Karaoke News

Fun new sports bar in Bedford gives mid-cities something to drink about

Central Office Bar & Kitchen has a pretty patio at sunset.

Yelp

Like any town, Bedford could use more bars, so let's welcome Central Office Bar & Kitchen, a new sports bar and restaurant that opened in March in a comfy spot at 2208 Central Dr. where they're serving all of your bar essentials and more. Cold beer, cocktails, food, and a fun atmosphere are are always on "the day's agenda," they say, because of that office theme, get it.

The location has good karma: It was home for a number of years to Ted E's Kitchen, a popular restaurant and caterer that had been in the space since 2015 but closed during the pandemic; prior to that it was an Asian restaurant called Fortune Star Buffet.

Enough about the past, because this is the present when you can can relax on Central Office's outdoor patio or avail yourself of their multiple entertaining options inside. Those include sports on TV, with a 120-incher airing all of the balls: basketball and football and other balls.

They also have pool tables, darts, and karoake, as well as some interesting games such as their TouchTunes jukebox and two Lane Master bowling games. On Mondays, they do Trivia Night, and the one on April 18 is sponsored by trendy Eight Elite Lager, the tasty 90-calorie beer from former Dallas Cowboys Troy Aikman.

The interior has a welcome "clean" feeling with a brick wall that does actually lend an office vibe. The bar itself is bathed in blue light, and there are multiple neon signs on the walls.

The menu includes burgers, a chicken quesadilla, and chicken sandwiches that come in spicy, crispy, and chicken wrap. Plus wings with a choice from 10 sauces, plus chicken tenders, and even vegan tenders. These guys know what's up.

Fun shareable dishes include mini corn dogs, loaded nachos, loaded fries, jalapeno poppers, fried pickles, and an interesting twist on popcorn chicken in which the chicken is shaped like tater tots, pop one in your mouth, boom. There are also three salads, which is a noble effort. Snaps for the salads. Everything is under $10.

Bartenders are friendly, and they have what they boldly describe as the best happy hour in town, one that runs from 12-7 pm and includes drink specials every day, not just weekdays.

Central Office is actually a spinoff of another prosperous mid-cities bar, on the border of Fort Worth and Euless, called Office on Trinity, also with an office theme, get it, whose specialty is a big selection of shots. Owner Tim Parini is a Euless native who previously worked in the wine and spirits industry.

"I've been in the bar industry for 10 years — before that I was in the corporate world," he says. "I grew up in this part of town and wanted to provide a place where locals could get out and have some food and drink at a good price."

Mission accomplished.

openings video

Chef News

Fort Worth's Will Rogers Memorial Center welcomes new bright new chef

FortWorthtx.gov

Will Rogers Memorial Center

There's a new chef in town: Waylon Cornelius, named executive chef of catering and concessions for Craft Culinary Concepts, the food and beverage provider at Will Rogers Memorial Center.

Will Rogers Memorial Center is the 120-acre entertainment complex anchoring Fort Worth’s Cultural District, owned and operated by the City of Fort Worth. Cornelius will oversee menus for trade shows and other events at the center which bring in more than 2 million visitors a year.

Craft Culinary Concepts is headquartered in Glendale, Arizona, and manages food and beverage programs for entertainment, sports and cultural facilities.

Chef Waylon Corneliusfortworthtx.gov

According to a release, Cornelius joined the team this summer and is already shifting the expectations of guests from a typical “BBQ and beans” menu to a bill of fare satisfying every kind of palate.

“We always have fajitas ready to go, but we also make a beautiful Beef Wellington or baked salmon with a pink salt crust,” Cornelius says in a statement.

For consumer trade shows, Craft and its partners Caribou and Taco Heads offer more choices for the thousands of guests who attend events at WRMC annually.

“Some of our equestrian guests are away from home and here for several days, and they need more than popcorn and hot dogs,” Cornelius says. “Our concessions offer biscuits and gravy, burritos made in-house, strawberry salad, fruit and yogurt cups.”

A native of Mansfield, Cornelius grew up helping in a farm-to-table kitchen. He was raised on a farm with his mother, grandmother, and grandfather -- a Vietnam veteran who enjoyed vegetable gardens and raising hogs and chickens. He studied computer science after high school and holds an associate's degree in Cultural Resource Management and Policy Analysis from Tarrant County College.

He's a 2003 graduate of AIMS Academy of Culinary Arts in Dallas where he was mentored by a number of great chefs. While training as assistant executive sous chef at the AAA four-diamond Grand Hyatt DFW, he worked with Executive Chef Sutti Sripolpa, chef Eric Dreyer (who went on to be Oprah Winfrey’s personal chef), and Chef Jean-Claude Plihon, under whom he honed his French cooking skills.

As executive sous chef at the opening of Perry’s Steakhouse and Grille in Southlake, Cornelius gained expertise with volume. While at HG Sply Co., he learned about gluten-free items and other food allergies.

HG Sply is also where he crossed paths with Chef James R. Schell III, Craft’s general manager at WRMC, who recruited Cornelius to the complex.

"James said he needed someone who can hit moving targets, push the culinary team to be more avant-garde and use locally sourced, seasonal ingredients, so here I am," Cornelius says. "Culinary is a small world."

“I want people to say, ‘When we were in Fort Worth, you won’t believe what we got at Will Rogers!’” Schell says. “Even the celebrities who perform [in the auditorium] are surprised. When Chicago played here recently and we served dinner backstage, they said they felt treated like the Rolling Stones.”

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