Mike Smith, operator of Fort Worth’s Paris Coffee Shop for 55 years, has died
Mike Smith, who baked 500,000 pies in his 55 years running the landmark Paris Coffee Shop, has died.
Smith, 78, died Monday, according to his daughter, Shelle Barber.
Smith retired last year when he sold the restaurant to chef Louis Lambert and investors. It was remodeled and remains open.
Smith’s father, Gregory K. Smith, bought the restaurant in 1930 from founder Vic Paris, who opened it in 1926 at 614 W. Magnolia Ave.
Smith told the Star-Telegram in April 2021 that he remembered growing up around his father’s restaurant, where he spent summers cutting and cleaning vegetables. He took over the restaurant in 1966, when his father became sick with Parkinson’s disease.
In 1974, he moved the Paris across Hemphill Street to its current location, a former supermarket at 704 W. Magnolia Ave.
Smith, jokingly nicknamed the “mayor of Magnolia Avenue,” and the restaurant’s meringue pies have been featured on the Food Network series “Sugar High” and “Ace of Cakes” and listed among the nation’s best in USA Today.
Bon Appetit magazine named it one of the 10 best cafes for pie and called it the “place of your dreams.”
The chicken-fried steak was heralded in authors Jane and Michael Stern’s “Roadfood” series of restaurant guides.
In the 1970s, the restaurant served up to 700 lunches daily, according to Star-Telegram archives. On a summer day, patrons drank up to 60 gallons of iced tea.
David Shaw, co-owner of The Lazy Moose, a bar and restaurant on Magnolia Avenue, said Smith was a special person who cared about his employees.
Shaw ate at the Paris Coffee Shop regularly, and Smith was always out in front, mingling with the customers.
“He had a handshake like a vice grip,” Shaw recalled.
Shaw said Smith will be known for his hard work, his pies and his outgoing personality.
Tom Potthoff, the former owner of Town Talk Foods, said he met Smith at Paris Coffee Shop in 1973. That chance meeting turned into a friendship that lasted for more than 40 years.
Potthoff said he always admired how Smith could fit in with any group. Police, politicians, construction workers and musicians all came to the restaurant, and Smith was at home with all of them.
“He will be missed,” Potthoff said.
Chris Reale, the current owner and operator of Paris Coffee Shop, said Smith was the heart of the restaurant.
“We will continue his legacy,” Reale said.
Smith grew up in Fort Worth. He attended Arlington Heights High School, where he was in the same class as John Denver.
He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Ginger Smith, and daughter Shelle Barber.
This story was originally published June 14, 2022 at 1:45 PM.
