Bagel News

Buzzy Dan's Bagels to open 2 new Fort Worth-area locations

Rainbow bagels from Dan's Bagel's

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An acclaimed bagel shop in the mid-cities is expanding bigtime: Dan's Bagels, which has been winning over bagel fans at its original location in Trophy Club, is opening not one but two new outlets in spring 2025.

The first is in Argyle at an address still TBD — it's under construction off US-377, near the intersection of Frenchtown Road, just north of Liberty Christian High School and east of Northlake. This one will come with a small patio.
The second is at 2430 Forest Park Blvd. in the former Chip'd Cookie Nachos location (which is also the former Black Rooster Bakery location), close to TCU.

Both locations are new franchisees: The Argyle store is from Josh & Jill Pezzuto, Jwho have several years of fast-casual and franchise experience; and the TCU store is from Luis and Mona Lisa.

Dan’s Bagels is a bona-fide pandemic success, founded by husband-and-wife Dan and Jen Hilbert who, like many among us, turned to baking during the pandemic as a distraction from the quarantine — specifically, baking bagels, which theyy had acquired a taste for, after living on the East Coast for more than 30 years.

"We yearned for a legit bagel - one that was crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside," Dan says. "We missed the hustle and bustle of local neighborhood bagel shops offering scratch-made bagels and made-to-order sandwiches."

They quit their corporate jobs and established Dan’s Bagels in April 2020, selling bagels out of their home, offering online preorders for pickup.

"The watershed moment was in November 2020, when word of mouth and buzz for our bagels ignited a demand we had not seen before — we sold 1,000 bagels in 7 minutes," Dan says.

They opened a brick & mortar shop in August 2021 at 301 Trophy Lake Dr. #132, in Trophy Club, and are consistently cited as a destination for bagels. They're skilled at social media, employing devices such as setting up a live-feed "Bagel cam" so that fans can watch as the bagel bins are emptied. And they rotate in seasonal specials, often viral such as the rainbow-hued bagel, or a red-white-and-blue bagel on Memorial Day.

They do about a dozen flavors, some unconventional, such as their pizza bagel, pumpkin, and rosemary salt. You can spot their blueberry bagel: It's tinted an Instagram-friendly vivid blue.

They have a large assortment of flavored schmears. They also do other items such as cinnamon rolls, "hard rolls" — a New York institution that's like a bagel but lighter — plus blueberry muffins, crumb cake, and black & white cookies.

Both of the new locations are anticipated to open in late Spring 2025.

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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.

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