Crystal Wise
Shannon Osbakken stands outside her newest eatery the Tropic Lady located on Race Street.
Fort Worth restaurateur Shannon Osbakken is one of the most respected names in Fort Worth food circles. With a little help from some friends, she has opened two of the city’s most talked about restaurants – the award-winning gastropub The Bearded Lady and, more recently, its super-chill sibling the Tropic Lady, which offers tropic-themed light bites and breezy and boozy drinks.
In addition, the Arlington native-turned-devout-Fort Worthian also owns a cool tattoo parlor, Fade to Black Tattoo Co., in the Near Southside area. We tore her away from her busy schedule to talk beer, burgers, and her unflinching passion for Fort Worth.
Fort Worth Magazine: I’m loving Tropic Lady — the laid-back vibe, the funky design, the tropic-inspired eats. Was this concept brewing in your mind for a long time?
Osbakken: The concept for Tropic Lady has been an idea in the making for years. I love to travel. So, I draw inspiration from every place that I visit. Tropic Lady is sort of a hodgepodge of many places I have visited over the years. Old Vegas meets Jaco, Costa Rica, with some Austin and Los Angeles vibes thrown in. I love that cities like Austin and LA are moving toward more casual, order-at-the-bar service in lots of restaurants now. It’s the fastest growing style of restaurant today, and I see it only continuing to grow and thrive. My partner Sarah Allen has an eye for design also. We had a blast designing, decorating, and creating Tropic Lady together. I feel like you can see that when you walk in. It was fun to step outside of the box with this concept.
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FWM: Tell me about the Tropic Lady crew.
Osbakken: My partner in Tropic Lady is Sarah Allen. She has been with me at The Bearded Lady since Day 1. She is a unique, creative, and conscientious person. I wouldn’t have lasted this long in the business without her and the rest of my team. Our GM, Amanda Yunger, has been with us for eight years now. She is a force to be reckoned with and can somehow tame a crew of rowdy cooks and bartenders. We also have some incredible and creative chefs, Tim Boydston and Josh Peterson, who came from working with Tim Love for years, and Rodrigo Cisneros. We all have a lot of fun coming up with crazy ideas, trying them out, and seeing what sticks.
FWM: What were you like as a kid? Were you into music, art, food, or something else?
Osbakken: I was always attracted to counterculture as a teenager. I was quite into the punk scene in high school. I wanted to be an artist or a photographer.
FWM: How’d you get into the food and beverage scene?
Osbakken: I started working at restaurants the day I turned 18. I waited tables for a few years until I got my first bartending job at Sunshine Bar off Division in Arlington, where I grew up, when I was 20. My coworker, Eric, became my husband. We were the founders of Caves and Ozzie’s along with his brother and his wife. But when my husband passed away, they forced me out. I chose to focus on opening my own place instead of disputing ownership rights with them. So, I spent a few years scrimping and saving and bartending at JR Bentley’s and plotting my return. Moving to Fort Worth was a fresh start for me in so many amazing ways.
FWM: I didn’t know you had lost your husband.
Osbakken: It changed my life in so many ways. I suddenly became a widow and a single mom to my then-2-year-old daughter, Jameson. The positive side is that it gave me the ambition to elevate our lives and strive for more after pretty much losing everything.
FWM: What led you to Fort Worth?
Osbakken: I moved to Fort Worth in 2013 to open and be close to The Bearded Lady. I wanted to relocate to Fort Worth for years. I loved Magnolia Avenue and the Fairmount neighborhood. It all just felt like home to me. The people, the places, the houses. Best decision of my life.
FWM: What inspired The Bearded Lady and how did you guys land that cool old bungalow?
Osbakken: I have always had a passion for good food and good beer. I felt that the combo of the two was oftentimes overlooked back then. Places like World of Beer or Gingerman had extensive and amazing beer lists but mostly premade food options. And scratch kitchens typically only carried domestic lagers. So, my idea for The Bearded Lady was to combine the two. I came across the space on Magnolia when I was looking for a home for my concept. My ex-partner was renovating the space, and we drew lots of inspiration from the building which was an old house. The name came to us over a few beers and discussing the movie from the 1930s, “Freaks.” My childhood best friend had also been randomly dressing as a Bearded Lady for years, and the name just felt right and fit the building.
FWM: With both restaurants and your tattoo parlor doing well, life must be good these days.
Osbakken: I have had a pretty crazy life! But it’s given me some grit. Things have settled down now with all of the family, and I’m happy with my life and the path this journey has taken for us.
