Olivella’s Pizza & Wine which last year moved a few miles east from its original home on Camp Bowie to tinier digs on Camp Bowie, recently completed a 1,200 square foot expansion that makes the place not so tiny anymore. With a total of 3,000 square feet to play with now, the restaurant recently added a dining room, complete with full service and a bar. The expanded footprint also means: more wine. The restaurant’s sommelier-curated wine list includes more than 60 red, white, and sparkling wines from around the world, with price points ranging from $18 to $140 per bottle and $8 to $25 by the glass. The full-service bar also features house-made red and white sangria, domestic and imported draft beers and craft cocktails. 4910 Camp Bowie Blvd., olivellas.com
Del Campo Empanadas
Del Campo Empanadas
Finally, a reason to go to Flower Mound: Fort Worth’s Del Campo Empanadas has opened a second location there, at 901 Long Prairie Road. Run by husband-wife team Andrea Cacho and Leo Gigante, who originally hail from Buenos Aires, and their children, the original Del Campo was an instant hit when it opened in a north Fort Worth strip mall in 2020, paving the way for the second location. Del Campo offers a dozen permanent and rotating varieties of their freshly baked empanadas in both sweet and savory options, such as guava cream cheese, Argentine-style beef, chicken, spinach, and banana-Nutella. delcampoempanadas.com
By Eliesa Johnson, via the James Beard Foundation
The James Beard Award.
A round of applause is in store for two Fort Worth restaurants that recently nabbed nominations for James Beard Foundation awards — the Grammys, essentially, for the restaurant industry. Don Artemio, the lavish new interior Mexican restaurant in the museum district, is a semifinalist in the Best New Restaurant category, while the three owners of Goldees BBQ are semifinalists, collectively, for the Best Chef: Texas award. Finalists will be announced March 29 and the winners will be awarded June 5.
Crystal Wise
Little Lilly Sushi
West side sushi staple Little Lilly’s Sushi is adding a second location in Keller at 1004 Keller Parkway #106. Ann Liu, daughter of owner Danny Liu, said the new location will open, hopefully, this fall.
CultureMap made my day when they recently reported 85C° Bakery & Café has leased a spot in Asia Times Square, the Asian supermarket and restaurant emporium in Grand Prairie. 85C made a go of it in Fort Worth a few years ago, attracting what I thought were pretty big crowds. But apparently, they weren’t big enough; it closed in 2019. Look for the Asia Times Square location to open this spring.
