Where to Eat
Where to eat in Fort Worth right now: 5 just-opened new restaurants
As life around Fort Worth begins to normalize, more and more people are itching to try new restaurants. As luck would have it, Fort Worth and the surrounding areas have seen a big wave of new restaurant openings lately.
For our regular monthly Where to Eat feature, we've found five new destinations to try:
Chetra's Kitchen
Unassuming restaurant at 2817 Central Dr., in Bedford doesn't look like much from the outside. But owner-chef Chetra Chau is serving excellent, globe-trotting food out of a low-key, strip mall space. Chau has put his many years as a caterer and corporate chef to work, developing a menu that encompasses many cuisines. He does fancy dishes, like pan-seared scallops topped with smoked bacon cream sauce and Chilean sea bass with a roasted garlic rub and citrus Sichuan sauce. But even everyday items are given a chef-inspired touch: His BLT comes with an over-easy egg and Korean barbecue sauce and his tacos are riffs on Beef Wellington and Philly Cheesesteaks.
Emporium Pies
Popular pie shop based in Dallas took its time to open a Fort Worth location – 10 years or so – but has finally arrived, landing in the South Main area at 411 South Main St., in the space recently vacated by Alchemy Pops. Owners Megan Wilkes and Mary Sparks take pride in their scratch-made pies, using high-quality ingredients. They have a menu of seven core pies that will be available at the Fort Worth store including bourbon pecan pie, French silk chocolate with a salty pretzel crust, and Lord of the Pies, their signature deep-dish apple pie with cinnamon streusel. For now, the Fort Worth outpost is open for window service only; a dining room area will open later this year.
Harvest Hall
Part of Grapevine's $114 million Grapevine Main development, this recently opened food hall features a half-dozen kitchens, plus coffeeshop, bars, and live entertainment space. Notably, it marks the first brick-and-mortar location of Zatar, a Mediterranean spot whose popular food truck originated in Fort Worth. Other vendors include familiar faces Monkey King Noodle Co. and Easy Slider, plus a pair of spinoffs: Italian spot Spuntino, from the owners of Loveria in Colleyville; and Chick & Biscuit, a sibling of Mason & Dixie, a Southern-inspired restaurant in Grapevine. There's also Latin-inspired kitchen Arepa TX, whose tacos and arepas were created by YouTube chef Mary Ann Allen, AKA the Frugal Chef.
Sidesaddle Saloon
What the Fort Worth Stockyards needs is a woman's touch. So say the creators of this new cowgirl-themed cocktail lounge and small-plates spot from Sarah Castillo, Christian Lehrmann, and Glen Keely — the team behind Taco Heads and Tinie's Mexican Cuisine. The menu of Texas tapas includes bison tartare with mustard vinaigrette on toasted sourdough; deviled eggs with caviar and crème fraiche; housemade beef jerky; and bacon & cheddar-chive biscuits. There's a heavy emphasis on drinks, with a long list of scotches and tequilas; beers and wines; and craft cocktails named after famous cowgirls.
Smoke-a-holics BBQ
One of Fort Worth's most popular barbecue joints now has a spinoff at Crockett Hall, the food hall located in the Crocket Row development at 3000 Crockett St. Owner Derrick Walker will offer his entire menu of smoked meats, along with popular specialty items such as Big Macc, a mash-up of brisket and mac & cheese; dirty rice spiked with black pepper sausage; smoked chicken salad; and loaded baked potatoes and nachos. The food hall location comes with plenty of seating — a rarity at Walker’s tiny mothership store — not to mention the opportunity to order beer, wine, and mixed drinks, courtesy of Crocket Hall’s built-in bar.
