BBQ News
Fort Worth's Aardvark club pulls off new Texas barbecue restaurant
After dabbling in barbecue for the past eight years, the folks from Fort Worth rock club The Aardvark are going all in, with a new dedicated restaurant called Texas Slim's BBQ. Slim's will reside next door to the Aardvark in the former tattoo shop, with an opening date set for September 12.
Nothing will change at The Aardvark, where they'll keep being a great bar hosting live music. Owner Danny Weaver says this is just an evolution of the side thing they've been doing at the bar.
"We've been doing barbecue for seven to eight years years, and now it will become more of a sit-down restaurant," Weaver says. "We've had people come to get barbecue, but when they walk in, they see a bar. Now they'll be able to do that with the full dining experience, and not so much of a bar atmosphere."
The restaurant is basically in the same building as The Aardvark, separated by a new horseshoe-shaped bar, with seven new TVs. The dining area is bright and friendly, with handsome wooden slat booths, seafoam green walls, and a vintage longhorn-shaped "burgers" sign.
The new restaurant brings an expansion of the menu, too. They're adding daily specials, like smoked drumsticks on Tuesdays, pork chops with portobello mushroom sauce on Thursday, and smoked ribeye on Fridays. Wednesdays they'll do a burger, and on Sundays, they'll serve brunch.
"We'll be a little different from your normal barbecue place," Weaver says. "We'll still do the standards like brisket and pulled pork. But we'll also do things like a baked potato stuffed with brisket or chicken or pork or whatever meat, and a smoked vegetable medley with Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, and bell peppers."
They'll incorporate some of the unique dishes they've developed for their catering operation, including St. Louis-style ribs and their signature brisket burritos with jalapeños and cheddar cheese.
Weaver began doing the barbecue thing almost on a whim. "In the beginning, I never thought it would take off like this where people would walk in and be asking for barbecue," he says. "When the tattoo shop became available, we jumped on it."
Chef Waylon Corneliusfortworthtx.gov