CFS News

Southern comfort food restaurant in Watauga to close after 10 years

Campfire Grill

Watauga mom-and-pop Campfire Grill, a Southern comfort food restaurant at 6321 Rufe Snow Dr. #100 famous for its chicken-fried steak, is closing after 10 years.

According to a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page, their lease is ending, and they'll close on May 30.

Husband-and-wife Kareem and Jessica Lawton first opened the restaurant in 2015, with former partner Pablo Resendez (who left a year ago, according to Kareem). It became a community hub for Watauga and North Richland Hills, especially through the pandemic when they added a prayer wall and giving wall for contributions from customers.

Kareem said he notified employees of the closure first because he didn't want to blindside them before letting the public know.

“Our lease is ending and it’s just a good exit point for me,” Kareem says in a call. “I just want to focus more on my family because owning a restaurant is a big deal.”

Kareem had dreamed of owning a restaurant since he was 14. They first opened in a different location about a mile away at 6751 Rufe Snow, then closed and relocated to the current location in 2020.

The star of the menu was chicken fried steak with gravy made from scratch with bacon drippings; hickory-smoked meatloaf with BBQ sauce; Nolan Ryan burger; and fried catfish with three filets and three sides.

They also had chicken-fried chicken, chopped steak, pork chops, meatloaf,fried shrimp, and catfish, fried or blackened. Plus wings, a patty melt, fried pickles, and desserts such as banana pudding, peach cobbler, and brownies.

The couple have not determined what's next.

“I’m not quite sure where I’ll land at this point, but I will take a little bit of time and hopefully clear my mind and put my resume together today,” Kareem says.

“I didn’t come to this decision lightly, and I’m not closing because I have to,” he says. “But I’d like to have a job that when I leave, I don’t have to keep thinking about it. I’m not downing the idea that I’ll ever do it again; my wife is more ready to try it again, but she was also more ready to close it than me.”

closings

Closure News

Paco's Mexican Cuisine shutters location in Sundance Square Fort Worth

Paco's Mexican Cuisine/Facebook

Paco's Mexican Cuisine will host a five-course tequila-pairing dinner.

A buzzy Fort Worth Mexican restaurant has closed: Paco’s Mexican Cuisine, shuttered its location in Sundance Square at 156 W. 4th St., after three years.

According to a post, owner-chef Francisco "Paco" Islas said the closure is due to the lease ending. Their website has already been taken down.

"Given the climate in the service industry, it has been difficult to keep two concepts going with 100% effort as a small family-run business," the post read.

It also gave a nod to its location, stating that "Sundance Square has been an important part of our story — a place where we’ve grown and shared countless unforgettable moments. We thank this organization and Mrs. Bass for the opportunity."

The restaurant opened in 2022 in a space that was previously Taco Diner. It was a second location for Paco’s Mexican following the original on Magnolia Avenue in the Near Southside neighborhood, which opened in 2016. Islas closed that Magnolia Avenue location in January.

They offered a menu of breakfast, lunch, and dinner featuring chilaquiles, huevos rancheros, tortas, tacos, and quesadillas. Some of the signature items included tlacoyos— a stuffed corn cake dish with tomatillo, crema, and fajita steak— and birria tacos.

With both locations of Paco’s closed, Islas will focus more attention on Shogun Taqueria, the Mexican-Japanese fusion concept he opened in March in the former Paco’s on Magnolia Avenue.

"This isn’t a decision we made lightly, but rather one rooted in a strategic refocus on the next phase of our journey which is Chef Paco’s new concept, Shogun Taqueria, located in the Near Southside," the post said.

Shogun is bringing something new to Fort Worth, although it doesn't completely abandon the Mexican cuisine diners came to love at Paco's, with a few familiar items like tacos and birria. There's also ramen, gyoza, and parilla with meats like Wagyu and pork cooked on a hot stone tableside.

downtown closings