After 20 years, the famous ‘calamari Conoco’ restaurant near Fort Worth is moving
The original gas station-restaurant known as the “calamari Conoco” is closing Jan. 29, making way for Chef Point Cafe’s growth at its full-sized restaurant in Colleyville.
When Paula Merrell and Franson Nwaeze opened a convenience store and grill 20 years ago in Watauga, they couldn’t get a loan to open a restaurant.
Now, Nwaeze has his dream restaurant in Colleyville.
So after Jan. 29, his duck a l’Orange and Monte Cristo sandwiches will be served at 5220 Texas 121, replacing the original at 5901 Watauga Road.
Food Network star Guy Fieri has featured Chef Point’s duck on “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.” It’s also been on DDD episodes titled “Funky Joints,” “Dynamite Desserts” and on a “Guilty Pleasures” episode titled “Big Game, Big Eats.”
It’s also on a Food Network list of the “25 Most Over-The-Top Bloody Marys in America.”
The NPR “Kitchen Sisters” also visited for a show dedicated to gas stations and truck stops.
Merrell said the Chef Point owners knew they’d hit success when KXAS/Channel 5 “NBC5” did a series of local news features, followed by the national shows and “when we had a line out the door, when we made our first $2,000 in a week.”
“We accomplished the American dream!” she wrote by email.
But the 2019 opening of the Colleyville Chef Point brought added stress just before COVID strained businesses and depleted the workforce.
The labor shortage has made running two restaurants “very challenging .... and it’s not getting any better,” Merrell wrote.
Merrell and Nwaeze decided to plunge all their effort into one restaurant instead of splitting time, she said. They continue to own the Watauga building and will lease it in smaller units, she said.
“We are closing in January — the month of fresh starts,” she wrote. “We want this to be a celebration and give Watauga the happy ending that she deserves.”
A weeklong celebration begins Jan. 21, she wrote.
Chef Point Colleyville remains open for lunch, weekend brunch and dinner; 817-482-5030, chefpointcafe.org.
The Watauga location serves lunch, weekend brunch and dinner daily through Jan. 29; 817-656-0080.
