Opening News

Return of the chocolate piñata smashes this Fort Worth restaurant news

You get to smash it with a wooden mallet.

Uncle Julio's

This roundup of restaurant news around Fort Worth includes openings, new dishes, and tempting happy hour bites. There are chocolate pop-ups coming our way and the return of an epic chocolate piñata.

Here's what's happening in Fort Worth restaurant news:

BoomerJack's in Arlington, less than a mile from AT&T Stadium, is open after a remodel. New features include an extended backyard-style patio with fire pits, and a larger collection of big-screen TVs. Founded in 2000, BoomerJack's Grill & Bar is part of Hurst-based On Deck Concepts, which also owns Bedford Ice House and Sidecar Social.

Las Delicias de Michoacan Ice Cream is a sweet family-owned ice cream and snacks shop recently opened in North Richland Hills at 5340 Rufe Snow Dr. It's a spinoff of the original location in Hurst, with ice cream, cold drinks, and savory dishes, and everything's made in-house with lots of TLC including house-made potato chips topped with hot sauce and elotes two ways: cut from the cob before your eyes, or else the whole cob served up to you. They do cool fruit dishes such as fresh banana dipped in chocolate, or pineapple and watermelon cut into cubes and topped with granola and cream. There's also shaved ice and "snow," shaved extra fine. It's the perfect combination of slightly familiar and slightly novel.

Funky Picnic Brewery & Café, the brewpub in the Near Southside, has a new menu from Chef Josh Rangel and team with dinner entrees and upscale appetizers alongside their turkey sandwich, fried chicken sandwich, and Funky Burger with pimento cheese. New entrees include roasted lemon garlic half chicken and beer-steamed mussels. New vegetarian options include Blueberry Flatbread and Roasted Cauliflower. They're also adding the Bacon Bourbon Meatballs they debuted at the 2021 Fort Worth Food and Wine Festival.

See's Candies is opening temporary pop-up stores around town beginning November 9 through December 31. There'll be pop-ups at The Shops at Highland Village, Watters Creek in Allen, and Southlake Town Square.

Eddie V's steakhouse has new South African Lobster Tempura Bites topped with spicy aioli, available during happy hour only.

Fireside Pies has new dishes created by Chef Stephen Pyles that include Smoked Salmon Flatbread, Garlic Bites with sauce, Turkish Pizza with sumac seasoned lamb, Beef Short Rib Stroganoff, Cedar Planked Salmon, and Chicken Saltimbocca.

Panda Express has a plant-based twist on its most iconic dish, the Original Orange Chicken, but made with Beyond chicken chunks. Co-developed with Beyond Meat, this entree captures the texture and tangy-citrus flavor of The Original Orange Chicken, with the nutritional benefits of plant-based protein. Panda Express initially offered it in a trial run in New York and Los Angeles, and now it's available at 70 locations across the U.S., including DFW. The list includes Allen, Coit Road in Plano, Addison at Belt Line and Montfort, Garland, and Sunnyvale.

Lazy Dog Restaurant & Bar, known for innovative twists on American dishes, has two new dishes, available through February 15: Roasted Turkey TV Dinner, with turkey breast, gravy, mashed potatoes, corn, celery-onion stuffing, and salted caramel pumpkin cheesecake and graham cracker crumble. Jolene's, Lazy Dog's virtual concept, has Korean Dry Rub Wings, bacon candy mac & cheese, pickled cucumber salad, and loaded potato hushpuppies.

Thirsty Lion Gastropub in Irving and Euless has launched a fall menu featuring Beer-Steamed Shrimp, Arugula & Beet Salad with Herb Grilled Chicken, Bacon Jam Burger, Black Cherry BBQ Pork Tenderloin, and Whiskey Bing Cherry Bread Pudding. New seasonal cocktails include he Templeton Maple Old Fashioned and Tito’s Winter White Cosmopolitan.

Vitality Bowls, the superfood café specializing in delicious açaí bowls, has brought back the fan-favorite Pumpkin Bowl, featuring açaí, pumpkin, strawberries, banana, cinnamon and almond milk topped with granola, banana, strawberries, pumpkin seeds, honey and nutmeg. It's available through November.

Chili's has four new burgers whose sole selling point seems to be their gargantuan size. There's a Big Bacon BBQ with two beef patties, six slices of bacon, BBQ sauce, cheddar, red onion, and pickles; a Bacon Rancher, same thing but with ranch and American cheese; a BBQ Brisket Burger with brisket, BBQ sauce, cheddar, pickles, and coleslaw; and a Secret Sauce Burger with duh secret sauce. Also a Big Mouth Crispy Chicken Sandwich with lettuce, tomato, and Secret Sauce. Does anyone really need six slices of bacon on a burger?

Uncle Julio's celebrates its 35th Birthday by re-launching the Chocolate Piñata, a made-from-scratch chocolate globe filled with mini churros, pineapple, and strawberries, on its permanent menu. Guests can crack open the chocolate delicacy with a wooden mallet and dip the contents in chocolate ganache and whipped cream. The Chocolate Piñata is $30 and it serves 4-8 people.

El Pollo Loco is giving away two personal sized loaves of its festive Pan de Muerto bread with every Familia Dinner purchase on Monday November 1. The Mexican sweet bread is flavored with orange blossom and anise and pairs with El Pollo Loco signature fire-grilled chicken.

Messina Hof Winery, with an urban wine tasting room in Historic Grapevine, earned three awards at the 38th Lone Star International Wine Competition held on October 6-7 in Grapevine. Messina Hof won two awards for their Gewurztraminer Private Reserve, 2019: Best in Texas White, and the Grand Star; and a Bronze for Blushing Angel label, new vintage.

Baum+Whiteman, a market research company, has released its 2022 Food & Beverage Forecast. The No. 1 trend: robots and automation. Other top trends include vegan chicken on menus everywhere; quirky fast food from Asia; replacing the word "ethnic" with "heritage" cooking; boozetarians; and more ghost kitchens. The condiment of the year is chili crunch.

openings

Closure News

Tropic Lady restaurant-bar on Fort Worth's Race Street says aloha

Tropic Lady

The dip trio at Tropic Lady.

A chill restaurant and bar in Fort Worth's River East district has closed: Tropic Lady, which opened in the former Fuzzy's Taco space at 2719 Race St. in 2023, has closed.

The restaurant, which closed in mid-December, was a sibling to Bearded Lady, the popular gastropub in Near Southside; their last Facebook post was on December 10. Their phone number is not working, and their website is no longer active. Owner Shannon Osbakken was unavailable for comment, but a Bearded Lady employee confirmed the closure.

Tropic Lady was a tropical-themed gastropub opened by a trio of friends: Bearded Lady owner Shannon Osbakken, her business partner Sarah Allen, and general manager Amanda Yunger. It offered a similar menu as Bearded lady but with more tropical-inspired fare, including shrimp tacos, bacon-wrapped grilled pineapple bites, and guacamole dotted with mango.

For a gastropub, they did interesting food with dishes like watermelon salad with feta and cucumber; or their Dip Trio, with mango guacamole, tomatillo salsa, and queso blanco served with house-made tortilla chips. Definitely not run-of-the-mill. They also had great lunch specials like a smashburger with curly fries for $10.

Food did not seem to be the problem.

Decor featured artwork and murals created by local artists. A beautifully landscaped patio wrapped around the building’s facade. So the setting did not seem to be a factor.

It's tempting to point the finger at its location on Race Street, which has witnessed a round of closings in the past two years including buzzy birria taqueria Caliscience, which closed in February 2024; as well as The Post at River East, a restaurant and live music venue that shut down the same month.

In 2023, three other restaurants on Race Street closed: Tributary Cafe, the Bon Appetit-lauded La Onda, and vegan burger spot Zonk Burger. But separate reasons can also be found for each of those closures, whether that be inexperience or lease issues.

For years, the city and neighborhood advocates have been trying to turn Race Street into a trendy hotspot. As part of the city’s Urban Villages program, the city of Fort Worth invested $5.6 million in revitalizing the area, making improvements to traffic flow, sidewalks, landscaping, and outdoor lighting.

When Osbakken opened the bar, she said she loved the area, stating "it reminds me of Magnolia when were first were on it 10 years ago in our old location. It's a great community and the neighbors have been friendly and reaching out."

And there are still restaurants along the street, including a popular Mexican restaurant called Tesoro, the Dough’d Up doughnut shop, and Kingyo Sushi & Ramen House, as well as a coffee shop, Race Street Coffee.

The Bearded Lady continues to flourish. Osbakken originally opened the popular gastropub on Magnolia Avenue in 2013. Six years later, she moved it to the South Main, where it’s still going strong.

closings