Eats Beat

That new Starbucks in downtown Fort Worth? Update your app — it’s for mobile orders

The Old Fire Station No. 1, home to Cafe 203 upstairs, will have a Starbucks Pickup coffee stand downstairs.
The Old Fire Station No. 1, home to Cafe 203 upstairs, will have a Starbucks Pickup coffee stand downstairs. Handout photo

A Starbucks Pickup is coming to Fort Worth.

And no, that’s not the name of a truck.

The new Starbucks Coffee location downtown in Old Fire Station No. 1, 215 Commerce St., will house a new Starbucks Pickup store dedicated solely to filling smartphone and mobile orders, City Center announced Monday.

Pickup stores are takeout counters for Starbucks Rewards members ordering ahead. So there’s no order counter and little seating.

The Starbucks Pickup location is three blocks from a more showy Starbucks Coffee at 141 W. Third St. in neighboring Sundance Square. The new Pickup store will be closer to the Tarrant County Courthouse and courtrooms.

The pickup location will occupy a 2,460-square-foot space in the first floor of a fire station built in 1907. A restaurant, 203 Café, operates upstairs.

No change to the exterior was described in a state permit application. Remodeling is estimated at $373,756.

Until 2016, Old Fire Station No. 1 held a small history museum called “The 150 Years of Fort Worth,” including the uniform of U.S. Army Maj. Gen. William Worth, never a visitor but for whom the city was named.
Until 2016, Old Fire Station No. 1 held a small history museum called “The 150 Years of Fort Worth,” including the uniform of U.S. Army Maj. Gen. William Worth, never a visitor but for whom the city was named. Rodger Mallison Star-Telegram archives

The old fire station, nestled under a corner of the Wells Fargo Tower, was restored in 1982, according to fortwortharchitecture.com. It operated until 2016 as the history exhibit “150 Years of Fort Worth,” showing artifacts from the Fort Worth Museum of Science & History.

The two City Center towers, one home to Wells Fargo and the other to Bank of America, remained under original management when nearby Sundance Square was split off under separate management in a 2019 land deal.

This story was originally published June 21, 2021 at 2:08 PM.

Bud Kennedy’s Eats Beat
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
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
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