Photo by Alyson Peyton Perkins
The bar and restaurant scene on West Magnolia Avenue will get a little hairier when The Bearded Lady opens in July. Located at 1229 Seventh Ave., just across from Ellerbe Fine Foods, the new tavern will offer a long street-side patio with a view of Magnolia Avenue that can seat nearly 60 patrons at chunky wooden picnic tables. There’ll be seating for 44 more customers inside. The 1,750-square-foot structure is owned by local commercial Realtor Eric Clayton (Caprock Group), who’s partnered with longtime bartender Shannon Osbakken to open the late-night dining and drinking establishment. Osbakken, who admits to being intrigued with circus sideshow acts, was formerly part owner of two bars, Ozzie Rabbit Lodge in Fort Worth and Cave’s Lounge in Arlington, and has been looking to open a venue in the Near Southside. “There’s a lot of camaraderie here,” she said, noting that she was visited by several West Magnolia Avenue restaurant owners during the Near Southside’s ArtsGoggle event in May. Cheryl Westbrook, a former sushi chef at Piranha Killer Sushi and 7th Haven bartender, will lead The Bearded Lady kitchen in her first executive chef gig. The menu will focus on handmade, Texas-inspired pub fare using local craft beer. So far, it includes mustard infused with Martin House Brewing’s new pretzel-based stout beer, and mussels steamed in the brewery’s Day Break four-grain breakfast beer. A preliminary menu includes beer-battered cactus stuffed with goat cheese and olives, burgers and sandwiches including a braised pork belly sandwich with gruyere cheese and caramelized onions, and a pecan porter-infused cheesecake. Prices range from $4 for a side of mac and cheese served in a bacon bowl to $17 for three jalapeno-stuffed, bacon-wrapped quail breasts. The Bearded Lady will be open for lunch and dinner daily from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. A mid- to late-July opening is anticipated.
Los Vaqueros offers delivery service Los Vaqueros, the Stockyards-based Tex-Mex establishment that’s commemorating 30 years of business this year, has started home delivery service from its Cockrell Avenue outlet near Texas Christian University. The restaurant’s new “enchilada mobile,” a purple SUV painted with a red racing stripe, will deliver longtime menu favorites including chicken salad-stuffed avocados by the half-dozen ($18.95), tortilla soup by the quart ($12.95), enchilada dinners that feed four to six and include Spanish rice, refried beans, chips and salsa ($28.95), and tres leches cake by the slice ($4.95). All items are available for delivery to TCU and surrounding areas Sunday through Thursday from 5-9 p.m. Orders are taken by phone at 817-710-8828 or via email at lvinfo@icloud.com.
Del Frisco’s patio update, plus it’s Prime Pair time After anticipating an early June opening, Greg Kalina, manager of Del Frisco’s Double Eagle Steakhouse in downtown Fort Worth, hoping for a late July completion of the restaurant’s new double-decker patio, which is under construction. Plans call for a 16-seat ground level patio and 38-seat second level covered balcony with access from the restaurant’s second floor. Kalina said the outdoor seating area will bring a “New Orleans-Bourbon Street type of feel” to the steakhouse-heavy downtown block. Until then, Del Frisco’s patrons can keep cool inside and enjoy the restaurant’s popular Prime Pair summer menu special, which includes choice of salad, an 8-ounce broiled filet mignon and choice of seafood item (lobster sauce-topped crab cake, barbecue shrimp or lemon-garlic scallops) along with a side dish for $49. Del Frisco’s is located at 812 Main St. and is open for dinner seven days a week.
Lanny’s 8th anniversary menu special To celebrate the restaurant’s eighth anniversary (and thank customers for enduring years of construction along Seventh Street), Lanny’s Alta Cocina Mexicana is offering a three-course, $38 anniversary dinner menu special that will run July 9-31. Choose from truffled zucchini squash soup or quail tamales, then lemon sole or pork tenderloin, followed by crème brule or Mexican churros. The special comes with a glass of red or white wine. Lanny’s, located at 3405 W. Seventh St., is open Tuesday through Friday for lunch and Tuesday through Saturday for dinner. Lanny’s will be closed July 1-8 for the July 4th holiday.
TCU area Love Shack closing, Oui Lounge under new management After taking over management of the Oui Lounge on Bluebonnet Circle last year, Tim Love will end his ties with the longtime bar and close the Love Shack location he opened inside the former Caro’s restaurant space next door. “It was a mutual decision,” said Kyle Poulson, a local real estate professional who holds part ownership in the Oui Lounge and Love Shack real estate on the circle. “The ownership, the management group and Tim had a different idea of the direction.” Poulson says that Love and the ownership group split on good terms and that a new casual eatery will fill the former Love Shack space. An announcement is expected by early July. “We’re in talks with a real prominent casual diner that I think a lot of the people will be excited with,” Poulson said. Regarding the Oui Lounge, the longtime neighborhood dive bar that Love aimed to revamp with a ‘70s vibe, a local bar management group called 3509 Consulting was to take over operations beginning July 1. Glen Keely, who owns Poag Mahone’s Irish Pub on Carroll Street near West Seventh Street, is head of the consulting group and will lead management of the Oui. “Obviously we can’t go back to what it was,” said Keely, referring to the atmosphere of the Oui Lounge before Love’s management team took over. “All of the walls are gone now, but we’re trying to get the energy back and make it the place that it was, which was a great neighborhood bar with a real TCU feel to it. We’re hoping to make it more attractive to your everyday customers.” Keely says he will lower drink prices and provide more specials geared toward Texas Christian University game days. He also plans to change the furniture and add a patio. “Our goal is to be ready Aug.15 when the kids are back in school,” he said. Long-term plans include eventually merging the Oui Lounge and former Love Shack space into one large venue with a horseshoe-shaped bar that connects both sites. The Oui Lounge first opened in 1952 at 3509 Bluebonnet Circle.