Photo by Olaf Growald
Black Cat Pizza
It’s only been about three weeks since the city ordered all restaurants in Fort Worth to temporarily cease onsite dining as a precaution against coronavirus, but really, it feels like an eternity.
Let’s take a moment to kick back, breathe, and imagine that first step into your favorite Fort Worth establishment after all this is said and done.
Mind you, we’re fortunate to be able to still order takeout from most of our favorite joints, and should support them through all this chaos. Still, something about picturing that return to normalcy is invigorating, and the best part is that it will indeed happen.
Quite easy it is to get wound up in the throes of isolation, but it’s important to remember why we do this: to flatten the curve, so it’s said, to make fighting coronavirus manageable for our overexerted heroes in the hospitals.
It’s also important to focus on brighter days ahead, which is what we’re aiming for in this 4 on 1: What’s the first restaurant you’ll visit once things return to normal?
Brian Kendall: Thanks to resilience and ingenuity — and the advent of Favor — I’ve continued to feast on some of my favorite Fort Worth fare, which includes but is not limited to The Cookshack, Little Lilly Sushi, Tokyo Café, Austin City Taco, etc. So, this question is less about the grub and more about the ambiance. Working off Camp Bowie, what I miss most is making the short drive to Drew’s Place to enjoy their lunch-portioned chicken-fried steak — with a side of mashed potatoes and fried okra, naturally (I wouldn’t recommend such a meal for those counting calories or watching cholesterol, mind you). Despite a mere six parking spots in front of the restaurant, at around noon, the place is swarming with an amazingly diverse crowd of people. While its décor is nothing more than tables, chairs, and some Texas Tech memorabilia, on any given lunch hour, you’ll see councilpersons, local Como residents, Near Southside artists, Stetson-wearing cowpokes, and maybe even Malcolm Mayhew getting in their cheat meals. It’s Fort Worth in a nutshell, and I miss it so damn much.
Samantha Calimbahin: Oft have I dreamt of the pimento cheese at Hot Box Biscuit Club — the crowning jewel of the Big Boi fried chicken sandwich. I suppose you can still have it whenever you want to, if you order curbside. But an in-person visit to one South Main establishment often means a jaunt to another. A Big Boi from Hot Box. A mocha from Roots. Perhaps a bag of beignets from The Dusty Biscuit. Hey, we're talking the first day out of isolation. Treat yo' self.
Scott Nishimura: Right now, I’m jonesing for a spot on the patio at Joe T.’s with oozing enchiladas and nachos and three pitchers of cold margaritas. This could all change, depending on when the COVID haze lifts. My wife keeps talking about the Amber Room. If things open up in the middle of summer, I could see drinks at the Amber Room, followed by dinner at Wishbone & Flynt. Or we might just go down the street to Tommy's and throw some burgers and catfish and a few Bud Lites.
Matt Payne: Black Cat Pizza followed by Roots Coffeehouse across the street in South Main Village is a newly emerged lunchtime 1-2 punch I only just began to enjoy pre-coronavirus lockdown. I sorely miss indulging on too many slices of pie on a sunny afternoon, then washing it down with an Americano or the like. But the day when I’ll be able to hang around that blossoming neighborhood again, even though it doesn’t feel like it right now, will come.
