Photo by Stephen Montoya
Fanboys Marketplace, a retail store that specializes in pop culture collectibles, is in the process of opening a new restaurant in the location that was once Emmy’s Smokehouse in the West 7th District.
This newly revamped eatery, named Fanboys Grill, will still host a few of the same menu items that Emmy’s offered but with a Fanboy twist, according to owner Mike Rodgers.
“We will still have the fried pickles and smoked wings, but we’ve added a few things to this menu, which will be more streamlined,” he says enthusiastically over the phone.
Some of the new menu items being added will include a baked potato, jalapeno poppers, a Fanboys burger, and gumbo. That’s right, this place has gumbo!
“My brother-in-law made gumbo for a staff meeting the other day and it was so good, we added it to the menu,” Rodgers says. “That’s how we’ve been creating the menu, if we like it, there’s a good chance, we might add it.”
But the changes don’t end there.
“We do plan on adding some cool Star Wars posters and things of that nature to the walls, but we aren’t going to change much of the décor,” he says.
When asked why he felt like taking on a restaurant, Rodgers said this is all part of trying to create a community for pop culture fans (nerds like me).
“It just seemed like a good idea to reach a new audience,” Rodgers says. “A lot of people in the downtown area may not know about our other stores, so this might be a good way to reach that demographic; reach more customers through more channels.”
Rodgers says the restaurant should be open before the end of the month if everything goes smoothly.
Fanboys Grill is located at 2708 W 7th St, Fort Worth, TX 76107.
