New Fort Worth Restaurants to Look Forward to in 2022 — the Upcoming Openings You Need to Know About

After the wave of sad pandemic closures, and even as they still reel from supply chain and staffing issues, Fort Worth restauranteurs have not only persevered, they have pushed forward in dramatic fashion. Next year promises some prominent openings and re-openings in the region. The slate of new Fort Worth restaurants spans many cuisines, across many different parts of town. There’s a lot to get excited about.

Here are 11 of the most anticipated Fort Worth restaurant openings of 2022:

Flower Child

True to its name, Flower Child will bring healthy eating to University Park Village soon. This will be the 29th outpost of the cult favorite chain, and the 10th in Texas. Flower Child is taking over a space at 1616 South University with plans for an early 2022 opening.

From vegetarian and vegan to keto and paleo, Flower Child is known for its made-from-scratch meals and a customizable menu of bowls, wraps and salads. A variety of mix-and-match veggies, grains, fruits and healthy proteins give it more power. Flower Child’s Organic Kale Salad is tossed with pink grapefruit, organic apple, red cabbage, black currant, smoked almonds, white cheddar and apple cider vinaigrette.

Paloma Suerte

This is the first of chef Tim Love’s two new additions to Mule Alley. The second is still under wraps. Love’s first Tex-Mex restaurant is named Paloma Suerte (lucky dove) in homage to his 20-year-old Lonesome Dove Restaurant, which is also in The Fort Worth Stockyards. In fact, Love tells PaperCity Fort Worth that the patios of the two restaurants back up to one another. Paloma Suerte is expected to open within weeks, most likely by early January.

Love tells PaperCity that the signature Paloma cocktail will be prepared tableside with fresh squeezed grapefruit. There will be five varieties of birria tacos prepared and grilled right at your table, and customized queso built with your choice of 15 different ingredients.

“We’ll be serving sizzling fajitas and enchiladas too,” Love says. “There will be a sharable porterhouse steak with crab stuffed shrimp as well. We’ll have fresh chicharrones, and an excellent bean dip, plus 10 different frozen margaritas to choose from.”

Fitzgerald

A new restaurant from Fixture ― Kitchen & Social Lounge chef Ben Merritt and his new business partner Chris Lynch is coming to Ridglea in early 2022. The seafood-centric restaurant is completely updating the former Blu Crab space.

A post from the Fitzgerald’s Facebook page from early December notes: “We had a slight supply chain issue with our furniture, so unfortunately, we had to push our opening to after the holidays. We are trying our best to open just after the first of the year. Once we have something buttoned down we will be sure to let everyone know.”

Merritt told PaperCity in July that he is planning a modern and casual steak and chop house with a heavy seafood component. Appetizers will include crawfish fondue, lobster corndogs and crab beignets, plus a selection of both char-grilled and baked oysters.

TreMogli Cucina Italiana

After an initial late 2020 announcement, Trident Restaurant Group is set to finally open TreMogli Cucina Italiana soon. It comes from the same group responsible for Wishbone & Flynt. Co-owner Kyle Bryson says TreMogli should open around January 17th.

This will be Fort Worth’s own version of Carmine’s, with dark woods, red booths and velvet drapes. Picture a dimly-lit Rat Pack era vibe. The new TreMogli Cucina Italiana space boasts a mezzanine level that will become an upstairs bar area inside the 7,500 square-foot space at 401 South Main.

The menu will feature scratch-made pastas with bold red sauces and family style service. Italian specialties include traditional favorites such as Cacio e Pepe, along with wood-fired shareable options like giant Porterhouse steaks to feed the entire table.

Don Artemio

This will be the second location of Don Artemio. The first restaurant is located in Saltillo, Mexico ― the vision of chef Juan Ramón Cárdenas Cantú, who will bring his famous roast cabrito (goat), fresh tortillas, steaks and smashing cocktails to Fort Worth this year.

A modern space in Museum Place, (formerly a Gatti’s Pizza) in Fort Worth’s cultural district, is being transformed with traditional clay brick and Mexican pottery. Mexican architect Luis González Díaz de Leon has been in town to oversee the construction and design of the space. Operating partner Adrian Burciaga tells PaperCity that he is now hoping for a mid-February opening.

The menu will be built around authentic Mexican cuisine. Signage is already installed and it reads: Don Artemio Mexican Heritage. That’s what you should be expecting from start to finish.

61 Osteria

Chef Blaine Staniford and owner Adam Jones will add to their offerings with 61 Osteria soon. It will inhabit a ground floor space in the recently updated 21-story First on 7th complex. The duo has two other downtown restaurants as well ― fine dining sensation Grace and casual bistro Little Red Wasp. 61 Osteria promises Italian-inspired food, which is still lacking in the area. Staniford and Jones tell us it will open in the third quarter of 2022.

Nearby neighbors include Neighbor’s House Grocery and espresso roaster Buon Giorno Coffeehouse. The space itself boasts floor to ceiling windows, with views across an expansive patio to Burnett Park and its famous Man with a Briefcase statue. Staniford will utilize a wood-burning hearth for the menu, making fresh pasta and plate dishes with classic Italian simplicity. Most of the dishes at 61 Osteria will be limited to three or four ingredients.

Brix Barbeque

Pitmaster Trevor Sales is currently operating his Brix Barbeque out of an open air location with bomber-style smokers and his “Smokestream” (a shiny, customized Airstream food trailer) at 2018 Bryan Avenue. But Brix Barbeque is about to open its first brick and mortar restaurant. A spartan building at 1012 South Main Street is being redesigned to suit the burgeoning barbecue business.

“It’s looking like late spring to early summer,” Sales says. “We will have a great patio space and rooftop bar as well.”

Brix has made a name for itself with tender brisket, sausage and those incredible crispy-edged burgers fresh off the flat iron.

When these barbecue masters make the move, the current open air spot on Bryan will close and become Oh Balls food truck instead. Sales tells PaperCity that he also has another new food truck location in the works. It will most likely be opening somewhere west of Fort Worth by mid-2022 ― spreading the ‘cue far and wide.

Paris Coffee Shop

The keys to a Fort Worth institution changed hands this year, but don’t worry the recipes for those fluffy meringue pies were part of the deal.

The beloved Southside diner was expected to only be closed a short while so they could update the back of house mainly. Initial plans called for a January reopening. But construction delays have pushed things back to mid-April now.

“Construction is going great, we have gutted it down to the four walls, so it’s going to be a big transformation,” co-owner Chris Reale tells PaperCity Fort Worth. Along with Chef Lou Lambert, Reale is also part of the team that reopened Roy Pope Grocery in 2021.

When Paris Coffee Shop reopens there will be dinner service and a full bar added to the former breakfast and lunch-only format.

Fred’s Texas

Another highly anticipated reopening is the major move of Fred’s Texas Cafe, from its original location in what is now Crockett Row to 7101 Camp Bowie West. It will close at the end of December and reopen in February at its new location, with a brand new Texas-sized food challenge to boot. A contest is currently under way to design and name the new challenge. It will be either a Texas-sized steak with all the fixings and a pint of beer in under 30 minutes, or Hot n’ Spicy with a ghost pepper burger.

The exterior of the new space still harkens back to its original tenant, a Steak and Ale, (complete with Tudor design and stained glass windows). Though it was more recently a local one-off restaurant named Buffalo West. Co-owner Terry Chandler has hinted that the 1970s style shiny, gold, sparkle vinyl booths and barstools will be making the move.

The rusty truck, which has seen a lot of weather outside the cafe, will head to the new location too. You can also expect a few elements from the old grill ― ensuring the flavor of Fred’s famous burgers and steaks won’t be lost in its new home.

Quince

WestBend is adding some high drama and possibly a bit of romance to the river view space first inhabited by Bartaco. The only other Quince, in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, is ranked as the No. 1 Rooftop Restaurant in the World by Robb Report magazine. The second location is coming to Fort Worth. No wonder why anticipation is so high.

The Fort Worth Quince is expected to bring a chic but casual atmosphere with impeccable views. The restaurant’s creator and lead partner (and TCU grad) Brian Sneed is excited to be coming home. The global menu ranges from Thai-inspired ceviche to Spanish filet de res with aji amarillo risotto, as well as a wide selection of Japanese sushi specialties and coastal flair.

Truck Yard

Jason Boso’s next Truck Yard is in the works at Alliance Town Center. Originally announced in March of 2020, it will now open by next spring according to Amanda Boso.

The team at Brain Storm Shelter also recently brought their one of a kind, Second Rodeo to life in Fort Worth’s Mule Alley, and the magnitude of what they have planned for their fourth Truck Yard is an undertaking. Consider the 38-foot Ferris wheel.

With Truck Yards in Dallas, Houston and The Colony currently, this one will be a true playground. A 6,500-square-foot indoor area will be named the West Texas Pole Barn, with multiple band stages and windmills is in the works.

Fort Worth foodies have quite a year in store. It’s enough to make your mouth water. Now, it’s on to 2022.