Alex Lepe
Ben Merritt in 2016
The Fitzgerald cocktail is a twist on the classic gin sour. Ben Merritt’s new restaurant — aptly named after his favorite drink — also reimagines a classic. The Fitzgerald, with plans to open later this year, will serve as a twist to the traditional steak and seafood restaurant.
“We're going for comfy-elegant,” Merritt says. The restaurant will be taking over the former Blu Crab space at 6115 Camp Bowie Blvd., Ste. 104. Merritt looks forward to brightening up the interior of the former seafood joint and putting in place his three-zoned concept.
The Fitzgerald will feature a front dining room with bright colors and a soft feel. Past the kitchen, Merritt has plans for a back bar and private dining room he calls the “Regal Room.” There will be leather couches, television sets, and of course, the bar, with a list including bourbon, scotch, and variations of the namesake Fitzgerald.
The restaurant doesn’t stop there, though. “When you walk out the back of the restaurant, we have a massive, 2,500-square-foot patio that we're going to have enclosed. You know patio dining is a must right now, so we're going to make it as comfortable as possible,” Merritt says. Plans for the patio include brunches, live music, and potentially an outdoor kitchen with a chef grilling oysters to order for folks hanging out in the outdoor space.
The menu of The Fitzgerald is born from Merritt’s past. His father grew up in Corpus Christi, and Merritt has a fascination with the mash-up Mexican-French-Gulf Coast cooking style, citing South Padre Island and New Orleans as culinary inspiration. The restaurant will focus on seafood along with what Merritt calls “approachable-size” steaks.
“We're gonna do grilled oysters, and we're gonna do some traditional ones, but then we're gonna have some that are a little bit more creative,” Merritt says. “We're gonna do one with a kimchi compound butter that is just phenomenal. And we'll have a bacon-jalapeno-Manchego cheese sauce baked oyster. And then we have the traditional char-grilled oyster with Parmesan and butter.”
The Fitzgerald’s seafood-focused menu will be a change of pace for Merritt — his most recent restaurant venture, Ben’s Triple B, made burgers, biscuits, and brews. Unfortunately, Ben’s Triple B faced challenges brought on by the pandemic, and the business model couldn’t sustain the staffing problems the restaurant was dealing with.
“There wasn't any extra money to give to pay people more money. You know, there's a balance — if you're making 50 cents off every burger, you have to sell a lot of burgers to pay somebody $15 an hour,” Merritt says.
The chef is aiming to place his new venture at a price point in between his other restaurant, Magnolia Avenue staple Fixture – Kitchen and Social Lounge and local high-end restaurants like Bonnell’s Fine Texas Cuisine and GRACE.
Currently, the team behind The Fitzgerald is waiting on permits that will enable them to occupy the building. After the permits come in, Merritt says there will be a quick remodel before the restaurant opens somewhere between mid-November and early December.
