Salad News

Fort Worth gets healthy with 3 salad-themed restaurants opening at once

Come on, get healthy.

Sweetgreen

Fort Worth is about to enjoy an extravaganza of healthy new eating options, with three restaurants opening in the FW area that are all about salads, bowls, and good-for-you food.

Get your greens on at these three new spots:

Sweetgreen is opening on Tuesday, October 11 at 1605 S University Dr., in the former East Hampton Sandwich Shop space. True to form, the dining area will be small, with room for all of 9 diners inside the 2,130-square-foot space, but room for 26 diners on their enclosed patio which comes with festive planters, umbrellas, and string lights. They're big on to-go.

This California-based restaurant concept does healthy food on a large scale with a philosophy that "real food" should be convenient and accessible to everyone in a fast-food setting. Signature favorites include Kale Caesar, Guacamole Greens, Crispy Chicken Salad, and Miso Bowl. They made their DFW debut in late 2021 with a location in Dallas' West Village, and also have locations in Deep Ellum and Lakewood.

Salata, the build-your-own-salad chain is celebrating the grand opening of its location in Alliance Town Center, at 9611 North Freeway I-35, #9609 on Thursday, October 13. This will be the sixth Salata owned by DFW-based Pegasus Restaurant Group, along with Addison, Arlington, South Arlington, Southlake, and Las Colinas. The menu features customizable, built-to-order salads and wraps, soups, tea, and lemonade. They offer five salad bases, 50-plus toppings, and 11 dressings.

In a statement, Pegasus honcho Mark Robbins says, "We chose Alliance Town Center as our next location because of the huge amount of growth it’s been experiencing over the years, and the continued momentum it's expected to have. We’re excited for the opportunity to welcome the North Fort Worth community to our new restaurant and can’t wait for the chance to serve our guests!”

Salad and Go, which already has a kajillion locations around DFW, has three more coming in the next month including North Richland Hills, at 8900 N. Tarrant Pkwy. This marks the Arizona-based brand’s first entry into the market, and it'll open on October 16.

They're well received because they're cheap: You can get a salad or wrap for less than $6, they're convenient since they're entirely drive-thru. So they contribute to two very bad trends: drive-thrus and lots of disposable containers. Cool.

Their menu includes salads, wraps, breakfast burritos, and soup, and salads. Core items include the Cobb and Caesar, but they have a selection of nine salads including BBQ Ranch, Caprese, Winter Harvest, Greek salad, and Jalapeno Ranch.

The chain is also opening a location in Dallas at 10002 Marsh Ln., and in Prosper, at 1320 N. Preston Rd. These openings will bring Salad and Go’s North Texas presence to 2$ locations across 20 North Texas markets, and it won't stop there, there's continued expansion beyond DFW and into new markets in Houston and Oklahoma later this year. No one is safe from the salads.

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