Booze News

Fort Worth neighborhood bar wins over locals with no-fuss charm

The Bucket gives the neighborhood what it wants.

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Fort Worth trades out one vintage dive bar for another with the arrival of The Bucket, a newly opened bar near the Benbrook traffic circle. It's located at 3512 Alta Mere Rd., the former home of Sam's Bulldog Saloon, which closed in February 2016.

The Bucket represents another venture from Robby Turman, who was down one bar after he closed the Mule Pub, his bar off Camp Bowie Boulevard, in July. The Mule has become Whiskey Business, a new spot from bar veterans Kevin Dunlap and Josh Campbell, two of the owners of the Rail Club.

The Bulldog was around for more than a decade, located in the same strip center as Salsa Fuego, which closed in October 2015. It was previously known as Sam's Bulldog Saloon, after original owner Edris "Sam" Cogburn. Fans called it a "diamond in the rough," touting its cleanliness, ample lighting, and friendly regulars — a good place to play some pool and chill. Fort Worth Weekly gave it a nod for best cheap buzz.

The Bucket is just as unpretentious, with an ad that touts amenities such as "indoor plumbing." There's Golden Tee, pool tables, and $2 longnecks all the time. A small menu of snacks includes nachos, wings, and French fries. They're already winning over locals with drink specials and occasional offers of fried catfish bites during the dinner hour, free while they last.

For Turman, it's an expansion of his footprint in that center, which is also home to the Dive Oyster Bar, a seafood spot two doors down that he opened in Salsa Fuego's former space. Turman also owns Oscar's Pub in Ridglea Hills.

Turman was on vacation, but a spokesperson at The Bucket said that they'd done a substantial renovation of the space. "There's no smoking, and we have great 60-inch TVs," she says. "It's a lot nicer."

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McDonald's News

McDonald's closes 2 of its CosMc's beverage shops around Fort Worth

Photo courtesy of CosMc's

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After less than a year, McDonald's is cutting back on its CosMc's beverage spinoff, and that includes shutting down at least two locations around Fort Worth.

McDonald's introduced the beverage led concept in December 2023, when it opened the first location in Bolingbrook, Illinois. The concept — which seemed to be competing with Swig, the drive-through drink chain from Utah — features coffee, lemonade, slushies, and energy drinks, plus bites such as the Egg McMuffin, hashbrowns, and McPops — like doughnut holes.

They went on to open six more locations, all in Texas: two in San Antonio and four in DFW. Both San Antonio locations still show up on the website as open but two have closed in DFW so far, as follows:

Watauga at 7304 Denton Hwy.
Arlington at Abram's Alley, 300 E. Abram St. #150

Two DFW locations show up on their website as still open: Dallas at Campbell Road, and Fort Worth on McPherson Boulevard.

Despite the closures, McDonald's still plans to continue the test in the US for the foreseeable future, a spokesperson says, including opening two new smaller format stores in Texas in 2025. That includes a location in Allen at 861 W. Stacy Rd.

The plan is to close three of the larger locations that were remodeled into CosMc’s locations — meaning that one of the locations currently still open in Texas is due to close. Will it be Dallas? Fort Worth? Or San Antonio? They won't say.

"Since opening CosMc’s, we have had the benefit of testing out different location sizes and setups – from revamping larger restaurant spaces to building smaller prototype locations that focus more on the drive-thru and digital experience," their statement says. "We learned that the smaller format stores allow us to test new, unique circumstances that are reflective of our customer base. As a result, we will open two new smaller format stores in Texas in 2025, and close three of the larger locations that were remodeled into CosMc’s locations."

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