Texas supermarket giant H-E-B just opened a new store in Fort Worth's Alliance area, complete with an in-house barbecue restaurant that's received acclaim. It triggered a thought: Where are some of our city’s other restaurants hidden in unlikely locations?

For our monthly column on Where to Eat, we dedicate the April edition to these hidden gems:

BBQ on the Brazos
As any Texas barbecue aficionado knows, good barbecue is sometimes located in the unlikeliest of places. In the case of the long-running BBQ on the Brazos, you can find it in a gas station at 9001 E. US Highway 377 in Cresson. Owner John Sanford, who runs the joint with his wife and son, was among the first pitmasters on this side of the Trinity to adopt the Central Texas-style barbecue, offering sublime brisket etched in black crust and flavorful tufts of fat. Over the past few years, they’ve rolled out several new dishes that have kept their name out there amid increasing competition, including an excellent brisket torta and smoked brisket meatloaf. They’re also one of the few ‘cue joints open for breakfast, serving smoked meat tacos on housemade flour tortillas.

Bennett’s Grocery & Deli (no website)
Located on a winding back road in Burleson, this family-run gas station and restaurant combo has been in business more than 50 years. Original owner Tommy Bennett started out with a tiny country store in 1970, then moved the station to its current location at 1465 E. Renfro St. There’s a full breakfast menu and everything is made on the spot, including pancakes, omelets, and biscuit sandwiches. For lunch, there’s classic diner food, such as chicken-fried steak and fried catfish, but most go for the excellent burgers, cooked on an old-school, flat-top grill. Prices are good, too; nothing’s over $10.

Heirloom
The latest concept by Kevin Martinez, executive chef at Tokyo Café and Yatai Food Cart, this food truck serves cuisine as pretty as its surroundings. Heirloom is hidden inside Archie's Gardenland, a popular flower and garden store on the city’s west side, at 6700 Z Boaz Pl. Made up of no more than five dishes, the menu rotates monthly but always includes its namesake dish — a beautiful salad whose centerpiece is heirloom tomatoes - punctuated with seasonal ingredients. Other April dishes include a cold cut sandwich with salami, smoked ham, and housemade pickles, a bacon & egg sandwich with smoked tomato sauce, and, for dessert, banana rum pudding.

Roy Pope Grocery
Boutique grocery store in Fort Worth’s Arlington Heights neighborhood, at 2300 Merrick St., is known for its impressive wine selection, in-house coffee shop, a wide selection of take-home meals and cold case dishes for those on the go. Those with more time to kill can have a nice meal there, in a small inside dining area or on the patio. There are daily specials, such as blackened salmon, chicken al carbon, lasagna, and King Ranch casserole; all come with a choice of two sides that include roasted sweet potatoes and mac & cheese. There’s also a very good burger, made with house Dijon mustard, along with a prime rib sandwich, a patty melt, and an egg salad sandwich. In the morning, there are breakfast tacos made with scrambled eggs and your choice of bacon, sausage, brisket, potatoes, and veggies.

True Texas Barbecue
Not every new H-E-B gets its own Texas True Barbecue restaurant, but with Fort Worth’s barbecue scene, it made sense for the newly opened H-E-B in Alliance, at 3451 Heritage Trace Pkwy., to have one. The menu is made of ‘cue essentials such as sliced brisket, in both fatty and lean options, sauced chopped brisket, St. Louis-style pork ribs, turkey breast, and pulled pork. Like at a traditional ‘cue joint, you can order meat by the pound, in a sandwich or as part of a meat plate, with sides such as collard greens, creamed corn, potato salad, mac & cheese, and serrano cornbread. Specialty items include cornbread topped with chopped brisket or pulled pork; brisket nachos; and a brisket debris po'boy, with chopped brisket, Creole sauce, pepperoncinis, and cabbage, all doused in brown gravy. On Fridays, the restaurant serves beef ribs, a la carte or on a plate with two sides. Texas Monthly barbecue writer Daniel Vaughan once called True Texas Barbecue the best chain BBQ in the state. (But oops last year, he wrote a follow-up story, saying it had slipped.)