‘It’s frankly not fair’: Fort Worth restaurants face road work, zoo spring break
The Fort Worth Zoo brings a jackpot of 100,000 customers to nearby restaurants during spring break.
But traffic this year is slowed by construction warnings and barricades, and that’s also become a headache for some restaurateurs.
At Enchiladas Olé, amid horrendous traffic at 2418 Forest Park Blvd., owner Mary Patino Vásquez said lunch delivery and takeout orders Wednesday went unclaimed and tickets had to be refunded. Drivers couldn’t get through to pick them up.
Across the zoo to the west, both South University Drive and parallel “back route” Rogers Road are under construction at the same time, although the University project was paused this week for a spring break that drew 22,142 people Wednesday alone.
“It’s just tough getting in and out,” said Jeff Day, manager at Courtside Kitchen, a pickleball complex and restaurant at 1615 Rogers Road behind the University Park Village shopping center.
It’s about to be tougher.
Traffic on University Drive will be squeezed to one or two lanes, and completely blocked on Rogers Road.
Even Courtside’s employees get stuck in traffic, Day said.
For now, patrons have to turn into the shopping center and weave their way through the parking lot, then turn onto Rogers to Courtside Kitchen and neighbor Rogers Roundhouse, a burger grill and patio at 1616 Rogers Road.
The work is also hurting weekday business at the Woodshed Smokehouse patio barbecue restaurant, 3201 Riverfront Drive, chef-owner Tim Love said.
Lunch crowds can’t get there. Delivery drivers may not try.
“It’s a really big pain for [the] valet and parking,” Love wrote in a text message. “It’s frankly not fair to just shut the street down.”
The street’s happiest restaurateur might be Rex Benson, third-generation owner of the 24-hour Ol’ South Pancake House family restaurant, a motorists’ landmark at 1509 University Drive.
Benson sent an online message complimenting city workers for being ahead of schedule and thanking them for rushing to get Ol’ South’s driveways and back entrance open.
Spring break families still found the Pancake House, he wrote: “It’s such an influx of people on University, we get overflow of people just not wanting to stay in traffic.”
A better-looking street will mean better business.
But that’ll take a while.
This story was originally published March 16, 2023 at 5:30 AM.
