Zest 817 // COMING SOON

Coming Soon

Here is this month’s crop of soon-to-open and recently opened eateries.

BY ROBERT PHILPOT

June promises a lot of returns in the North Texas restaurant scene –– of local chefs, burger joints, seafood joints that have become burger joints, and more. We’ve also dug up news on some long-awaited restaurants that have opened in the past few weeks.

Bistro 1031

109 Front St, Aledo

Chef Steve Mitchell has a long history in Fort Worth and North Texas, with stops at Lucile’s Stateside Bistro, Fuzzy’s, Yucatan Taco Stand, his own M Bistro, and more. He’s the owner and executive chef at this Aledo spot, which he’s been working on for a while. A menu posted on Facebook includes salads, sandwiches, and such dinner entrees as chicken-fried rib-eye, chicken chardonnay, and “angry lobster & pasta.” Beer, wine, and cocktails will be available. An early June opening is likely.

Dive Burger Bar

3520 Alta Mere Dr, 817-560-3483

When Dive Oyster Bar was open, one of its most critically lauded menu items was the burger. Then Dive closed back in November. The burgers are coming back, with an expanded menu that makes room for such items as a “taco burger” (served on a flour tortilla) as well as some more traditional offerings, including a Western version (with barbecue sauce), a California burger (topped with guacamole), and a mushroom burger.

Funky Picnic Brewery & Café

401 Bryan Av, Ste 107, 817-708-2739

South Main Village is already home to HopFusion Ale Works and The Collective Brewing Project. Funky Picnic Brewery & Café expects to join them with a June 26 opening, followed by a grand opening in July. Cofounders Samantha Glenn, Jerri Hanley, John Koch, and Collin Zreet all come from home-brewing backgrounds. The “Café” part of the name is key –– in addition to being a brewery, this will be a restaurant, with appetizers and “artisan” sandwiches and desserts, as well as some beer-infused items, such as beer-bacon jam. Josh Rangel, whose resume includes the aforementioned Dive Oyster Bar as well as Cru Food & Wine Bar, HG Sply Co., and more, will be chef/manager. As for the beers, head brewer Michael Harper, who has worked at numerous North Texas breweries, including Fort Worth’s Panther Island Brewing, said Funky Picnic will boast 15 taps, with all but three reserved for the brewery’s originals. Example: a saison-triple hybrid with prickly pear, agave nectar, and pink peppercorns. But if you just want a simple pilsner, you can order that, too. Wine, coffee, and kombucha will also be available.

Monkey King Noodle Co.

3000 Crockett St, 817-885-7331

The good news is that this Deep Ellum Chinese food favorite is adding a Fort Worth location, replacing the departed Rollin’ n Bowlin’ smoothie/ bowl bar at the Food Hall at Crockett Row. The bad news is that, because of space limitations,

Monkey King won’t be doing the hand-pulled noodles that helped give [it] its name. The stall will put the emphasis on dumplings, which are also good, with some soups and sides as well.

The Original Chop House Burgers

2502 Little Rd, Arl, 817-253-8228

For a while there, local food writers didn’t have to emphasize that there’s a difference between Chop House Burger, the Dallas-based chain, and Chop House Burgers, Kenny Mills’ note-theplural indie in Arlington. When Mills was at the helm, the burger joint earned a spot on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. He was no longer associated with the place when it closed in July 2018, but he is bringing it back with a June 3 opening in a new location, adding Original to the name to help alleviate some confusion. Some Googling reveals that it will be in the former home of the underappreciated burger spot Herbie’s and, before that, a location of Jambo’s BBQ Shack.

Saigon Fusion Vietnamese Street Food

242 Rufe Snow Dr, Keller

Expected to open in early June, Saigon Fusion’s full name is semi-self-explanatory, but some items on a preliminary menu look like they go a little beyond street food, with items like seafood crispy noodles and prawn with lotus seeds and fried rice. The restaurant looks relatively small, but its menu of soups, noodle[s], and rice dishes looks inventive and ambitious. It will anchor the north end of a strip shopping center near Keller Town Center that is already home to locations of Sunny Street Café, Nestle’s Toll House by Chip, Rush Bowls, and Frio’s Gourmet Pops –– all of which opened during the past several months.

Uncle Daddy’s B&B (Barbecue & Burgers)

4608 Bryant Irvin Rd, Ste 440 Rodney Lambert, whose resume includes Fred’s Texas Café and Honey Smoke Pit (one of the many shortlived restaurants at that haunted corner of Montgomery Plaza), will offer up two of Fort Worth’s major food groups at this new spot in Cityview Centre in southwest Fort Worth. Lambert wants to wait until opening before divulging too many details about the menu, but that shouldn’t take too long, as the restaurant is expected to open in early June.

Already here

Derek Allan’s Texas BBQ

mentioned in a “Coming Soon” a few months ago, finally opened in late May in the former Paco & John’s space at 1116 8th Av in the Hospital District/Near Southside. Allan, who documented his journey toward opening in a series of YouTube videos, will offer smoked wagyu brisket, sausages, and more.

Derek Allan’s Texas BBQ is up and running, serving its signature wagyu brisket.

Photo courtesy of Derek Allen's BBQ.

F2 –– Fusion Flavors,

an Indian restaurant in Southlake, takes the place of another Indian restaurant, the short-lived Om Indian Grill, at 2001 W Southlake Blvd, Ste 119. Along with the expected curry, masala, biryani, and vindaloo dishes, Fusion Flavors’ wide-ranging menu includes a number of breakfast items as well as other eggbased dishes.

Fat Shack,

a Colorado-based chain that opened a Denton location a few years ago, is now open at 2858 W Berry St near TCU, so now Fort Worth can try the lineup of “Fat Sandwiches” that includes such items as the Fat Donkey Lips (chicken fingers and French fries –– on the sandwich), Fat Doobie, Fat Hangover, and more, including the Fort Worth-exclusive Fat Frog (fried eggs, American cheese, chicken fingers, French fries, ketchup, and mayo). Burgers, Philly cheesesteaks, and wings are also available, and, if by some miracle[,] you have room for dessert, you can order a number of State Fair-esque deep-fried items. The Shack stays open ’til 1am Sun- Thu and 3am Fri-Sat to help sate those late-night cravings. If you’re still hungry, Insomnia Cookies in the same strip is also open late.

Gemelle,

Fort Worth chef Tim Love’s latest restaurant named in honor of his daughters (“Gemelle” is Italian for “twin girls”), opened May 29 in the former Thurber Mingus spot at 4400 White Settlement Rd. The kitchen will offer a menu of handmade pastas, sandwiches, Detroit-style pizza (rectangular, with a thick crust but not deep-dish), and, according to a press release, “an assortment of peak-season snacks.” Also: seasonal cocktails and lots of patio –– er, “backyard” space, complete with cabanas.

Gypsy Scoops,

which started as an ice-cream truck, then added a brick-andmortar in a cool old house on Race Street, now has a second location, which opened in late May at 321 S Main St on the Near Southside, an area already home to frozen-treat shop Alchemy Pops and Melt Ice Creams. As far as we’re concerned, there’s always room for more ice cream, and there’s enough difference among these three that we can stop at them all in one afternoon. Kidding. But we can dream.

Also …

Another location of popular breakfast-lunch chain First Watch is due to open June 10 at Parkside at Alliance, the small far North Fort Worth shopping strip at 3101 Heritage Trace Pkwy that’s already home to a Grub Burger Bar and a Shell Shack. Mod Pizza, a fast-casual chain that already has locations in Burleson and Saginaw, is expected to open a location in the same strip during the next few months.

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