Three westside Fort Worth restaurants closing, one by a ‘Chopped’ winner
Three Camp Bowie Boulevard-area restaurants have announced closings, one owned by a chef who won the Food Network reality show “Chopped.”
Fitzgerald, 6115 Camp Bowie Blvd., will close June 7 after a three-year run, chef Ben Merritt posted Monday on Facebook.
He will take an extended break after a career that took him from the Woodshed Smokehouse, Fixture Kitchen and Ben’s Triple B to Fitzgerald, a seafood restaurant.
Also closing nearby:
▪ Pizza Verde, 5716 Locke Ave., a vegan pizzeria, will close in the next few months but is staying open for now “to help us pay off debts,” according to its Facebook post.
▪ Heirloom Cafe & Market, 6700 Z Boaz Place inside a garden store, is gone and will switch to catering, the restaurant posted. The Gardenland Cafe will open in its place, Archie’s Gardenland announced.
The closings come after a series of high-profile openings on Camp Bowie Boulevard as growth in the western suburbs brings the area more traffic and patrons.
Margie’s, Hudson House, Rockfish drawing diners
The influx of new restaurants includes Fort Redemption, a steak, brisket, burgers and brunch restaurant; the reborn Margie’s Italian Gardens, a 70-year landmark; a larger Sour Boule cafe and bakery, replacing Edelweiss; and Terrebonne’s, a new Cajun-Creole restaurant.
The Fitzgerald also faced new competition when Dallas-based Hudson House opened last year 2 miles east, and a location of Dallas-based Rockfish Seafood Grill opened two blocks west.
Fitzgerald’s business was off, Merritt wrote in a text message.
“It was just a decline in business that I couldn’t sustain,” he wrote.
Merritt won a season of “Chopped” in 2019.
Several older restaurants have been pinched by rising food and labor costs and also by the decline in overall restaurant dining just as so many new restaurants are opening.
Is dining out declining? One survey says so
Nearly one in three Americans is dining out less with friends or family, according to a February survey by Chicago-based restaurant research firm Datassential. One in four is making fewer visits to casual restaurants.
Lili’s Bistro, an 18-year Near Southside anchor on West Magnolia Avenue, will close May 31. Chef-owner Vance Martin is retiring after a 47-year career.
Sammy’s on the Lake, a Tex-Mex restaurant on Eagle Mountain Lake, also announced it will close June 15 in the restaurant space at Lakeview Marina.
A location of California-based Fatburger also closed last week in North Richland Hills. An Arlington location remains open.
This story was originally published May 19, 2025 at 4:18 PM.
