Evan Michael Woods
Summer has barely started, and on this sunny June day, it’s already 107 degrees out. Weather forecasters warned Fort Worth to stay in. Some of us did.
But some went to Lola’s Saloon, Pete Delkus be damned. It was, after all, for a celebratory occasion: Lola’s first farmers market in its new digs, the supposedly cursed entertainment venue/restaurant at 4200 W. Berry St., where two previous concepts came and went.
Despite the temperatures, a dozen local and regional vendors showed up to hawk their wares, from salsa to tamales to jewelry. And dozens of Lola’s denizens made their way through the maze of sellers, as if they didn’t notice the crackling sound of their skin burning.
The scene perfectly illustrates the allegiance to which many Fort Worth music/art/food lovers pledge to Lola’s. Many of Lola’s followers remember owner Brian Forella from his days running the Wreck Room, a much-missed club that catered to noisy bands and sometimes noisier fans.
Evan Michael Woods
Forella is the last member of a small pack of club owners who ran rock venues in the 1990s, when Fort Worth’s underground rock scene was at its peak. Forella, ironically, was the last to join Kelly Parker, who ran a string of pivotal underground punk clubs in Fort Worth, and Danny Weaver, who for years ran The Aardvark, another popular live music venue that catered to young, alternative bands.
Parker passed away, and Weaver got out of the business, leaving Forella the last man standing from that golden era in Fort Worth’s music scene.
Others follow Forella because of Lola’s, which rose from the ashes of the Wreck Room as a new concept. It wasn’t just a club. It was a club, an art gallery, a beer garden, a live music venue, and eventually a makeshift restaurant. Before the last incarnation of Lola’s closed, it had been reborn as a must-eat barbecue destination, thanks to Dayne’s Craft Barbecue, which sold barbecue and burgers on weekends out of a trailer parked in Lola’s backyard.
When Forella announced Lola’s would be moving to the old Americana/Berry Street Ice House space near TCU, Dayne’s, shortly thereafter, announced it wouldn’t be joining him. Instead, Dayne’s will open its own brick-and-mortar location on the far west side of Fort Worth.
Forella wanted to keep a food component to Lola’s, and for that he turned to Zaq Bell, a longtime Fort Worth musician, former record label owner, and onetime soundman at Lola’s and The Moon.
Bell’s other passion is food. He spent years working for the New York Mets, in both their clubhouse in New York and also as their personal chef, and is currently the executive chef at two restaurants, The Backyard and Bottled Blonde.
Evan Michael Woods
His recently launched concept at Lola’s is called “Food at Lola’s.” “I thought the name perfectly fit the smart-ass attitude of Lola’s,” he says. But he’s serious about the food: a mix of gourmet hot dogs, sandwiches, housemade potato chips, and bar bites. He and his wife, Aarika, run the walk-up food counter together.
“I think that’s the best part about this — it’s something we can do together,” he says. “I worked in Dallas for five years, working in the corporate restaurant business, and I wasn’t home a lot. She’s been very patient with me. We have two kids, too, so they’ll be up there sometimes. We wanted to do something family oriented. That’s what Lola’s is anyway — a big family.”
2000 W. Berry St., lolasfw.com
