This Week In Gluttony

These are the 7 best food and drink events in Fort Worth this week

Spinach-feta cheese turnovers at the Greek Festival

Greek Festival

Fall festival season has arrived, and there’s a big one starting Friday that will run for three days. (Hint: it’s always in November at a church.) The Fort Worth Food + Wine Festival also launches a new event featuring Fort Worth’s hottest culinary duo. Save room for jambalaya, beignets, and barbecue burnt ends by the weekend.

Tuesday, November 7

Antinori Wine Dinner at Carrabba's Italian Grill
Four-course wine pairing dinner will star Stag’s Leap cab, a fan-favorite from Napa Valley. Dinner includes scallops with spinach and gorgonzola salad, pasta sostanza, sirloin with charred onion butter, and caramel apple cheesecake. The $65 per person price, plus tax and gratuity, includes wines with each course. Start time is 6:30 pm at all locations, including Dallas, Plano, and Hurst.

Wednesday, November 8

Fort Worth Food + Wine Festival Far Out Feast
Fort Worth’s hottest culinary duo of the moment – celeb chef Graham Elliot and his business partner Felipe Armenta – will showcase dishes inspired by their concepts, including Maria’s Mexican Kitchen, Le Margot, F1 Smokehouse, and coming soon to the Stockyards, Cowboy Prime. Hosted by the folks behind the Fort Worth Food + Wine Festival, the dinner will include a presentation of the Walter Kaufmann Lifetime Achievement Award to the Renfro family of Mrs. Renfro’s Salsa. Tickets are $195 per person and the dinner will take place at 6 pm at The Fort Worth Club.

Thursday, November 9

Rooftop Tequila Dinner with La Pulga at Tinie’s
Upscale Mexican restaurant, which just launched a new fall menu, will utilize its pretty rooftop patio for a tequila pairing dinner. Tinie’s owner Sarah Castillo (who also owns Taco Heads and Sidesaddle Saloon) is a partner in La Pulga, the featured tequila brand with Fort Worth roots. Guests will partake in birria empanadas, tuna crudo with blood orange gastrique, duck sope al pastor, green chile chicken sausage with mole negro, and mango jalapeno ice cream. Tickets are $85 per person, plus tax and gratuity, and dinner begins at 7 pm.

Friday, November 10

Fort Worth Greek Festival
St. Demetrios Greek Orthodox Church's annual festival is back for its 55th edition. The event draws hundreds over three days for authentic Greek dishes like pastitsio (ground beef and macaroni casserole), moussaka (eggplant layered with ground beef, potatoes, and zucchini), gyro sandwiches, and baklava. (Don’t miss the flaming cheese.) Also go for live Greek music, dancing, shopping, and Greek beer and wine. The festival will run from 10 am-10 pm Friday and Saturday, and 11 am-3 pm Sunday. Admission is free; credit cards will be taken for food and beverage purchases.

Saturday, November 11

Gold Handle Coffee + Duke Spirits Tastings at John Wayne Stock & Supply
Visit the museum gift shop dedicated to legendary actor John “The Duke” Wayne in the Fort Worth Stockyards for complimentary tastings of his brand name coffee and spirits. Sample Gold Handle Coffee from 9–11 am and Duke Spirits from 11 am–3 pm.

Jambalaya Bash & 2nd Anniversary Celebration at Dusty Biscuit Beignets
After being on the brink of closure this summer, the New Orleans-inspired beignet shop is still going strong with new evening hours and creative pop-ups, like this jambalaya lunch. Visit for a bowl of the big batch ($10) and stay for a beignet-eating contest, set for 1 pm. The entry fee is $20 and there’ll be cash prizes (plus all those powdered sugar dusted beignets reminiscent of Crescent City’s Café du Monde). The bash will go on from 11 am–2 pm.

Sunday, November 12

Burnt Ends Bash
Hosted by the Facebook group Fort Worth Foodies with food personality Trey's Chowdown, this barbecue cookoff will take place at River Ranch Stockyards. Ticket prices start at $29 ($15 for children 6-13) for three sample tickets along with potato salad, cowboy beans, homemade chips, Shiner Bock yeast rolls, cookies, and brownies. Or go VIP for $69 and get an open beer and margarita bar, four sample tickets, whiskey and tequila tasting, and early entrance at 12 pm. The event will run until 4 pm.

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

This Week In Gluttony

These are the 7 best food and drink events in Fort Worth this week

Closure News

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

Which Fort Worth restaurants are open on Christmas Day 2024

Where to see the most stunning Christmas lights in Fort Worth for 2024

Luscious doughnut shop Duck Donuts makes Fort Worth debut