Weatherford restaurateur’s seafood place will move into a former Fort Worth taco spot

The former “Salsa Limon Universidad” space on University Drive in Fort Worth will become Shep’s Off the Hook Seafood, a new restaurant from John David Shepherd of Shep’s Place and Saltwater in Weatherford.

Shepherd, whose background includes the Wild Mushroom Steakhouse and Lounge, says in a Facebook Messenger exchange that the new Fort Worth restaurant will be mixture of Shep’s Place (a burger/sandwich/hot-dog joint) and Saltwater, which as you may have guessed is a seafood restaurant.

Shep’s Off the Hook is already under construction and Shepherd expects to open in the second week of October. A Facebook page is up, with some construction photos and other hints at the new restaurant’s look (there is some TCU-area-appropriate purple).

There are also shots of what to expect on the menu: fried chicken strips and fries; fish and chips; trout with risotto and fried spinach; fried pickles and green beans (yes, together, in the photo, at least; shrimp on toast; crab cakes; and more (that tuxedo cake looks worth coming in for all by itself). The restaurant also plans a Sunday brunch.

There aren’t any photos of burgers, a Shep’s Place specialty; it would take some chutzpah to take on Dutch’s Legendary Hamburgers, in the same strip, in the burger department.

Shepherd, originally from Burleson, is such a “Star Wars” fan that he had a “Star Wars”-themed wedding, and “Shep’s Place” is loaded with “Star Wars” references, and he says there will also be some “Star Wars” stuff at Shep’s Off the Hook. Shepherd is also easy to notice: He is 7 feet tall, or as he told us once, 7-foot-6 in his Chewbacca costume.

The Shep’s Off the Hook Facebook page appears to have been up since about Aug. 12, which is also the day that Salsa Limon “Universidad” closed in the same location. “Unfortunately, the franchise at that location elected not to renew the franchise agreement so our last day will be Aug. 12th,” said a Facebook post announcing the closure.

The location at 3005 S. University Drive is in a strip that’s home not just to Dutch’s (which just completed an expansion with a bar and more parking), but to other TCU-area favorites such as Buffalo Bros. Pizza Wings & Subs and Pizza Snob. An even longer-running tenant, Record Town, moved out this year and recently reopened on the Near Southside at 120 St. Louis Ave, just up the street from Broadway Baptist Church.

Salsa Limon is also coming to the Near Southside, with its “Maggie” location on Magnolia Avenue close to opening. Salsa Limon currently has three other locations in Fort Worth and one in Dallas, and hinted at plans to return to the TCU area eventually.

H/T 360 West Magazine

This story was originally published September 21, 2018 at 3:35 PM.