Take the train to the Fort Worth festivals downtown and stop at this 90-year-old cafe
If you’re coming downtown this weekend for the arts festivals, take the train.
And that means families and friends can meet up Friday or Saturday at T&P Tavern, the train station bar that still looks basically like it did in 1931.
Whether you’re coming downtown or leaving, the Tavern is a simple launching pad on the historic concourse of the old downtown rail station, 221 E. Lancaster Ave.
That’s a short rideshare trip or Molly the Trolley shuttle hop from the Main Street Fort Worth Arts Festival and the Fort Worth Arts Fair, or an 8-block walk from the south end of Main Street. You also could either arrive or depart from the closer Central Station stop, 1001 Jones St.
Downtown is only a $5 train ride from anywhere in Tarrant County, $2.50 for seniors. That’s cheaper and easier than parking. (South Main Village is also only a short walk away.)
At the end of the Trinity Railway Express and TEXRail line, T&P Tavern is still ramping up service. But the bar now offers sandwiches, snacks and a full bar weeknights until midnight and Saturdays from 2 p.m. to 2 a.m.
It’s the original train station cafe from the era when the Texas & Pacific Passenger Terminal concourse was filled with families going east or west on vacation, soldiers coming home from wars and visiting celebrities from presidents to Elvis Presley.
T&P Tavern has always been known for nachos, chips and salsa. The current rendition is simple bar food, but the nachos ($7) are decked with plenty of jalapenos.
The burgers haven’t returned, but the tavern offers a pastrami-and-swiss sandwich ($6.75) along with choices such as turkey-and-bacon, chicken salad or pimiento cheese.
T&P Tavern might be the toughest restaurant to find in Fort Worth.
It’s down a dead-end driveway between the historic T&P Passenger Terminal condo tower and the newer T&P Lofts condo building next door.
When you see the tiny sign that says “to rail station” — you’re there.
The giant concourse opens up with the tavern at the east end, a short walk from the tunnel to Trinity Railway Express and TEXRail trains to Hurst, North Richland Hills, Grapevine, Irving or Dallas.
It’s open Tuesdays through Saturdays, so make your festival plans somewhere else Sunday. Herb N’ Kitchen, 815 Main St. in the Hilton Fort Worth hotel, is the nearest restaurant to Central Station along with Little Red Wasp, 808 Main St.
If you’re not meeting at T&P Tavern for the festival, it’s worth a trip anytime just for the history; 817-885-8878, tptavern.com.
This story was originally published April 6, 2022 at 5:45 AM.
