What a month for Fort Worth restaurants! What opened, what closed — and what blew away

Bud Kennedy
·5 min read

One of Texas’ oldest continuously operating restaurants is moving after 93 years, but Fort Worth gained a world-ranked patio cafe and Arlington added a $2 million steak-and-jazz showplace.

Those are the headlines from a March that was one of the most eventful months in memory for Fort Worth dining.

Customers are bidding a sad farewell March 31 to the first location of The Original Mexican Eats Cafe, moving April 1 to a newer second spot, 1400 N. Main St.

But diners also welcomed Quince Riverside, a world-ranked patio restaurant from a mountain resort city in Mexico that is opening locations near the Fort Worth Zoo and in Austin.

Other once-popular restaurants such as Pizza Snob and Peace Burger in Grapevine closed — along with Texas’ last outpost of the legacy Pig Stand chain. But the screen door swung open again for steaks and pies at Ranchman’s Ponder Steakhouse, a 75-year Denton County landmark that had been closed three years.

Ranchman’s Ponder Steakhouse returns

“I can’t believe it!” one of the first Ranchman’s customers said Tuesday, walking from the dusty streets of Ponder into a restaurant that seemed like a reopened time capsule full of memories as one of America’s most famous small-town cafes.

A new pie rack was filled with coconut and chocolate meringue, cherry and strawberry-rhubarb pies. Hand-cut steaks and chicken-fried steaks, chicken or pork chops came with new house-made yeast rolls instead of the old-time bakery rolls — because the old-time bakery doesn’t make them anymore.

Ranchman’s, 110 W. Bailey St., is open daily for lunch and dinner; 940-479-2221, ranchman.com (not yet updated).

Ranchman’s Cafe owner Grace “Pete” Jackson paid tribute to actors Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway in 1966 after the filming of “Bonnie and Clyde.”
Ranchman’s Cafe owner Grace “Pete” Jackson paid tribute to actors Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway in 1966 after the filming of “Bonnie and Clyde.”
The Ranchman’s Cafe in Ponder as seen in July 1971.
The Ranchman’s Cafe in Ponder as seen in July 1971.
A grand chandelier in the dining room at Quince March 27, 2023.
A grand chandelier in the dining room at Quince March 27, 2023.

Quince Riverside restaurant opens

Quince (Spanish for “15”) opened its high-energy dining room March 27 with a remarkable webcam hookup.

Big-screen TVs showed a DJ on a rooftop playing dance music — not in Texas, but at the original Quince rooftop in San Miguel de Allende, 970 miles south.

Quince is a general-menu restaurant with a reputation for style and spectacle. The new Fort Worth location opens onto the Trinity Trail with a balcony overlooking the river.

Quince is on the Trinity Trail along a fork of the Trinity River, as seen in the rain March 27, 2023.
Quince is on the Trinity Trail along a fork of the Trinity River, as seen in the rain March 27, 2023.

The menu focuses on seafood and sushi but also offers steaks, burgers and desserts, plus a weekend brunch to come.

It’s open at 1701 River Run for lunch and dinner daily; 682-385-9073, quincesma.com/fw/.

The “Frida roll” with yellowail, serrano and sriracha at Quince in Fort Worth March 27, 2023.
The “Frida roll” with yellowail, serrano and sriracha at Quince in Fort Worth March 27, 2023.
The jazz lounge at Hearsay inside Choctaw Stadium in Arlington, March 5,2023.
The jazz lounge at Hearsay inside Choctaw Stadium in Arlington, March 5,2023.

Hearsay Restaurant opens in Arlington

A posh new steakhouse and lounge from the California operator of gaming and entertainment clubs opened inside the south stands of Choctaw Stadium, bringing a Vegas atmosphere to East Randol Mill Road.

The steakhouse overlooking Globe Life Field across the street opened with a limited menu of steaks, seafood, lunch and brunch.

It’s nothing like the old “Front Row Grill” that filled the space 20 years ago, and neither is the Entertainment District, filling with new Loews hotels and more to come.

Hearsay is a partnership between Champions Club Texas and Mayor Jim Ross, also owner of Mercury Chophouse Arlington. It’s open daily at 1711 E. Randol Mill Road; 817-591-1700, hearsayarlington.com.

A door on the south side of Choctaw Stadium leads to an elevator and the Hearsay restaurant, March 5, 2023.
A door on the south side of Choctaw Stadium leads to an elevator and the Hearsay restaurant, March 5, 2023.

More openings and reopenings

Also new or reopening:

▪ Bailey’s Bar-B-Que, a downtown fixture for 92 years at 826 Taylor St., reopened after storm repairs and serves weekday lunch.

▪ Branch & Bird, in the scenic 12th-floor “sky lobby” of a bank tower, reopened with improved decor and a full bar at 640 Taylor St.

▪ Fireside Pies, a wood-fired pizzeria returning to Fort Worth in a new location at 628 Harrold St. in the LeftBank shops.

▪ Jesús BBQ and Family Restaurant, known for chicken-fried steaks and Tex-Mex cheese enchiladas despite the name, reopened for lunch Tuesdays through Fridays at 810 S. Main St.

▪ Heirloom Garden Cafe, inside a garden center at 6700 Z Boaz Place.

▪ Loop 9 BBQ, new from the founder of Chili’s at 2951 Texas 161 South, Grand Prairie.

▪ Son of a Butcher, a sliders-shakes-and-cocktails restaurant at 480 Texas 114 West, Grapevine.

The back door at The Original Mexican Eats Cafe in Fort Worth March 25, 2023.
The back door at The Original Mexican Eats Cafe in Fort Worth March 25, 2023.

And saying goodbye

The first location of The Original, 4713 Camp Bowie Blvd., is still set to close March 31 after its lease was ruled invalid in a long, bitter legal tangle.

Staffers and traditions will move to the newer North Main Street location, owner Robert Self has said. The restaurant and landlord do not seem near any other solution.

A faded sign on the back of The Original Mexican Restaurant in Fort Worth March 25, 2023.
A faded sign on the back of The Original Mexican Restaurant in Fort Worth March 25, 2023.

Also gone in March:

▪ Blue Butterfly, 6333 Camp Bowie Blvd., was a “trim healthy” sugar- and gluten-free Tennessee cafe franchise.

▪ Edohana Hibachi, 1501 Texas 114 West, Grapevine, closed as owner Charlie Xuan faces a terminal cancer diagnosis.

▪ Peace Burger, 1228 William D. Tate Ave., Grapevine, was open 15 years and was originally on “best burger” lists in Tarrant County.

▪ Pizza Snob, 3051 S. University Drive, was once crowded for its fast-casual pizzas with gourmet toppings, but it was squeezed both by cheaper delivery pizzerias and new, more elaborate brick-oven pizzerias.

▪ Zonk Burger, 2919 Race St., served a classic menu of burgers but built on chickpea or black bean patties.

Several restaurants also remain under repair: Flying Carpet Turkish Cafe, after a fire; JD”s Hamburgers, rebuilding after heavy damage in a windstorm; and Margie’s Italian Kitchen, bought by JD’s and now under remodeling.

In San Antonio, the last location of the Pig Stand chain closed.

The restaurants, originally founded in Dallas by the Kirby’s Steakhouse family, made history as the first drive-ins, including four Fort Worth locations. The Pig Stand in San Antonio on Broadway retained a 1950s diner look.

  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next
  • Up next

Latest Stories