Affordable steakhouse to replace trendy BBQ restaurant in Fort Worth’s West 7th area
F1 Bar & Grill, a steakhouse serving local beef, will replace the barbecue-themed F1 Smokehouse, company executive Felipe Armenta said this week.
F1 Bar & Grill will serve wagyu beef from Armenta’s Central Texas ranch “without the wagyu price tag,” Armenta said.
F1, 517 University Drive, opened in 2023 serving barbecue from Armenta’s F1 food trailer at Clearfork, but with contemporary sides and a modern bar and patio.
But F1 never caught on like Armenta’s eight other restaurants, ranging from Pacific Table, The Tavern, Maria’s Mexican Kitchen, Le Margot and Press Cafe in Fort Worth to steakhouses and grills in Midland and San Angelo.
A second F1 Bar & Grill will open next month in Odessa, Armenta said.
Armenta also has a hand in Cork & Pig Tavern restaurants in Southlake, Irving and across West Texas, with a new Cork & Pig coming in Willow Park at 460 Shops Blvd.
He is also involved in Bosque Cantina in Walnut Springs.
The F1 Bar & Grill concept will team better with the company’s West Texas prime steakhouse concept, Cowboy Prime, Armenta wrote in a message.
“This will be a baby brother to Cowboy,” he wrote.
The restaurant will focus on grill dishes but keep brisket and pulled pork items, he wrote.
F1 Bar & Grill will bring a midprice grill to a West 7th neighborhood that is home to midprice Michaels Cuisine, along with five high-end steakhouses: the London-style Chumley House, the Don Artemio steakhouse from Mexico, hotel steakhouse Bricks & Horses, the Florida-based Eddie V’s chain and fine-dining Clay Pigeon.
From the beginning, F1 struggled with an identity crisis. In an era when smoke and vape shops are ubiquitous in every strip shopping center, diners seemed confused over the name “smokehouse.”
Some younger customers in the busy retail area near the Cultural District and Stock Show grounds mistakenly thought F1 sold a different kind of smoke.
According to Google Trends, “BBQ” is the most common term used in online searches for a barbecue restaurant.
Hill Country-style barbecue came to the neighborhood in December. A $6 million location of Austin-based Terry Black’s BBQ opened at 2926 W. Seventh St.
Traditional local favorite Angelo’s BBQ is in its 66th year 1 mile east at 2533 White Settlement Road.
