taqueria Caliscience, which closed in February 2024; as well as The Post at River East, a restaurant and live music venue that shut down the same month.

In 2023, three other restaurants on Race Street closed: Tributary Cafe, the Bon Appetit-lauded La Onda, and vegan burger spot Zonk Burger. But separate reasons can also be found for each of those closures, whether that be inexperience or lease issues.

For years, the city and neighborhood advocates have been trying to turn Race Street into a trendy hotspot. As part of the city’s Urban Villages program, the city of Fort Worth invested $5.6 million in revitalizing the area, making improvements to traffic flow, sidewalks, landscaping, and outdoor lighting.

When Osbakken opened the bar, she said she loved the area, stating "it reminds me of Magnolia when were first were on it 10 years ago in our old location. It's a great community and the neighbors have been friendly and reaching out."

And there are still restaurants along the street, including a popular Mexican restaurant called Tesoro, the Dough’d Up doughnut shop, and Kingyo Sushi & Ramen House, as well as a coffee shop, Race Street Coffee.

The Bearded Lady continues to flourish. Osbakken originally opened the popular gastropub on Magnolia Avenue in 2013. Six years later, she moved it to the South Main, where it’s still going strong.

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