Taco News

El Fenix honcho launches new Mexican restaurant concept in Fort Worth

Tacos will soon be on the menu in Fort Worth’s West Seventh District.

Photo courtesy of Taqueria La Ventana

A new Mexican restaurant concept, with tacos and more, is coming to Fort Worth from Mike Karns, owner of El Fenix, Meso Maya, and Taqueria La Ventana. With a working title of Tortaco, it will open at 910 Currie St., in the space previously occupied by the Fixi Shop.

Karns was not available for comment, but a staffer familiar with the project said that it would be a new concept entirely different from any of Karns' other restaurants, with a hybrid mode of service. "It'll be self-serve during the daytime, and full-service for dinner," the staffer said.

The menu will be a step up from Taqueria La Ventana, with tacos and more.

Karns has bagged a dynamite location in the thick of the West Seventh District, directly across the street from Fred's Texas Cafe, behind Dude, Sweet Chocolate and behind Waters, Jon Bonnell's seafood restaurant, and next-door to Steel City Pops.

The former Fixi Shop is a charming building built in 1955 with a Googie-esque sloping roof. It's unique in that it's a stand-alone building; a representative from the realtor said that Karns bought it outright. "He wanted to own the location," she said.

Construction is already underway, with most of the interior gutted, but the exterior is being saved.

Karns opened the first Taqueria La Ventana in 2012, followed by a branch in Addison which opened in May 2015. A third Taqueria La Ventana is slated to open at the Dallas Farmers Market. Karns also owns the Snuffer's burger chain, which he acquired in 2014.

tacos openings tex-mex

Doughnut News

Luscious doughnut shop Duck Donuts makes Fort Worth debut

Photo courtesy of Visit Addison

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A decadent new doughnut shop is coming to Fort Worth: Duck Donuts, a North Carolina-based chain known for serving doughnuts made to order, will open a shop at 6387 Camp Bowie Blvd. #A within the Ridglea Plaza Shopping Center in Fort Worth.

According to a release, the shop will open on Saturday December 21 at 7 am.

Duck Donuts opened its first locations in 2007 in the beach resort towns of Duck and Kitty Hawk, North Carolina with the intention to create an oasis for vacationers. They're now headquartered in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, and began franchising in 2013, with more than 150 locally owned and operated shops across 26 states and international locations. There was previously a DFW location in Addison on Belt Line Road that opened in 2020 but it did not survive the pandemic.

The Fort Worth shop is owned and operated by husband-and-wife Justin and Morgan Thomas.

“We are delighted to be opening in Fort Worth,” Justin says in a statement. “The community has been patiently waiting for us to open our doors, and now we cannot wait to sprinkle happiness to all with our warm, delicious and made-to-order doubhnuts.”

The 1,035-square-foot shop reflects the franchise’s reimagined design which gives a modern twist on their iconic beach theme and family-friendly atmosphere. Upon entering the store, customers are greeted by the aroma of warm, light vanilla cake doughnuts.

Customers can create their own combination by choosing from coatings, toppings, and drizzles, including traditional favorites such as chocolate icing with sprinkles and more adventurous creations such as maple icing with bacon.

Key to their appeal is the viewing area where children and adults alike can watch their doughnuts being made.

Many of their flavors have a beachy theme such as the Beach, a cake doughnut with vanilla icing dusted with cinnamon sugar; the Sunrise with lemon icing and raspberry drizzle; and the Beach Ball with vanilla icing, rainbow sprinkles, and chocolate drizzle.

They rotate in seasonal offerings such as the current lineup of mint-flavored flavors including chocolate icing with mint buttercream. The doughnuts themselves are limited to vanilla and chocolate cake; the flavors come primarily from icing.

In addition to doughnuts, the Fort Worth location will serve coffee, doughnut breakfast sandwiches, doughnut sundaes — in which a doughnut is topped with ice cream and syrup — plus frozen beverages and milkshakes.

doughnuts openings