‘LOVE’ and mystery in Parker County: Is a Tim Love restaurant coming?
A new restaurant is coming to the Weatherford courthouse square.
We don’t know who owns it yet.
But we have a hint.
The former Fire Oak Grill, in a 19th-century retail building at 114 Austin Ave., closed July 19 after 18 years. So far, the buyer is a secret.
But in their farewell letter, Oak owners Candice and Grant Lambdins wrote that they believe the new owner “will continue to pour LOVE into this space.”
If the Lambdins were hinting that Fort Worth celebrity chef Tim Love bought the Oak — they have avoided further public comment, and no permit application has been filed — one neighbor says he would be welcome.
“I’m glad if Tim Love is joining us,” Zeno Russo said by phone from his Zeno’s on the Square, a northern Italian restaurant that recently moved to a historic building at 113 College Ave. “The more restaurants are in the square, the better business will be for everybody.”
Asked by text message if he could shed any light on rampant rumors in Weatherford, Love replied that he could not.
It is too soon to tell for sure what will replace the Oak, in a building built about 1884-85 that has been home to a series of businesses.
The property might change hands yet again, or the post might be mistaken.
Other restaurateurs and investors also have been seen visiting the Weatherford square. A frequent patron is Parker County rancher and TV producer Taylor Sheridan of “Yellowstone,” owner of Cattlemen’s Steakhouse in Fort Worth.
Downtown is now a hot location after Parker County’s emergence as a high-dollar equine and ranching center on the western edge of rampant suburban growth.
“Weatherford has grown up,” Russo said. “There’s more attention to the quality of the food.”
Besides Zeno’s, the area is also home to the regionally known Salt Seafood and Steakhouse, in a 157-year-old home at 209 E. Church St.
If a celebrity chef or investor opens a Weatherford restaurant, he or she would be in line with the trend of prominent Texas chefs opening destination locations in smaller cities.
Dallas chef Stephan Pyles, a pioneer of Southwestern cuisine, opened The Seeker in Stephenville. Austin chef David Bull’s Second Bar + Kitchen will close Oct. 31 after two years in Mineral Wells.
Felipe Armenta of Fort Worth has opened a Press Cafe location in Aledo and Bosque Cantina in Walnut Springs. He is also a partner in a Cork & Pig Tavern, opening soon in Willow Park.
Love is the founder of Lonesome Dove Western Bistro in the Fort Worth Stockyards, which opened in 2000 and catapulted him to fame as a TV celebrity chef and operator of food and wine festivals.
He has opened 13 other restaurants in Fort Worth, Austin, Denton and Knoxville, Tennessee.
Stewart’s Croquet & Cocktails is his newest venture, joining an empire that also includes the Woodshed Smokehouse, Love Shack (Fort Worth and DFW Airport), Queenie’s Steakhouse in Denton, the White Elephant Saloon, Gemelle, Ático, Paloma Suerte, Caterina’s and Tannahill’s Tavern & Music Hall.
This story was originally published July 28, 2025 at 5:30 AM.
