Travis Johnson
Today, TJ's Catfish and Wings revolves around, from left, barbecue pitmaster Marcus Campbell, Gwen Johnson, and Travis Johnson.
When Washington Johnson died unexpectedly and suddenly in 2004, the loss left a hole in the lives of his loved ones and the community he was a part of.
The grief of his family, which included his wife Gwen and three children, was softened somewhat by the legacy he left behind.
“He was mild-mannered, an unbelievable man of few words, but a lot of action,” says Talvin Hester, now a Texas Tech assistant basketball coach who grew up with the Johnson family. “When he spoke, you listened because he didn’t speak much. He was an example for youth all around him.
“He was what a family man looked like. He was all about his family, and I think that extended to all the neighborhood because he considered us all family.”
Mr. Johnson also left behind a restaurant, today owned by the Johnsons’ son, Travis Johnson, who rebranded the store TJ’s Catfish and Wings on Green Oaks Boulevard in Arlington.
Travis Johnson has actually done more than rebrand it. He has also expanded it from a tiny hut for wings and catfish to a restaurant and kitchen three times the size with more dining space, a bigger menu — that now also features barbeque smoked in-house — and daquiris and beer.
The restaurant reopened for business in December after a four-month shutdown for expansion and renovation.
“When he passed, I wanted to make sure all of this wasn’t for naught. That all his efforts weren’t wasted,” says Travis. “I figured it was an opportunity for me to be successful and make a way. We’re a family of faith and that was something … the Lord closed that door for my father for a reason. We don’t understand, and we still don’t understand. But it wasn’t for me to close this shop.”
Washington Johnson had always wanted to open a restaurant, says Gwen, his widow. He found no better time than in retirement from Miller Brewery, where he spent 30 years. His inspiration was actually Gwen, who grew up in Virginia cooking for a big family. Her mother died when she was 15, and Gwen took on the responsibilities of managing the domestic chores, including cooking for a father and brood of brothers and sisters.
“That’s how I learned to cook,” she says, adding that she learned to enjoy it so much that she began taking lessons in various kinds of cooking.
She also never quite learned how to cook for a smaller family such as her own. Gwen would make so much food that there was plenty for any of the neighborhood children who wanted to join in the feast.
Her husband teased her that she simply loved cooking for the entire neighborhood.
“And I did,” she says, smiling at the thought, “I really did.”
“She would cook like it was Thanksgiving all the time,” Hester says. “I could just go knock on the door, come in and go to the refrigerator and eat.”
Not to mention, of course, it was good. So, if Gwen was going to feed the neighborhood, why not feed the community at large with a restaurant.
“My dad started the business,” Travis says, “but he wouldn’t have had a business to start without her recipes and her cooking. That was the we had people for many, many years come to the house and want my mother’s cooking. She cooked for the neighborhood her entire life. We used to say, ‘Mom, you need to open a restaurant.’”
The Johnsons — Washington and Gwen — opened Wings to Go in the same space on Green Oaks in 2002. In addition to wings, they offered catfish, chicken tenders, and fried shrimp. They used a bank loan to open the doors, Travis says.
At the time, Travis was finishing up a college football career at Ouachita Baptist in Arkadelphia, Arkansas, where he studied business administration.
When he graduated, he came back home not sure of fate’s plans. In the interim, he began working at the restaurant. He figured that he would work there and look for an office job at the same.
Than tragedy struck. His father died within the year.
Travis’ plans suddenly changed. He has been in charge ever since, even though he had really no experience managing a restaurant, much less practical experience running a business. The inevitable doubts would creep. The restaurant business is not for the meek and setbacks can crush confidence. Gwen told him at one point that “if you’re not happy, you need to do what you want to do, find your glory, and what makes you happy. This is what your daddy wanted, and he’s gone. I’m OK if you want to move on.”
Every soul needs a stirring from time to time.
Travis not only decided to stick with it, but in his discernment reaffirmed that this was indeed what he wanted to do. Athletes don’t quit, and this one had cheerleaders.
“What kept us going was someone always had something good to say about what we were doing. And I had older adults come and say, ‘You’re a young entrepreneur. This is something I always wanted to do.’ In the back of my head, I thought, ‘everybody wants to do this.’ Why would I turn my back on it and walk away from something like this?”
To grow the business ultimately required a bigger space. “I’ve known for many years that our menu had to grow and diversify to get a different crowd in here.”
He had his eye on the space next door. When it opened, he hopped, though he had to wait until the pandemic’s effects slowed. That was a request of property management, which turned out to be a favor to the business.
“In that space, I wouldn’t be able to [expand the menu],” he says. “There wasn’t much else to do in the space we had. We had five fryers and a flat top grill. That’s all we could get in there.”
He also brought in Marcus Campbell as the pitmaster for the restaurant’s new barbeque offerings.
The expansion has paid dividends, he says. The bigger space and added menu items have attracted wider appeal and bigger crowds as hoped since opening in December. (York Builders was the contractor on the renovations to the added space and kitchen.)
Now, of course, they’re dealing with the rising cost of doing business and staffing challenges, but if there wasn’t some challenge to deal with, he would wonder if he was still in business. He laughs when people talk about his business surviving the pandemic because “when you’re in business for yourself, every day is like a pandemic year.”
“They had a vision of opening a restaurant,” Hester says from Kansas City, readying his team for the Big 12 Tournament. “Gwen is unbelievable. Her stamp she puts on things is next level. I commend him on carrying his parents’ vision and being a staple of the community.”
