A Keller original will close. It’s one of 10 Fort Worth-area restaurants saying goodbye
FnG Eats, a pioneering chef-driven contemporary grill in Keller back when the city was mostly home to fried chicken stands, will close Jan. 18 after 13 years, the owners posted on social media.
It becomes the latest of at least 10 local restaurants to close in recent weeks.
Closings are common and cyclical in the restaurant business after the surge of New Year’s Eve dinners. But local restaurants usually wait until the annual Fort Worth Stock Show crowds are gone.
Founded by chef “Flaco” Arevalo and Bob “Gordo” Stephenson of the Dallas-area Cool River Cafes, FnG Eats became a destination restaurant in then-new Keller Town Square before it was overwhelmed by growth in Alliance Town Center and Southlake Town Square.
“Like the groceries in your kitchen, the medications on your shelf, sometimes the fashion in your closet ... actually, everything in life; restaurants have a shelf life,” the restaurateurs wrote on social media.
FnG Eats’ business never fully recovered after the pandemic, they wrote. The aging space also faced “tons of repairs and maintenance challenges.”
When FnG opened, it was the best chef-driven American bar-and-grill west of Southlake.
But Alliance-area newcomers such as Dallas-based Whiskey Cake, Phoenix-based Sicilian Butcher and Dallas-based HG Sply Co. have drawn patrons west.
Arevalo and Stephenson’s post called the closing bittersweet but added, “this is not the last chapter by any means.”
Paco’s will close on Magnolia, stays in Sundance
Jan. 18 is also the scheduled closing day for the Paco’s Mexican Cuisine location at 1508 W. Magnolia Ave.
Paco’s opened in 2016 as a new, more flashy version of Paco & John’s, an award-winning interior Mexico cafe nearby on Eighth Avenue.
Owner Francisco Islas wrote: “This past year has truly tested us in ways we never imagined,” mentioning expansion, COVID aftermath and rising costs.
Paco’s remains open in its Sundance Square location, 156 W. Fourth St.
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Saying farewell
Other surprising recent closings:
▪ Mason & Dixie, an exceptional Southern-style restaurant with stunning desserts, closed in Grapevine, citing a landlord dispute.
▪ Papa Yun’s Donuts, popular in the Cityview neighborhood, will close when its lease ends Jan. 31.
▪ Pouring Glory, a growler station and grill that was an early pioneer in South Main Village, closed after a months-long struggle as the beer business continued to lag and new restaurants opened nearby.
▪ Earlier, nearby Hot Box Biscuit Club in South Main Village also closed.
▪ Enchiladas ¡Olé! is open at 6473 Camp Bowie Blvd. in Ridglea but has left a Forest Park Boulevard location after a landlord dispute. A new location will open near downtown, owner Mary Patino Perez said.
▪ Heim Barbecue’s Old Town Burleson location and Fort Brewery & Pizza in Fort Worth both closed as the owners, the Churchill family, focused on opening new Heim location in Weatherford.
▪ Si Tapas, a Spanish tapas restaurant from Dallas, closed in the Artisan Circle shops.
▪ Nearby, the Bottled Blonde bar closed, going the way of another alcohol-driven alliteration, Concrete Cowboy.
This story was originally published January 13, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
