News You Can Eat

Chef-driven taqueria says 'see ya' and more Fort Worth restaurant news

If you crave this taco, you'll need to drive to Dallas.

A highly rated taqueria has closed up shop, but there is good news about pizza, tacos, and Hatch chiles. It's Hatch chile season! Lots and lots of chiles. Here's what's happening in Fort Worth restaurant news:

Revolver Taco Lounge has closed its location in Fort Worth. Owner Regino Rojas, who announced the closure on Facebook, had previously considered leaving Fort Worth after closing his original location on West 7th Street. But then he decided to stick around and in 2016, opened his current Fort Worth location on Forest Park Boulevard. In 2016, Revolver won CultureMap's Tastemaker award for Fort Worth's restaurant of the year. In April 2017, he also opened a location in Dallas' Deep Ellum, which has earned positive press. That is now his only location.

Mr. Gatti's in Fort Worth and in North Richland Hills have added several new menu items, including nine flatbread pizzas. The selections include Mediterranean chicken, Thai chicken, chicken bacon artichoke, carne trio, meat market, spinach artichoke, white clam, garlic Alfredo shrimp, and Italia supremo. Additional items include cinnamon sticks, garlic knots, cheese sticks, seafood linguine with clams and shrimp, and new salad sizes in small, regular, and family. The North Richland Hills location has also doubled the size of its game room.

Salata Salad Bar is opening its first branch in Arlington, at 1705 N. Collins St., in the Champions Park Entertainment District near Highway 30 and North Collins Street. This will be the 15th in DFW; the chain has 60-plus across the country. The new restaurant is expected to open in early fall.

Snuffer's is bringing back the Hatch chile cheeseburger, a chuck burger stuffed with Chihuahua cheese and diced Hatch green chile, then topped with Hatch green chile, crumbled bacon, tomato, and Hatch green chile mayo. Hatch chile cheese fries are Snuffer's legendary recipe with a twist: hand-cut Idaho potato fries topped with diced Hatch green chile and Chihuahua cheese. That's a lot of Hatch.

El Fenix is also Hatching it up, with three dishes and a drink, served through September 10. Hatch queso blanco enchiladas are stuffed with Monterey jack and chihuahua cheese, and topped with choice of Hatch queso blanco or Hatch chile verde sauce, served with rice and beans. Hatch chile and chicken enchiladas have chicken, onion, bell pepper, and tomato, topped with — you guessed it — choice of Hatch queso blanco or Hatch chile verde sauce, served with rice and beans. Or get a bowl of Hatch queso blanco. The Hatch green chile margarita is made with Hatch green chile-infused tequila.

Nestlé Toll House Café now has personalized ice cream sandwiches made to order. You choose two cookies, then pick your ice cream flavor. Toppings and sauces run from sprinkles and gummy bears to chocolate syrup. A recommended combo is the cinnamon pretzel crunch, with dulce de leche ice cream sandwiched between cinnamon pretzel crunch cookies.

Blue Mesa Grill has a crazy new way to serve sizzling fajitas: on a Himalayan salt block, said to be the purest, most natural form of salt that exists. Their unique property allows them to be heated to up to 700 degrees, and hold that temperature for up to 30 minutes. Beyond the effect of the high heat, they are naturally anti-microbial, making them one of the safest and cleanest ways to cook and serve food. The salt and trace minerals enhance the flavor of the food in a way that cannot be duplicated by any other cooking method. You can get skirt steak, chicken, and shrimp served on these blocks of salt, sitting on a bed of onions and peppers sizzling in garlic butter, with black beans, ginger rice, flour tortillas, guacamole, pico de gallo, and jalapeño.

Torchy's Tacos is releasing four specialty tacos for August that are hot: fajita beef taco with Manzano chile salad, fried shrimp with diablo mayo, fried chicken with jalapenos, and pork with Torchy's hot sauce. VP Michael Rypka says these four tacos "are everything a Torchy’s fan should anticipate." Hmm, well not everything, Michael, because some Torchy's fans are vegetarian.

Fuzzy's Taco Shop has a new seasonal item: honey-citrus glazed chicken salad, with a chilled chicken breast on a bed of lettuce and spring mix and topped with pepitas and feta in a roasted poblano vinaigrette. It's available through September 12.

Central Market's 22nd Annual Hatch Chile Festival runs August 9-22 at all locations. The supermarket chain imports more than 330,000 pounds of peppers a year.

news-you-can-eat

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.

closings