Berry Street Ice House
Another restaurant has closed in a seemingly cursed West Berry Street building near TCU.
Berry St. Ice House, located at 2000 West Berry St., announced on Facebook Wednesday that the restaurant would close this weekend. About an hour later, the restaurant posted another message saying the closure is effective immediately.
“Due to an ongoing failure to come to a long-term lease agreement, our tenure in this building will be voluntarily terminated,” the post read. “We hope to find the perfect space for this concept that fits our company ideology and long term business plans.”
The restaurant’s executive chef Stefon Rishel - whose company, the Trident Restaurant Group, opened the concept last year – declined to comment but posted a similar message on his Facebook page, saying the closure is due to a dispute regarding a long-term lease agreement.
“We are so thankful and appreciative for everyone that (has) stepped through our doors and granted us their patronage. As well, we are just as appreciative of everyone’s patience and understanding of wait times while we worked things out. It is never easy closing a business, but rest assured that we are looking for a space that fits what we are.”
Opened last summer, Berry St. was something of a rarity in Fort Worth’s dining scene: an upscale restaurant and bar that also catered to kids. Whimsical dishes included nachos made with Doritos and a fried bologna sandwich topped with housemade “cheez whiz.” A huge patio area featured games such as a life-size Connect 4, live music and a vintage Airstream trailer that served snow cones, sundaes and, for adults, boozy milkshakes.
Berry St. Ice House is the building’s fourth food-related tenant to close. The property originally opened in 2017 as Americado Mexi-Food Hall, an interesting but poorly executed homage to Mexican street food. After changes in name, management and concept, Americado finally closed in 2019.
Live music venue The Moon, and its accompanying Birdie Bop restaurant, moved into the space shortly thereafter but shuttered due to the pandemic. Trident then took over the building, opening Berry St. Ice House in August.
In his Facebook post, Rishel said Trident is still on track to open the Parker County Ice House in Aledo in September.
