Where to drink right now

Where to drink in Fort Worth: 5 top happy hours to toast school's return

School is back in session for most local students this week, and parents deserve a toast. Whether they've been shuttling the kids between camps and sitters all summer or keeping them busy (and sane) while staying at home, a grownup happy hour is in order. These five Fort Worth bars are well-suited for catching up with parent-friends you might not have seen since last school year. So let the spouse, sitter, or grandparents handle after-school pick-up, and plan a celebratory sip session to toast the return of routine.

Hudson House
For some parents, sweet dreams are made of these: East Coast oysters and ice-cold martinis. Both are on happy hour, 3-6 pm Monday-Friday, at Hudson House (4600 Dexter Ave.), a Dallas-based concept that opened prominently on the bricks near Camp Bowie Blvd. late last year. With its polished yet approachable atmosphere and a menu that ranges from cheeseburgers to sushi, the East Coast-inspired concept draws lots of regulars from ladies to lunch to guys who golf. Bonus: Dressy attire or errand-running athleisure are both just fine here. Happy hour is in the bar only and includes half-off martinis (served in famously frozen glassware), bellinis, and wines by the glass along with $3 oysters on the half shell and $10 cheeseburgers.

CRU Food & Wine Bar
The Shops at Clearfork wine bar (5188 Marathon Ave.) sits amid the toniest boutiques in Fort Worth – a double plus for parents looking to treat themselves with some retail therapy, too. Happy hour runs 3-5:30 pm Monday-Friday (at the bar and on the patio) and includes $3 off flights and wines by the glass, $9 sommelier picks by the glass, and menu specials like Ahi tuna tartare for $12 and goat cheese beignets for $11. But there’s more. On Mondays, select any bottle of wine and get a free pizza, and on Thursdays all bottles of champagne are half-off from 4 pm-close. Pinkies up!

Rio Mambo
How to put parents in a good mood: feed them chips, queso, and a marg. Rio Mambo, with its locations in Fort Worth, Colleyville, and Burleson, serves some of the most potently popular margaritas in town. Frozen varieties include the Mango Rita, peach-infused Mambellini, and the fruity Frozen Beach. Find all blended and house margaritas for $1 off during happy hour, 3-7 pm Monday-Friday. Even more, house margs are only $4.99 and blended margs are $6.99 all day on Thursdays. Pair with picadillo beef or chorizo queso and let the adult conversations begin.

Quince
A visit here feels like a vacation thanks to Quince’s San Miguel de Allende origin, with its marble floors and bar tops, décor in hues of bright blue, and open-air setting along the Trinity River. The restaurant and bar (1701 River Run) specializes in a worldly variety of sushi, seafood dishes, steaks, and cocktails. Happy hour is 3-5:30 pm Monday-Friday and features half-off the “usuals,” which encompass house margaritas, Ranch H2O, beers on tap, wines by the glass, and all frozen cocktails. The latter category features more sophisticated versions of typical frozen offerings, like the mint and lemon-kissed Frose; frozen Carajillo; and just in time for college football season, the Horned Frog Mojito blended with vodka and aged rum. Also on happy hour are $2.50 oysters on the half shell along with appetizers (don’t miss the rock shrimp tempura), and sushi rolls for 25 percent off.

Goat & Vine
Breaking the snakebitten corner space curse in Montgomery Plaza (2600 W. 7^th St.) is this Chicago-based Italian import, which opened early in 2023 and draws girl groups for its bottomless brunch “packages” and Instagram-friendly spaces. The restaurant also touts itself as a winery, referring to its custom-bottled varietals made from California grapes and labeled exclusively for Goat & Vine. Most of those wines (the ones with white or black labels) are half-price by the bottle and glass, 4-6 pm Monday- Friday. Additionally, all signature cocktails – like the Espresso Martini and Red Wine Side Car – are $10. Nibble on appetizer specials like $7 bruschetta, $6 zucchini chips with truffle aioli, and $14 charcuterie boards.

Quince Riverside FW/Facebook

Cheers to the return of school (and parent sanity) at Quince.

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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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Closure News

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