Smoked out
Fort Worth chef Tim Love pulls the plug on his 3 Houston restaurants
Fort Worth chef Tim Love has bid the Bayou City farewell.
The celebrity chef has closed the three restaurants he operated in Houston, two of which were spinoffs of Fort Worth staples, as follows:
- Woodshed Smokehouse: his "homage to all things wood grilled, roasted, steamed, braised, and slow-cooked"
- Love Shack: the chef's take on a classic burger joint
- Side Dough: a double-decker bus serving coffee and pastries
The sudden shutterings end Love's presence in Houston. A notice announcing the closures is posted on both the doors at Woodshed and on the websites of all three restaurants. The original Fort Worth locations of Woodshed Smokehouse and Love Shack both remain open, as well as the Love Shack at DFW Airport.
CultureMap has contacted representatives for Love for comment about the closures. We will update this article when they reply.
First announced in 2017, Love's restaurants debuted with considerable fanfare, opening to the public on March 12, 2020. But their timing couldn't have been worse. One week later, Gov. Greg Abbott closed restaurants for in-person dining on March 21.
Woodshed boasted an expansive patio and flexible indoor-outdoor environment that suited the requirements of pandemic-era dining, but it never quite seemed to achieve notoriety commensurate with Love's celebrity status.
Love may have exited Houston, but he remains a dynamic presence in his hometown. He recently opened Caterina's, an ode to Italian-American food that features an upscale environment and a policy forbidding the use of smartphones while dining. This fall he'll open Tannahill's Tavern & Music Hall, a bar, restaurant, and concert hall, in partnership with Live Nation.
Best known for his flagship restaurant Lonesome Dove, the acclaimed chef operates establishments in Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin, and Knoxville, TN. He's also a reality TV star known for his appearances on Iron Chef America, Top Chef Masters, and Restaurant Startup, a Shark Tank-style show he hosted with Masterchef judge Joe Bastianich.
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Teresa Gubbins contributed to this article.
