Cow Tipping Creamery & Melt Ice Creams
Cow Tipping Creamery & Melt Ice Creams
Zoli’s Pizza and Pasta may name-drop two of our favorite food groups in its moniker, but there’s so much more to the menu at this hotly anticipated spot on the west side. Owner Jay Jerrier, who also owns the string of Cane Rosso pizza joints throughout the state, including the location on Magnolia Avenue, goes beyond typical Italian fare here, offering dishes such as Brussels sprouts bathed in bacon marmalade; a short rib sandwich topped with Russian slaw; and a fantastic brunch burger, called the Morty, stacked with bacon, a fried egg, American cheese and mortadella. Of course, it’s hard to go wrong with the New York-style pizza (the yin to Cane Rosso’s thin-crust yang) and excellent pastas. PR rep Jeff Amador says once the restaurant finds its groove, it’ll introduce a special or two that will be unique to the Fort Worth store. Says he: “Ideally, collaborations with some of our Fort Worth restaurant friends, namely, Heim Barbecue and Swiss Pastry Shop.” This location of Zoli’s (the original in the Oak Cliff area of Dallas closed amid a land redevelopment skirmish, but another location opened in Addison) has desserts aplenty plus a Cow Tipping Creamery ice cream window, located at the front of the Quonset hut-style building. Cow Tipping Creamery is Jerrier’s ice cream biz; similarly attached CTC locations can be found at the Austin and Frisco Cane Rosso spots. Zoli’s is slated to open late September/early October. 3501 Hulen St., zolispizza.com
Just in time to catch the tail end of summer, Melt Ice Creams opened its second Fort Worth location — and third overall — downtown in September. Owner Kari Crowe snagged the small but sweet spot (get it?) next to Reata, where a Paciugo once stood. There she’s serving her all-natural ice cream in flavors simple and clever, along with ice cream sandwiches and her notoriously decadent Taco Tuesday ice cream tacos. The downtown location comes on the heels of the opening of a store in Dallas; the original Melt is on Magnolia Avenue in the Near Southside area. 308 Houston St., melticecreams.com
What is probably the most popular pop-up restaurant in Fort Worth settles into a permanent home on October 1. Hot Box Biscuit Club, whose pop-up events regularly sold out 300 seats in a matter of minutes, opens on South Main Street, in a former warehouse that dates back at least 100 years. In their 65-seat, full-service restaurant, owners and longtime pals Sarah Hooton and Matt Mobley offer breakfast and lunch service jammed with the greatest hits from their pop-ups: fried green tomatoes, deviled eggs and, of course, biscuits and specialty biscuit sandwiches, such as the cheekily named Paris Hilton, made with fried chicken, hot sauce, and a scoop of honey butter. Hot Box followers will also recognize the decadent sides, such as pimento cheese hush puppies and chicken-fat fried rice. Hooten and Mobley, both trained chefs who met when they were culinary instructors at Le Cordon Bleu in Dallas, make their own biscuit toppings, such as the seasonal jams, along with desserts like Mary’s chocolate cream pie, named after Hooten’s grandmother. The storefront will also offer grab-and-go foods as well as a selection of jams and pickles and other assorted goods. The restaurant is open 7 a.m. – 2 p.m. Tuesday – Friday and 7 a.m. – 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. 313 South Main St., facebook.com/hotboxbiscuit
The south Fort Worth suburb of Crowley doesn’t see nearly enough new restaurant action, but help is on the way: Boo Ray’s of New Orleans will open later this year in the downtown area in a brand-new, from-the-ground-up building. This’ll mark location No. 3 for the locally owned Cajun mini-chain, best known for its blackened chicken salad, crawfish etouffee, and alligator meat platter. 320 E. Main St., Crowley, booraysof-neworleans.com
I’m glad to see Char’d: Southeast Asian Kitchen is expanding. Here’s a concept I can get behind: Vietnamese, Japanese, and Korean dishes served quickly, in a fast-casual atmosphere, and done well. I’ve been a big champion of the original location in Mansfield ever since the Fort Worth-based Doan family opened it last year. Now, after a second store opened in Richardson, a third location has opened at the Presidio Towne Crossing shopping center in north Fort Worth. I can’t rave enough about the bibimbap, the fries with a sunny side egg on top, or the beef bao buns — good stuff, all. 8901 Tehama Ridge Parkway, chardkitchen.com
