Meet the Tastemakers

See all the Fort Worth nominees for 2026 CultureMap Tastemaker Awards

Let's raise a toast to the 2026 Tastemaker Awards nominees.

Photo by Ashley Gongora

Fort Worth's culinary scene is unstoppable, and each year we celebrate the city's top restaurant and bar talent with the annual CultureMap Tastemaker Awards. Recently, we revealed the 2026 event dates and released a limited number of discounted tickets, and now it's time for the anticipated unveiling of our Fort Worth nominees.

These nominees represent the very best in Fort Worth dining right now, from casual community-minded spots to vibrant chef-driven dining and more.

Our panel of judges — including local culinary experts and a who's who of past Tastemaker Awards winners — have selected outstanding nominees across nine categories. They'll choose the winner for all but one award — the Best New Restaurant will be crowned by CultureMap readers in an interactive tournament this spring.

Meet the nominees below, then join us April 30 at Social Space to find out who wins. You'll nosh on chef-prepared bites from a host of participating nominees, sip perfectly paired cocktails, and be in the room when the winners are revealed. A limited number of First Dibs tickets are still available at discounted prices ($25 off general admission and $40 off VIP), so don't delay.

Now, please join us in toasting the 2026 Fort Worth Tastemaker Awards nominees:

Restaurant of the Year

The Blue Room
Bricks and Horses
Cattlemen's Steak House
The Chumley House
Clay Pigeon Food & Drink
Coco Shrimp
Lonesome Dove Western Bistro
Malai Kitchen
Margie's Italian Gardens
Smoke'N Ash BBQ

Chef of the Year

Michael Arlt, The Mont
Jon Bonnell, Bonnell's, Waters, Buffalo Bros.
Rodrigo Cárdenas, Dos Mares
Ix-Chel Ornelas Hernandez, Tinie's Mexican Cuisine
Marcus Kopplin, Duchess at The Nobleman
Molly McCook, Ellerbe Fine Foods
Jett Mora, Cafe Modern
Tim Prefontaine, The Fort Worth Club
Theodore Tom, Cattlemen's Steak House
Craig Walter, The Chumley House

Bar of the Year

The Archibald
Crystal Springs Hideaway
The Magnolia
Morton's Tavern
Oscar's Pub
River's Cocktail & Wine Bar
Sarah's Place
Soma Winery
Stewart's Croquet & Cocktail Club
The Winchester Tavern

Best New Restaurant

Beren Mediterranean
Brooklyn's
Cork & Pig Tavern - Willow Park
Cocodrie's Bayou Kitchen
Dos Mares
Duchess at The Nobleman
Ichiro Izakaya Diner and Bar
Ko Thai
Mister 01 Pizza
The Mont
NADC Burger
Nikuya
Oishii Sushi & Pan Asian
Polanco Fine Cuisine
Truva Mediterranean Bar & Grill
Yoichi Omakase & Handroll

Rising Star Chef of the Year

Asdren Azemi, Ozzi's Pizza
Jessica Castañeda, Chef Jess Bakes
Alvin Chik, Nikuya
Michael Douresseaux, Chef's Corner
Levi Gardner, Westland Hospitality
Jesse Gibson, Cocodrie's Bayou Kitchen
Carol Ann Kroehler, Tarrant Area Food Bank
Philip Peluso, Whiskey Cake
John Sanford, Jr., BBQ on the Brazos

Neighborhood Restaurant of the Year

Boopa's Bagel Deli
Cafecito
DeVivo Bros. Eatery
Flying Carpet Turkish Cafe
Hudson House
Japanese Palace
The Meat Board
Paris 7th Restaurant Francais
Stella Ristorante
Rex’s Bar & Gril

Dessert Program of the Year

The Black Rooster Bakery
Bricks and Horses
Buttermilk Sky Pie Shop
Esperanza's Restaurant & Bakery
FunkyTown Donuts & Drafts
Leaves Bakery & Books
Melt Ice Creams
The Sicilian Baker
The Sweet Spot Bakery
Swiss Pastry Shop

Coffee Shop of the Year

Buon Giorno Coffee
Brewed
Café Momento
Cherry Coffee Shop
Chill Coffee & Wine Bar
Coffee Folk
Crude Craft Coffee Bar
Fort Worth Coffee Co.
Sons Coffee
World Blend

Best Sandwich

B&B Butchers
Bella Gente Focaccia Gourmet
Big Guys Bodega
Carshon's Deli
Cheba Hut "Toasted" Subs
Dino's Subs
Galligaskin's Restaurant & Catering
Lola's Cuban Food Restaurant & Bar
The Sour Boule
Weinberger's Deli

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The CultureMap Tastemaker Awards ceremony is sponsored in Fort Worth by Maker's Mark, NXT LVL Event, and more to be announced. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the Fort Worth Food and Wine Foundation.

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Supermarket sticker shock

This grocery chain costs Dallas-Fort Worth shoppers the most, study says

Photo by Brittani Burns on Unsplash

Grocery shopping in general isn't cheap these days.

In Dallas-Fort Worth, Whole Foods lives up to its “Whole Paycheck” reputation for selling pricey groceries.

A study conducted by market research company Strategic Resource Group for Consumer Reports found Austin-based Whole Foods is the most expensive grocery chain in DFW compared with Walmart as a baseline. The study examined prices for a “basket” of comparable packaged goods, produce, and meat.

At DFW Whole Foods stores, groceries were 48 percent more expensive than comparable groceries purchased at Walmart, the study showed. Whole Foods operates 15 stores in DFW.

In a statement, Whole Foods told Consumer Reports that the study didn’t account for other factors that may be important to shoppers, including ingredient standards and product sourcing.

"In the last 18 months, Whole Foods Market has reduced prices on 25 percent of items in our stores, including private-label items, without compromising our industry-leading quality standards,” a Whole Foods spokesperson said. “[Amazon] Prime members who shop at Whole Foods Market have access to a number of benefits year-round, including deep discounts on select popular products each week and an additional 10 percent off hundreds of in-store sale items.”

In DFW, the least expensive grocer was Costco, whose prices were 18 percent below those at Walmart. Prices at San Antonio-based H-E-B were just 0.2 percent below Walmart’s prices.

Costco operates 16 stores in DFW, Walmart operated about 140 in North Texas as of last September, and H-E-B has 11 DFW stores and plans to open at least six more.

Here’s the full list of DFW grocers included in the study, with the percentages indicating a grocer’s prices compared with Walmart’s prices.

Costco, -18 percent (No. 6 among grocers ranked by the 2026 American Customer Satisfaction Index)
Aldi, -5 percent
WinCo Foods, -2.3 percent
H-E-B, -0.2 percent (ranked No. 3 by the American Customer Satisfaction Index)
Target, +9 percent
Kroger, +14.7 percent
Fiesta, +21.7 percent
Albertsons, +23.4 percent
Tom Thumb, +25.4 percent
El Rancho, +30.1 percent
Trader Joe’s, +33 percent (ranked No. 1 by the American Customer Satisfaction Index)
Whole Foods, +48 percent (ranked No. 7 by the American Customer Satisfaction Index)

The study reviewed grocery prices in six U.S. metro areas. In addition to DFW, they were Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles/Southern California, and Virginia Beach, Virginia.

A few notes about the study:

It didn’t account for the cost of annual memberships at places like Costco.
Many of the grocery items that the study compared were national brands, meaning grocers’ private-label goods weren’t given full weight.
Not all “baskets” contained the same number of items. For example, some Chicago-area baskets had 56 items, while others had only 23.

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