Where to Eat
Where to eat in Fort Worth right now: 5 must-try restaurants for August
The August edition of Where to Eat is mostly about new places, including one from California doing spicy chicken sandwiches and one that cleverly combines Mediterranean food with a Texas touch. There's also sushi in Southlake and lemonade on West 7th. Last but not least, a longtime Mexican restaurant re-opens after closing due to a family medical emergency. Time to go get some enchiladas.
Here's where to eat in Fort Worth right now:
Burnin' Mouth Chicken
Spicy hot chicken restaurant recently opened in Fort Worth's Near Southside/Medical District at 1229 8th Ave., where it's serving its Nashville hot chicken sandwich, along with chicken strips, wings, and fries. Their signature is the Bang Bang chicken sandwich with spicy sauce on a brioche bun, with coleslaw, onion, pickles, ranch, comeback sauce, and fries. They also do a chicken sandwich with a dry powdered rub, plus wings and strips. The concept was founded in California in 2021, and also has a location in Las Vegas. So far, they're kiosk driven, opening in malls or food halls.
Ferah Tex-Med Kitchen
Elegant new restaurant in Southlake is actually a spinoff of a Garland restaurant founded in 2019 by Burak Ozcan, a native of Turkey whose extensive experience includes a stint as sous chef at Samar By Stephan Pyles. The menu combines elements of Mediterranean and Tex-Mex cuisines, and everything is tempting. Since the Southlake location opened, the two outlets have been having a fun competition with dishes such as chicken thigh with jalapeño orzo risotto, and 44 Farms Beef Tenderloin with red beet puree, mashed potatoes, and grilled asparagus. They also have a full bar.
Fiesta Mexican Restaurant
Wonderful family-owned restaurant at 3233 Hemphill St. known for its reliable (and cheap!) fajitas, enchiladas, chili con carne, and shrimp cocktail just reopened after being closed since April 13. This was not the pandemic: Co-owner Jose Barriga's 8-year-old daughter needed a bone marrow transplant and one of the family members had to be with her in the hospital for 45 days. "We tried to hire people to fill in, but they'd show up three days out of five," says Jose, who originally opened the restaurant with his mother in 1978. In good news, their daughter is doing better every day. For now, Fiesta has limited hours: lunch and late breakfast only Sunday-Thursday, and lunch and dinner Friday-Saturday. Go get some enchiladas.
Nikko Southlake
Brand new sushi spot in Southlake Town Square at 1420 E. Southlake Blvd. #168 (in the former Sushi Zushi space) features sushi, sashimi, sushi rolls, sashimi, and Wagyu cooked on hot rocks, as well as standout desserts such as an ube-flavored version of mille crepe cake. Founder Tomo Tamura is an accomplished sushi chef and native of Japan who has worked in Los Angeles, Denver, Kentucky, and Dallas, where he was head chef at Mr. Sushi. He was retired but opened Nikko to create a place where he could train young chefs. One hot ticket: The restaurant is offering Omakase Nikko, featuring dishes selected by the chef, available on Fridays and Saturdays, by reservation only.
Happy Lemon
This one's more liquid than solid: It's a global bubble tea franchise established in China in 2006 with more than 1,500 locations around the world, now including Fort Worth, whoo-hoo, yay for us. It's at 1019 Foch St., right at the buzzy intersection of Bledsoe, where it's pouring signature drinks like lemon honey jasmine tea, mango matcha smoothie, ube milk tea with taro balls, and if you really want to experiment, their jasmine green tea topped with "salted cheese," a decadent cap made from cream cheese, whipped cream, milk and a hint of salt. If you need a bite, they also have trendy bubble waffles, light and crunchy and eggy all at once, which you can snack on solo or with a scoop of ice cream.