Terry Black’s Barbecue, an Austin legacy, buys restaurant in west Fort Worth

Terry Black’s Barbecue, an Austin restaurant with ties to a Central Texas brisket legacy, has bought a former hamburger drive-thru in the West 7th neighborhood and will build a future restaurant, Mark Black said this week.

Black confirmed that he and a brother, Mike, have bought the former Wendy’s, 2926 W. Seventh St., with plans to demolish it and build a traditional barbecue restaurant there and also at a new location in Waco.

The Blacks bought the Fort Worth property Oct. 27, according to Tarrant Appraisal District records.

The burger restaurant, built in 1977 to replace a 40-year-old Texaco station, is next door to In-N-Out Burger on an upgraded section of West Seventh Street where at least two new hotels are expected near the Crockett Row shops.

Terry Black’s Barbecue opened in 2014 in Austin after a family split with 90-year-old Black’s Barbecue in Lockhart. Terry Black’s added a Dallas location in Deep Ellum in 2019 and a location in 2022 back in Lockhart.

The Blacks originally planned to open in Waco first but may move up the Fort Worth plans, Mark Black said.

“We’ll do a Terry Black’s there, obviously,” he said.

“Nothing is imminent — we’re just excited to be in Fort Worth.”

Last year, Mark Black told the Austin Business Journal the family had bought about 10 properties statewide and “our growth plan is to buy real estate,” opening barbecue restaurants, smaller stands, clubs or hotels.

The company is developing four Texas hotels and wellness spas adjacent to restaurants, Mark Black said.

The brothers are also building a restaurant, winery and resort in Driftwood near Austin.

“We’re working on a lot of different projects, but Fort Worth is for traditional barbecue,” Mark Black said.

The restaurant will serve “straight-up Central Texas barbecue — the same thing we’ve been doing since the 1930s.” (No burgers ot brisket tacos.)

Customers at the Dallas location often say, “come to Fort Worth,” he said.

“The barbecue scene in Fort Worth has blown up,” he said.

The Cultural District neighborhood near the Stock Show grounds is currently served primarily by traditional Angelo’s Barbecue, open since 1958 at 2533 White Settlement Road, and by the Railhead Smokehouse, open since 1986 mostly at 2900 Montgomery St.

“I love the concentration of old-time and new barbecue places in Fort Worth,” Mark Black said.

Terry Black’s will be the first in the neighborhood to serve lunch and dinner seven days a week.

“We love to be in areas where barbecue is king,” he said.

A new barbecue restaurant and bar, F1 Smokehouse, is near opening nearby at 517 University Drive. It’s chef Felipe Armenta’s full-service version of the F1 food truck operating seasonally on the Trinity Trail at 4801 Edwards Ranch Road.

Gaining a Terry Black’s would augment Fort Worth’s reputation as the “new barbecue capital of Texas.”

Fort Worth gained statewide fame in 2021 when Goldee’s Barbecue south of Kennedale was ranked the state’s best and 11 more local restaurants made the “50 best” or top 100.

Panther City BBQ, 201 E. Pennsylvania Ave. or 201 E. Hattie St. near downtown Fort Worth, was ranked No. 10, praised for its “brisket elote,” a cup of creamed corn layered with brisket and sauces.

Also listed among the top 50:

▪ Hurtado Barbecue, 1116 Eighth Ave., Fort Worth, and 205 E. Front St., Arlington, along with a location in Little Elm;

▪ Dayne’s Craft Barbecue, 9840 Camp Bowie Blvd. West, Fort Worth;

▪ Smoke-A-Holics BBQ, 1417 Evans Ave., Fort Worth;

▪ and Zavala’s Barbecue, 421 W. Main St., Grand Prairie.

A “Best of the Rest” honorable mention list included 407BBQ, Argyle; 225° BBQ, Arlington; Bare Barbecue, Cleburne; BBQ on the Brazos, Cresson; Derek Allan’s, Fort Worth (now a Hurtado location); and Heim Barbecue, with three locations Fort Worth and Dallas and new restaurants expected next year in Burleson and Hudson Oaks.