Fiesta Mexican to offer late-night fare, Copeland renovations complete, new La Madeleine opens

Celestina Blok

Fort Worth Business Press Restaurant Correspondent

Fiesta Mexican Restaurant, after dark Longtime Fort Worth Tex-Mex establishment Fiesta Mexican Restaurant (3233 Hemphill St.) is attracting an after-hours crowd for Fiesta After Dark – new, late-night weekend service with DJ music launched in early August. Now general manager Joe Barriga has applied for a liquor license to serve alcohol until 2 a.m. to accommodate the weekend crowd he’s generating for drinks and dancing. Barriga admits that Fiesta’s new nightlife endeavor makes for long hours as the restaurant opens at 7 a.m. daily, but he wanted to “try something different.” Fiesta was opened in 1978 by Barriga’s parents, Anita and Louis, in a four-room converted house. Today the 3,000-square-foot restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner daily.

More from The Big Easy After a four-week renovation, Copeland’s Southlake has reopened with even more New Orleans flair. Wall murals depicting Jackson Square, wrought iron accents and wall-mounted gas lamps contribute to an atmosphere inspired by The Big Easy. Copeland’s has kept its New Orleans-style menu, offering jambalaya pasta, po’boys and eggplant pirogi along with new dishes such as muffuletta sandwiches, grilled chicken creole and fried oysters. An expanded 360-degree bar changes colors fiber optically and, in a nod to the hometown team, goes Southlake Carroll Dragon green for game nights. Copeland’s Southlake is located inside the Southlake Town Square Hilton hotel and is an outlet of Copeland’s of New Orleans, which originated in the Crescent City in 1983.

- FWBP Digital Partners -

Fitness, Firehouse, French cuisine Fitness fans in search of healthful meals in a hurry will appreciate Simply Fit Meals, a Plano-based grab-and-go concept that opened its first Fort Worth location in late August at 3020 W. Seventh St. Founded by fitness trainer and former Whole Foods marketing director Chris Sanchez, the company sells pre-packaged, all-natural, unpronounceable ingredient-free meals in BPA-free reusable containers. The microwaveable meals include Paleo, gluten-free and vegan-friendly selections using quinoa, grass-fed beef, fresh vegetables, roasted sweet potatoes, low-salt spice blends and more. Expect a fresh-pressed juice bar to be added soon. A grand opening on Oct. 5 from 7 to 10 p.m. will include a free meal for the first 500 guests along with samples of juices, smoothies and cocktails.

La Madeleine Country French Cafe will open the first week of October inside a 4,600-square-foot corner space in Overton Park Plaza, two doors down from the shopping center’s popular Thai Select. After closing La Madeleine’s Sundance Square location in 2009, the Dallas-based chain that began as a bakery on Mockingbird Lane was left with only one Fort Worth location, at 6140 Camp Bowie Blvd. The Overton Park Plaza store will open at 6:30 a.m. seven days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Firehouse Subs is set to neighbor Starbucks when it opens in October at 1600 W. Rosedale Ave. Founded by two firefighter brothers nearly 20 years ago, the Florida-based chain is recognized for its hot and cold subs and sandwiches such as meatball, steak and cheese, corned beef, roast beef and pastrami. The fast-casual restaurant expects an Oct. 21 opening.

Chicken Express returns to TCU Chicken Express is coming back to the Texas Christian University area. An outlet of the fast food chain, which originated in Benbrook in 1988 and is now based in Mineral Wells, is set to open in a former Taco Bell location at 2301 W. Berry St. in late October or early November. Chicken Express founder Nancy Stuart, who established the chain with her husband, Richard, says she’s excited to have a franchise location back near the university because the previous West Berry Street store that closed more than a decade ago was always very popular. Stuart says she’s also thrilled to move her Fort Worth-based Chicken E Food Service distribution center to a larger space in Burleson’s new HighPoint Business Park. The restaurant distribution center’s new 89,000-square-foot headquarters will cover 26 acres of the business park, which is located just off Interstate 35W between Bethesda Road and FM 917.