Franchise Opportunities in Fort Worth, TX

Tommy Tamale Market & Cafe and Del Campo Empanadas remain among Texas’ diners favorite places to eat, at least according to users of the Yelp.com smartphone app.

But the top 100 includes some new little hole-in-the-wall restaurants around Fort Worth that you can try without spending much gas money.

Sushi Dojo, 3105 E. Southlake Blvd. in Southlake, broke into the list at No. 60 for its “sushi tacos” and “sushi burritos.”

Asiannights Lao-Thai Cuisine, a restaurant and nightclub at 2905 N. Beach St. in north Fort Worth near Haltom City, made the list at No. 87 for its deep-fried pork belly, pad Thai and Lao-Thai chicken wings.

Another newcomer is No. 92 Shaneboy’s Craft Hawaiian Grindz, a food truck in Lillian south of Mansfield.

The new Sullivan Texas BBQ, 206 N. Oak St., Roanoke, is the highest-ranked local barbecue restaurant at No. 46, based on its original Lewisville location..

To explain: The list includes all kinds of “places to eat,” based on 1-through-5-star ratings by Yelp.com users.

So basically, not many people go to the top-ranked restaurants, but the ones who go there love them and give him 5-star grades.

For example, the top “place to eat” is Paper Route Bakery in Austin, a boutique cake bakery.

Yelp users’ favorite full-scale restaurant is Comfort Cafe, Smithville and San Antonio breakfast-lunch cafes affiliated with a treatment center.

Tommy Tamale’s following isn’t so small anymore. The Grapevine tamale cafe, 1689 W. Northwest Highway, won a “best tamales” contest, ranked No. 8 last year and has gone on to add a Keller location, 208 N. Main St.

Tommy Tamale ranked No. 13 in the top 100 this year, the highest-rated Fort Worth-area restaurant.

But the list includes bakeries, cupcake bars and ice cream shops, so Tommy Tamale was one of the top general-service restaurants.

Following Tommy Tamale among the state top 100 list:

18. Del Campo Empanadas, 10724 N. Beach St.

38. Hatsuyuki Handroll Bar, 907 Foch St.

42. Fazenda Gaúcha, 405 E. Pipeline Road, Bedford.

43. Cafe Italia, 2647 E. Ira E. Woods Ave., Grapevine.

46. Sullivan Barbecue, 206 N. Oak St., Roanoke (ranked for the original Lewisville location).

.48. Aladdin Cafe, 10138 N. Crowley Road, near Crowley.

49. Sikhay Thai Lao Restaurant & Boba Tea & Pho, 3301 N.E. 28th St.

56. Coco Shrimp, 318 Bryan Ave., 2401 Heritage Trace Parkway and 7300 Denton Highway, Watauga (ranked for the Watauga location).

60. Sushi Dojo, 3105 E. Southlake Blvd., Southlake.

82. Taste Community Restaurant, 1200 S. Main St.

86. Aloha Chicken & Shrimp, 6428 Denton Highway, Watauga.

87. Asiannights Lao-Thai Cuisine, 2905 N. Beach St.

92. Shaneboy’s Craft Hawaiian Grindz, 11324 George Renfro Drive, Lillian.

Through the years, H-E-B has purchased property in many different parts of the state, leading to frequent speculation about where the next store will be.

FORT WORTH, Texas — There was some confusion Wednesday afternoon when a shopping mall and a Texas-based grocery company initially released some conflicting reports about a new grocery store.

Real estate developer Hillwood said Wednesday morning it would be expanding its 30,000-square-foot food and entertainment destination Parkside at Alliance Town Center with some new businesses, including Torchy’s Tacos, CAVA, Black Rifle Coffee Company and Dash Nail Spa.

The shopping mall also said these new stores would be "anchored" by the region's first H-E-B grocery store. These would all be located north of Heritage Trace on the east side of Hillwood Parkway, adjacent to Bluestem Park, a 14-acre oasis in the middle of Alliance Town Center.

Hillwood said they are planning to open these stores by early 2023.

However, when WFAA reached out to H-E-B on Wednesday afternoon, the grocery company said, "H-E-B has not announced a store in Fort Worth." H-E-B said it does own the land, but clarified the company has not announced any plans for the site "at this time."

Through the years, H-E-B has purchased a lot of property in many different parts of the state, leading to frequent speculation about where the next store will be. However, the grocery company has plenty of land that hasn't yet been turned into a store.

After WFAA received the updated information from H-E-B, Hillwood sent back a corrected release that said "Inadvertently we included H-E-B in our earlier release." The real estate developer went on to clarify that this area would be "anchored by a major grocer" and also that H-E-B has not announced a store "at this site nor a timeline for construction."

At 10:31 a.m. Wednesday, H-E-B's verified Twitter account commented on a Tweet that tagged the grocery store company, saying, "@HEB coming to Fort Worth right by my house! With gas being so high, I can walk to HEB."

H-E-B responded by saying, "Just wear a hat when you walk on over."

“Parkside at Alliance Town Center continues to be a destination for the region and I’m excited to welcome some new additions to serve our growing community,” said Mark Miller, senior vice president of retail development at Hillwood. “Torchy’s, CAVA, Black Rifle and Dash Nail Spa diversify our existing retail, restaurant and entertainment options, promoting strong community engagement and building upon Alliance Town Center’s vibrant atmosphere.”

Hillwood said Parkside at Alliance Town Center is designed to complement the surrounding natural environment and blend with Bluestem Park with easy access to walking and biking trails. The area will include patio spaces.

With the addition of Torchy’s, Cava, Black Rifle and Dash among others currently in negotiations, less than 3,000 square feet of retail space remains available at Parkside.

Editor’s note: Hillwood, the company that operates Alliance Texas in North Fort Worth, issued a news release via its public relations agency Wednesday morning saying that Fort Worth’s first H-E-B grocery store would anchor a new phase of a popular food-and-entertainment complex at Alliance. On Wednesday afternoon, the agency issued a “correction,” saying “H-E-B has not announced a store at this site nor a timeline for construction” and amending the original news release to say the development would be “anchored by a major grocer.” The agency said H-E-B was “inadvertently” included in the earlier release. The following story has been updated accordingly.

The latest addition to the Parkside at Alliance Town Center development at Alliance Texas will feature a Torchy’s Tacos, a new Black Rifle Coffee Company location and a “major grocer,” according to a pair of conflicting news releases from Hillwood, the company that operates Alliance Texas.

Both releases agreed that construction is underway on the site for Torchy’s, Black Rifle, a new CAVA restaurant, a Dash Nail Spa and other outlets planned to open in early 2023 at the 30,000-square-foot food and entertainment destination.

The discrepancy involved the “major grocer,” which the initial release said would be an H-E-B store anchoring the Parkside additions on the east side of Hillwood Parkway adjacent to Bluestem Park, a 14-acre natural oasis in the heart of Alliance Town Center. A second release said H-E-B had been mentioned “inadvertently” and that the grocery chain had not announced plans to build a store at the site.

H-E-B reportedly owns the location in question.

With or without H-E-B, the Parkside addition is on its way to fruition, and the remainder of the news release was left unchanged.

“Parkside at Alliance Town Center continues to be a destination for the region and I’m excited to welcome some new additions to serve our growing community,” Mark Miller, senior vice president of retail development at Hillwood, said in the release. “Torchy’s, CAVA, Black Rifle and Dash Nail Spa diversify our existing retail, restaurant and entertainment options, promoting strong community engagement and building upon Alliance Town Center’s vibrant atmosphere.”

With the launch of Parkside in late 2017, Phase l on the west side of Hillwood Parkway features a variety of dining options overlooking Bluestem Park, including Grub Burger Bar, Shell Shack, First Watch and MOD Pizza.

Parkside at Alliance Town Center is designed to complement the surrounding natural environment and seamlessly blend with Bluestem Park with easy access to walking and biking trails, the release said.

With the addition of Torchy’s, Cava, Black Rifle and Dash among others currently in negotiations, the release said, less than 3,000 square feet of retail space remains available at Parkside.

The good people at Hillwood sent along word that four new dining and retail concepts were currently under construction at Parkside at Alliance Town Center, a 30,000-square-foot food and entertainment destination within AllianceTexas.

Then the mic drop: The development will be anchored by an H-E-B grocery store, and not any H-E-B grocery store. The First H-E-B grocery store in Tarrant County.

The news was equivalent to manna from heaven for many who have waited like a Dallas Cowboys fan for a Super Bowl for an H-E-B, the grocery store concept founded as a small, family owned store in Kerrville in 1905 and grown into an empire by Charles Butt, son of Howard E. Butt.

The new additions will be located north of Heritage Trace, on the east side of Hillwood Parkway, adjacent to Bluestem Park, a 14-acre spot in the heart of Alliance Town Center.

The dining and retail concepts are Torchy’s Tacos, CAVA, Black Rifle Coffee Company, and Dash Nail Spa, with planned openings for early 2023, according to a news release.

“Parkside at Alliance Town Center continues to be a destination for the region and I’m excited to welcome some new additions to serve our growing community,” said Mark Miller, senior vice president of retail development at Hillwood. “Torchy’s, CAVA, Black Rifle and Dash Nail Spa diversify our existing retail, restaurant and entertainment options, promoting strong community engagement and building upon Alliance Town Center’s vibrant atmosphere.”

With the addition of Torchy’s — once an Austin-based food truck with a killer green chile queso — Cava, Black Rifle, and Dash, among others currently in negotiations, less than 3,000 square feet of retail space remains available at Parkside, according to officials.

It took years for H-E-B to move into North Texas, but it has until now passed on the Fort Worth market. (Central Market on Interstate 30 and Hulen Street is an H-E-B concept.) Instead, the grocer has dotted the map all around us, with stores in Burleson, Hudson Oaks, Cleburne, as well as stores or planned openings in Frisco, McKinney, Plano, and Waxahachie.

They have teased. The company has bought up parcels of land in Tarrant County, including Mansfield and the Alliance property.

We welcome you with a big, ol’ howdy, H-E-B.

Dayne’s Craft Barbecue is set to open its first-ever brick and mortar restaurant. One of Texas Monthly’s Top 50 Barbecue Joints now will be located in Fort Worth’s Westland at 9840 Camp Bowie West Boulevard, joining some other neighborhood pioneers.

Westland Gardens opened first, kick starting the current revival of the area. PaperCity was first to report about that debut two years ago. Since then, JD’s Hamburgers has thrown its hat into the Westland ring, joining longtime Fort Worth favorite Margie’s Original Italian Kitchen.

Now Westland adds some of the best barbecue in Texas to its roster with Dayne’s.

Dayne’s Craft Barbecue is already setting up shop at its new address and will serve barbecue from its trailer, which will be set up nearby, Fridays through Sundays from 11 am until they are sold out during construction. Dayne Weaver co-owns the barbecue favorite with his wife Ashley.

“We are projected to open sometime this fall,” a post on Dayne’s Facebook page notes. “This isn’t something that we decided overnight. We have spent the better part of a year working out the details to make this the best possible space we can to continue providing you with the best possible barbecue we can.

“We’re making this move in pursuit of our goals and promises that we made to our customers, to ourselves, and for this business.”

Dayne’s began as a series of successful pop-ups before agreeing to make a go of it inside what was then the defunct Americado shell at 2000 W. Berry Street in 2019. When that deal went sideways, Dayne and Ashley Weaver found a new permanent spot for their 500 gallon smoker at Lola’s Trailer Park ? the popular Fort Worth music venue located at 2735 West 5th Street, where they had happily been ever since.

“As most of you already know, Lola’s Trailer Park was faced with a situation recently which led to their relocation,” a post on Dayne’s Facebook page reads. “As much as we’d like to continue our journey with Lola’s, a great opportunity has presented itself for us to move into a big space of our own.”

Dayne’s menu includes brisket and beef ribs, pork spare ribs, pulled pork, turkey and chicken. Not to be missed is the handmade triple cheddar pepper sausage and the crazy rich, sliced bacon brisket. Side dishes include creamy truffle mac and cheese topped with crusty panko crumbs, a loaded potato salad, Frito pie beans, a crispy apple slaw and street corn topped with Flamin’ Hot Cheetos.

The new brick and mortar restaurant should give Dayne’s fans faster and more convenient service. It will also let this barbecue couple take on more catering orders, “No matter how big or how small ? we hear your cries for BBQ and this move will make these things happen,” a post on Dayne’s Facebook page reads.

Dayne’s big barbecue move is certainly a boost for Westland.

JD’s Hamburgers is readying to open soon, putting on the finishing touches and leveling the parking lot. Stay tuned to PaperCity Fort Worth for more Westland developments.