8 (!) restaurants close in Fort Worth area — BBQ, Tex-Mex, even a Guy Fieri fave
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- At least seven North Texas restaurants announced recent closings.
- Taste of Europe in Arlington will close July 31 after 24 years and TV praise.
- Loco Coyote will close July 19; Pulido’s Hurst will close July 16.
An Arlington restaurant once featured on TV’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” a Hurst relaunch of an old-time Tex-Mex favorite and a 60-year-old backroad barbecue restaurant are among the latest North Texas restaurants to close in the vise-like grip of high food prices and the economic downturn.
Taste of Europe, an Eastern European restaurant praised by TV host Guy Fieri as one of Arlington’s “best treasures”; Pulido’s Kitchen & Cantina, the Hurst location only; and Loco Coyote Grill, a landmark on a winding farm road southwest of Glen Rose, lead a list of at least nine restaurants closing or already closed.
Four restaurants have already closed: CiBi Italian in Willow Park, Cindy Sue Cafe in Arlington and Paul’s Donuts Subs & Gyros in Fort Worth, plus Jon’s Grille in Fort Worth, announced last weekend by owner Jon Bonnell. Los Girasoles Mexican Food in Sansom Park will close any day now.
A look at the restaurants and when they will close:
A Taste of Europe: July 31
An Arlington restaurant known for stuffed potato cakes, borscht and pierogi will close July 31 after 24 years.
Mikhail Frumkin, an engineer from Minsk, Belarus, opened Taste of Europe as a Russian restaurant and European gift shop at 1901 W. Pioneer Parkway. The restaurant eventually dropped the Russian theme when war broke out in Ukraine and also added German, Hungarian and Polish dishes.
On “DDD,” Fieri called Taste of Europe an “Eastern Bloc bonanza extravaganza” and praised the kalduny (potato cakes.)
The restaurant also serves blintzes, goulash, beef stroganoff, chicken Kyiv and a wide range of traditional European items.
Co-owner Alexandre Tsalko’s social media announcement expressed thanks to loyal customers. Taste of Europe’s fans convinced the Tsalko family to remodel and reopen the restaurant in 2024 after it announced a closing.
The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner Wednesdays through Sundays until July 31.
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Loco Coyote Grill: July 19
The rustic restaurant with a long history in Texas barbecue is closing after lunch July 19.
Loco Coyote, in a landmark shack at 1795 County Road 1004 southwest of Glen Rose, has drawn more praise recently for chicken-fried steak.
It opened in 2003 under original owners Linda and Tom Hammond, part of the family that opened the original Hammond’s BBQ there in 1966.
The Coyote has changed hands a couple of times, but remains a throwback. The restaurant’s social media announcement blamed rising food, labor, and operating costs.
In its final week, the restaurant is open for dinner Thursday and Friday, lunch and dinner Saturday and lunch Sunday.
Pulido’s Kitchen & Cantina – Hurst: July 16
The strong comeback of the 60-year-old Pulido’s restaurants in Fort Worth and Willow Park has not spilled over to Hurst, and that location will close July 16.
The Pulido’s at 1224 Precinct Line Road reopened in a 46-year-old building that was originally Mi Hacienda and became a Pulido’s about 2002. It drew a strong turnout at first from customers in what is now an older neighborhood, but struggled like many businesses in south Hurst.
Pulido’s is open for lunch and dinner daily at 2900 Pulido St. near Interstate 30 and South University Drive in Fort Worth; at 104 S. Ranch House Road in Willow Park; and at 10051 Interstate 20 in Eastland.
Los Girasoles: July 31 or sooner
Los Girasoles, a little family restaurant and bar at 5601 Jacksboro Highway, will close any day now after five years of struggles and social media pleas that kept bringing it back from the brink.
The social media message July 10 announced the “start of a new beginning” and added that Los Girasoles would close in less than a month but “if you’ve ever wanted to visit us, now is the time.”
The restaurant opened against very tough competition from Mezcales across the street, a large and traditional Tex-Mex restaurant in a former steakhouse, and El Paseo, a longtime Fort Worth favorite celebrating its 40th anniversary.
CiBi Italian: closed
CiBi, the small, family-owned restaurant at 119 S. Ranch House Road, is closed.
The restaurant was originally founded in 2021 by Matteo and Sarah Clivati. But the management had changed, and it was surrounded by new competition in the Aledo-Wllow Park market.
It was particularly known for Bergamo-style stuffed pasta Bergamo-style and for desserts such as cannoli and vanilla panna cotta.
CiBi’s farewell message on social media thanked customers for being a “small part of so many special memories.”
Cindy Sue Cafe: closed
The most common word in online comments about Cindy Sue Cafe is “huge.”
Cindy Evans’ chicken-fried steak is hefty, served with old-time pan gravy. But she has closed her cafe at 6204 S. Cooper St. near Good Day Cafe to switch to catering.
Evans’ breakfasts and lunches were fresh and homestyle, but her talent as a caterer didn’t translate into the boxy space.
Paul’s Donuts Subs & Gyros: closed
A sandwich shop and restaurant in a historic building on Hemphill Street closed without announcement in recent days.
Paul’s Donuts Subs & Gyros, a southside favorite from 1970 to 2017, mostly under longtime owners Barbara and Paul Raby and then Hany Sharaf, is empty and dark at 1324 Hemphill St.
The red brick building has stood on Hemphill since 1958, when it was built as an insurance office. Paul’s originally started in 1960 on East Berry Street.
Sharaf sold the building in 2017 and family members now own Mousa Donut, 201 W. Rosedale St.
This story was originally published July 15, 2026 at 4:18 AM.
