Hawaiian-Style Shrimp Restaurant Expands its Fort Worth Footprint — Get Ready for Coco Shrimp Times Three

The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has brought about the permanent closure of many DFW area restaurants and bars, but there are a few notable exceptions. It seems some Fort Worth restaurants see this as the perfect opportunity to expand.

PaperCity Fort Worth has learned Coco Shrimp is one of those restaurants.

A laid-back, Hawaiian-style shrimp shack, Coco Shrimp opened its first brick-and-mortar location at 318 Bryan Avenue less than a year ago in December of 2019. Now Coco Shrimp is ready to “Spread the Aloha” to Heritage Trace Parkway as well.

Coco Shrimp’s owners — Isaac Hadley and his brother-in-law Jordan Barrus — fell in love with the North Shore lifestyle while both were students at BYU-Hawaii. (The cellphones of both retained their 808 Hawaii area codes when they moved to the mainland). They wanted to bring a taste of paradise to Fort Worth and found initial success with a food truck, which is still moored at 4440 Basswood Drive in the Ace Hardware parking lot.

This second new Coco Shrimp will be at 2401 Heritage Trace Parkway, across I-35 from Alliance Town Center. Barrus says it was already in the works long before COVID-19 hit.

“We’ll actually have two and half locations up and running at that time ― including our food truck,” Barrus tells PaperCity Fort Worth.

The brothers are currently searching for a permanent location for a Coco Shrimp in the Basswood area as well, with plans to retire the food truck and open a third brick-and-mortar restaurant.

Coco Shrimp’s Hawaiian-style shrimp plates come in five varieties, including the hand-battered namesake Coco Shrimp ― dipped in sweet coconut and then deep fried. Plates also come in variations such as spicy, lemon herb, sweet spicy and butter garlic, all resting atop seasoned rice. Each boxed meal includes a side salad and housemade creamy ginger dressing.

Another popular addition to the menu has been the Coco Tacos, which are only available in the brick and mortar restaurants. These are lightly fried flour tortillas, filled with your choice of shrimp — and topped with a sweet and spicy sauce and cilantro lime sauce.

Wild interpretations of traditional Japanese mochi round out the offerings. Mochi is pounded and sweetened rice, wrapped around small scoops of ice cream. Flavors include mango, green tea, guava, blood orange, chocolate peanut butter, chocolate coconut, raspberry white chocolate, or chocolate espresso ― plus seasonal pumpkin and peppermint.

The vibe at the new Heritage Trace Coco Shrimp will be surf-shack chic, just like the first location on Bryan Avenue. But this one will have a drive-thru window to grab your shrimp to go. Expect a cresting wave on one wall, and a collection of surfboards and quirky finds to set the tone. Seating will be at casual picnic tables style.

“The footprint is about twice the size, but the seating will be about the same — around 50,” Barrus says. “Most of the square footage we have gained at Heritage Trace is in our expanded kitchen, serving our drive-thru.”

The brother-in-laws are hoping for an October opening. “We are just very grateful to all our patrons that have not only kept us afloat, but given us the ability to expand,” Barrus says. He hopes diners will “come hungry and be excited.”

A new restaurant is certainly something to get excited about — now more than ever.