Mangonadas, big doughnuts come to the West 7th area this weekend

Hey. Bud! When is Zero Degrees going to open? It seems like forever.

—Luke, Fort Worth

Zero Degrees, the young-at-heart shop with lots of flashy mangonadas and a few select food items, is scheduled to open this weekend at 2401 W. Seventh St., on the Matisse Street side behind Pho District. (Also nearby: Hurts Donut will open next week at 901 Foch St., in the Foch Street Warehouses near La Familia or Avoca.)

Hey, Bud! You mentioned The Gardens moving. Is Garden Oaks going to be a restaurant for the public, or is it just an event center for private events?

—Danell, Fort Worth

Yes — the former Southern Oaks Country Club dining room near Burleson will reopen in February as the Garden Oaks public restaurant. It’s the former Gardens Restaurant from Fort Worth, moved into a country club setting. (Mountain Valley Country Club near Joshua is also now open to the public.)

Hey, Bud! What happened to Urban Bricks Pizza in Arlington? I liked it better than Blaze.

—Rhonda, Arlington

Urban Bricks had trouble drawing business to Champions Park, an oddly designed shopping center that turns its back on Colline Street drivers. But Social House and Zero Degrees are doing well there. Urban’s biggest problem was simply the glut of pizza restaurants. To succeed, a pizza restaurant has to be either (1) great or (2) cheap. If it’s neither, then why go?

Bud Kennedy’s Eats Beat

Fort Worth Star-Telegram

817-390-7538

Bud Kennedy is celebrating his 40th year writing about restaurants in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He has written the “Eats Beat” dining column in print since 1985 and online since 1992 — that’s more than 3,000 columns about Texas cafes, barbecue, burgers and where to eat. Support my work with a digital subscription