Eats Beat roundup for May: Fort Worth restaurant openings, closings and brunches

Eats Beat columnist Bud Kennedy covered a busy month of Fort Worth-area restaurant news in May, from beloved institutions closing to fresh brunch spots opening. Here’s a rundown for foodies tracking the latest dining moves.

• A drive-thru version of the 96-year-old Original Mexican Eats Cafe is taking shape on its old Camp Bowie Boulevard parking lot, with a 743-square-foot stand set to serve carryout enchiladas, dinners and drinks, while the main restaurant operates at 1400 N. Main St.
• Fort Worth restaurateur David Shaw survived a life-threatening chest injury, multiple surgeries and prostate cancer treatment before opening Shaw’s Southwest Grille on the Granbury square, with plans for an upstairs bar called Stringfellow’s and a bed-and-breakfast.
• Bodega South Main is shifting from a neighborhood grocery to a full breakfast-lunch cafe, with owner/chef Tasha Monticure expanding morning hours and serving paninis, Reubens, quiche and scratch-made baked goods at 203 S. Main St.
• Tinies has launched weekend brunch featuring chilaquiles rojos, blue corn pancakes and steak-and-eggs under new management by former Don Artemio part-owner Adrian Burciaga, offering patio and upstairs terrace views of the downtown Fort Worth skyline.
• The 83-year-old Roy Pope Grocery will close May 31 under new owner Westland Hospitality Group, which plans to remodel the Merrick Street spot into a restaurant and bar serving contemporary Southern Americana dishes including steaks, seafood and the neighborhood’s legacy “Mac salad.”
• Station & Vine, a new prime steakhouse and wine bar from Dallas-based Edible Ideas, will open within weeks in the concourse of the 1931-vintage Fort Worth T&P commuter rail station at 221 W. Lancaster Ave.
• The new Benbrook location of Tacos & Avocados is serving a standout weekend Tex-Mex brunch with cornmeal pancakes topped with caramelized pineapple and chilaquiles, with a second new location planned alongside Jakes Burgers in North Richland Hills.
• J&J Oyster Bar is closing May 30 after 45 years, but its iconic 12½-foot-tall longhorn bull statue — sculpted by Johnny Pate for the 2001 BulLovArts citywide project — will move to Fred’s Texas Cafe on Camp Bowie Boulevard West.

The summary points above were compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists. The source reporting referenced above was written and edited entirely by journalists.