After over 20 years serving patrons at their University Park Village location, Blue Mesa will serve their final Blue Margarita at that original Fort Worth venue as soon as the first week of October, and set sail for West Seventh and their newly built, two-story restaurant located at 600 Carroll Street, near Montgomery Plaza.
“We are in the middle of inspections at Carroll Street and as soon as we have a Certificate of Occupancy we will close University and open Carroll. Right now it is status quo at University but it should be this week,” says Jim Barron, Owner of Blue Mesa.
“The catalyst for the move was a function of our 20 year lease ending at University,” Barron said. “Unsure of our future at University we began to look for alternatives and when we found the Carroll Street location it was too good of an opportunity to ignore.”
With five locations dotting the metroplex in Dallas, Addison, Plano and Arlington, the Fort Worth restaurant has become renowned especially for its amazing happy hours and award-winning Sunday buffet brunches.
The new location has additional space to lay out those brunches, as well as hosting catered events with an additional story above. The second floor will house a new event center known as 5th & Carroll Events.
“Blue Mesa is the largest restaurant caterer in North Texas, and finding space for many of our larger events, like weddings, is often a challenge,” said Barron. “5th & Carroll is designed to be a perfect place for your event. We can tailor it to fit the occasion.”
With nearly 3000 square feet and a 300 seat main room, the space can host weddings, reunions, or corporate meetings with ease. 5th & Carroll Events has its own separate entrance, bathrooms, catering kitchen, commercial size elevator, as well as its own full bar. “We are already booking events, and welcome outside caterers and event planners,” he says. “Although affiliated with Blue Mesa it is a separate business. Lyndsey Jensen, who has headed up our catering function, is taking over as general manager of 5th & Carroll.”
“We signed a 25 year ground lease with the land owner Karim Jamal, and have built a 15,000 square foot building (17,000 including patios), with Blue Mesa Grill on the first floor and 5th & Carroll Events on the second floor,” Barron said.
“Many of the same faces you have come to know at University will be at Carroll,” Barron confirmed. “Dennis McFarlin who opened University 20 years ago is still the GM, and Terra Myrow, Cosme Alcantar, Manny Huerta and many of the staff who have been with us for over 10 years will still be there to create the Blue Mesa experience.”
Neither Mexican nor even Tex-Mex, Blue Mesa is rather a rare Southwest treat, featuring dishes from New Mexico, Arizona and even Southern California. It is a fresher, spa-cuisine loaded with chiles, sliced avocados, grilled shrimp and their luscious adobe pie (corn pudding).
Happy hours feature bowls of crunchy sweet potato chips along with two house salsas, outstanding cocktails and tequila based concoctions featuring fresh juices, fruits and herbs, along with a free quesadilla bar from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. And, come hungry for Sunday Bruch which covers a lot of ground. This feast includes a salad station, omelet bar, Belgian waffles, eggs Benedict, along with trays of Blue Mesa’s most popular adobe pies and enchiladas, plus a show-stopping dessert assortment.
“We are thrilled with the location and now that the construction is near completion. We are equally jazzed with how it turned out.” Barron said. “Having a highly visible, free-standing building, built to our specs, with 100 parking spaces is the dream of any restaurant company. The joke in the industry is: What are the three most important criteria for building restaurant sales? Answer: location, location, location.” Blue Mesa will take up residence at their new Carroll Street location within the next couple of weeks.
https://bluemesagrill.com/