A Fort Worth distillery tasting room is closing: Lockwood Distilling Co., a small chain of distillery-pubs, will close its location in the Near Southside at 1411 W. Magnolia Ave., which had been there since 2021.

According to Lockwood Distilling founder Evan Batt, the location will close at the end of September.

The departure is part of a shift, as the distillery will be opening a location in Garland in the late fall.

Evan and his wife Sally Batt opened the first Lockwood in Richardson in 2019 as a first-of-its-kind community-driven epicurean destination bringing together gastro fare, paired with small-batch distilled spirits in its 100-gallon copper still: vodkas in various flavors side by side with tuna melts and muffaletta sandwiches.

The concept proved to be a hit, and they subsequently expanded to McKinney as well as Fort Worth. McKinney will remain open.

According to Evan, the shift from Fort Worth to Garland comes after some courting by the Garland City Council, who worked with the distillery to get the deal into place. That included changing local zoning laws.

"We're federally permitted as a distillery, so it's not like a brewery with a state license," Batt says. "We have to be zoned as a distillery. That's where the big municipalities have trouble with us."

Those zoning issues are part of why Fort Worth didn't work as well, along with that location's lack of a kitchen or a private room for events. However, Batt says they would like to remain in Tarrant County — possibly with an expansion to the mid-cities — then try again in Cowtown if the right spot opens up.

They will not be distilling whiskey or vodka on site at the Garland location but otherwise, it will be much like the Richardson original with a taproom and a dining room serving the same menu of Southern food. The 5,000-square-foot space includes a kitchen and also has that valuable private room that can be reserved for events.

In Garland, they'll join other recent openings such as pizza spot Fortunate Son with more restaurants coming soon like Taco Y Vino.

"This gives up a window into that side of town, and I think it's going to help us expand our area of focus and our fans," Batt says.