Editor's note: Looking back at our most-read dining stories of 2022, we see Fort Worth's adoration of a certain Texas grocery store that's finally expanding into Tarrant County - it claimed two spots in our top 10. Readers also gobbled up news about new restaurants, a new high-tech McDonald's, and Fort Worth's very first Tastemaker Awards event honoring local culinary superstars.
1. McDonald's tests out one-of-a-kind new restaurant model in Fort Worth. McDonald’s is trying out a brand new test restaurant concept, and the only place it's happening is in Fort Worth. Located at 8540 West Fwy., the new store is a first-of-its-kind test restaurant that the company says is designed for customers on-the-go.
2. New Crazy German restaurant serves Dallas-Fort Worth the best wursts. There's a very-authentic German restaurant newly opened in North Texas. Called The Crazy German, it opened quietly on February 1 in a little shopping center at 27379 E. University Dr. in Aubrey and comes with the best credentials: The owner was born and raised in Germany.
3. Best Fort Worth restaurants for Thanksgiving 2022 dining-in or to-go. One minute it's January. The next minute, we were thinking about the holidays. It's never too soon to start dreaming about pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, and stuffing fragrant with sage and thyme. In late October, we rounded up the best restaurants to get Thanksgiving 2022 feasts in Fort Worth.
4. Where to eat in Fort Worth right now: 5 hot new restaurants for March. Fort Worth saw a burst of restaurants open early in the year. There was a little something for everyone, including high-profile chef-driven spots and bar-driven restaurants with generous outdoor space. For our March edition of Where to Eat, we presented five need-to-know restaurants that recently had opened.
5. H-E-B supermarket chain opening first location in Tarrant County. In the biggest news of August, adored Texas supermarket chain H-E-B is opening a location in Tarrant County: specifically, Mansfield. The store will be located at the corner of US 287 and Broad Street. This will become the first H-E-B store in Tarrant County, joining its sibling Central Market in Fort Worth.
6. Location accidentally leaked for possible H-E-B supermarket in Fort Worth. On June 8, it was looking like Fort Worth was going to get an H-E-B grocery store, according to a press release from Parkside at Alliance Town Center that got nearby residents excited. An H-E-B spokesperson confirmed that the company owned land there but had no immediate plans to build a store. Then in October, H-E-B finally made it official: Fort Worth's Alliance is getting an H-E-B store after all. A groundbreaking took place at the northwest corner of Heritage Trace Parkway and North Riverside Drive on November 16.
7. Fort Worth restaurant vet to open burger joint in former dive bar space. Gigi Howell, a Fort Worth restaurant veteran, announced in January that she was opening her own burger joint. Called JD's Hamburgers, it's now located at 9901 Camp Bowie West, a space previously occupied by bars such as Last Call and Randi's Knotty Pine Saloon.
8. Fort Worth's best restaurant, chef, and more winners crowned at 2022 Tastemaker Awards.The annual CultureMap Tastemaker Awards program came to Fort Worth for the very first time this year, with a brand-new event to honor the city’s talented and hard-working culinary stars. The nominees for bar, chef, and restaurant of the year, best new restaurant, and best breakfast were introduced in an editorial series, and winners were crowned at an awards ceremony and signature tasting event on Tuesday, May 10 at the 4 Eleven venue.
9. Fort Worth bar is one of 9 across the U.S. to host spooky Halloween pop-up. A Fort Worth bar was one of the few bars across the U.S. chosen to host a special pop-up with a Halloween theme. Called Black Lagoon, it was an immersive Halloween pop-up bar concept that hit nine cities across the U.S., and that includes Nickel City, the neighborhood bar located at 212 S. Main St. in Fort Worth.
10. Authentic deep-dish pizza from Chicago is coming to Fort Worth. An authentic Chicago-style pizza name announced in February it was coming to Fort Worth: Rosati's Pizza, a chain based in Illinois that's been doing Chicago-style pizza since 1964, then opened a location at 5152 Golden Triangle. It went into a new little center at the intersection of Park Vista Boulevard in far north Fort Worth.
