70-year-old Italian restaurant in west Fort Worth sold to JD’s Hamburgers partners
Margie’s Original Italian Kitchen, open 70 years and one of the oldest Italian restaurants in Texas, has been sold to the owners of JD’s Hamburgers and will reopen after two months off for remodeling, JD’s co-owner Gigi Howell said Monday.
The landmark restaurant, 9805 Camp Bowie Blvd. West, has anchored the Westland neighborhood ever since the community was a small feed store town on then-U.S. 80, the transcontinental highway west of Fort Worth.
Howell, a former Reata manager, and business partner Bourke Harvey of Curly’s Frozen Custard and Rogers Roundhouse plan to reopen Margie’s after some improvements, Howell said.
Howell and Harvey are also working to reopen JD’s Hamburgers, one block west, which lost its roof and flooded in the March 2 windstorm.
In a statement, Howell said she feels humbled to be carrying on the Margie’s tradiiton.
“We have deep roots in this community and a strong commitment to preserving the spirit of Margie’s, which has always been about great food, warm hospitality, and a sense of belonging,” she said.
Margie’s has remained mostly unchanged since it was founded in July 1953 as Margie’s Italian Gardens by Margie Walters and her mother, Tina Lozzi.
Back then, American veterans returning from World War II wanted pasta dishes like the Lozzis brought from their home city of Bagno a Ripoli, Florence, Tuscany.
In a 1957 Star-Telegram story, Walters promised ”absolutely authentic” Italian dishes such as ravioli, lasagna, and “spaghetti in every style you desire.”
It was one of the first restaurants in the Dallas-Fort Worth area to serve what was then called “pizza pie,” following the older Campisi’s in Dallas.
Margie Walters’ son, Doyle, opened a Margie’s in the Cultural District in the mid-1990s and retired in 1996..
Stockyards investor Keith Kidwill, then the owner of the M & M Steak House, bought Margie’s and reopened it in 1997 along with late chef Paul Willis.
Howell and Harvey bought the restaurant from Kidwill. Doyle Walters has offered to help them revamp the restaurant, he wrote on Facebook.
“I think they’ll be good — they’re going to freshen it up,” Kidwill said.
“It’s been really busy lately. I probably woudn’t have gotten rid of it, but I’m so busy in the Stockyards.”
Kidwill also owns West Exchange Avenue properties, including those recently used in “1883,” the “Yellowstone” spinoff. He recently bought Sam’s Saloon, he said.
The Margie’s sale is the third change in recent weeks involving a legacy west Fort Worth restaurant.
Edelweiss German Restaurant closed Feb. 28 after offering German and Italian food and a bierhalle atmosphere since 1967.
The Original Mexican Restaurant, open since 1930, will close March 31 after a long lease dispute. It will continue at a newer location at 1400 N. Main St.
