Courtesy of Kyle Bryson
The space that will soon become Distribution Bar is currently under construction, expected to be complete around October.
Shipping & Receiving is a venue unofficially etched in Fort Worth lore, perhaps best known as the place where now-superstar musician Leon Bridges launched his career. But when COVID-19 forced the Near Southside bar to shut down for good, many were left wondering what would become of the beloved space.
Enter Kyle Bryson and Wallace Owens — two-thirds of the Trident Restaurant Group that owns Wishbone & Flint and the recently opened Parker County Ice House (their third partner is chef Stefon Rishel). Trident offices at 201 S. Calhoun St., the Supreme Golf Warehouse building that Shipping & Receiving used to call home.
Outside Trident, Bryson and Wallace also develop dive bars through their company, Two Crazy Fellas. When Shipping & Receiving vacated its space, the duo decided to move in a new concept — Distribution Bar.
Shipping. Receiving. Distribution. Get it?
Bryson says Distribution Bar will be a separate venture outside Trident, taking on a more laid-back, dive bar feel in contrast to the Amber Room at Wishbone & Flynt. There won't be any food — just craft beer, cocktails, pool tables, and TVs playing sports.
"It's just going to be your local watering hole ... just a cool, chill, inexpensive place to catch a cocktail," Bryson says.
Construction is currently underway in the 4,000-square-foot interior space, which Bryson says will receive an upgrade with new bars, paint, doors, and a "grand entrance." Distribution Bar will keep the outdoor courtyard and share it with The Social Space, an event venue opening next door.
And, Bryson says, they're keeping the stage, with plans to continue hosting live music — and, hopefully, some familiar, famous faces.
"The piano [Bridges] used to play on in there, I kept and bought so that piano's going to be a part of our decor," Bryson says. "He told me he's going to make himself one of my regulars."
Bryson expects construction to finish around October.
