Make a day of it at H-E-B: 5 restaurants near the legendary new Fort Worth grocery

Bud Kennedy
·3 min read

Two tips for surviving a trip to Fort Worth’s first H-E-B supermarket:

1. Drive the back way. Turn off Heritage Trace Parkway a block early, and take Amador Drive to North Riverside Drive. It’ll be an easy right turn into the parking lot by curbside pickup.

2. Plan lunch or dinner nearby. You may need nourishment.

Here are five restaurants near H-E-B, 3451 Heritage Trace Parkway:

Banana cream pie and Key lime pie at Towne Grill, a Felipe Armenta restaurant.
Banana cream pie and Key lime pie at Towne Grill, a Felipe Armenta restaurant.

▪ Towne Grill, 9365 Rain Lily Trail, is a cousin to TV chef Graham Elliot’s The Tavern in Fort Worth and also to Cork & Pig Tavern in Southlake.

It has a similar wide-ranging menu of steaks, seafood, pizzas, burgers and salads. There’s a notable brunch with omelets, migas, waffles and a breakfast calzone.

Do not pass up the Key lime pie, unless it’s for the blueberry bread pudding; 817-916-0390, townegrilltx.com.

Pad Prik Khing (stir-fry with green beans, bell pepper, dried chili paste) and Massaman Curry at The Bangkok Thai Cooking and Bar in far north Fort Worth.
Pad Prik Khing (stir-fry with green beans, bell pepper, dried chili paste) and Massaman Curry at The Bangkok Thai Cooking and Bar in far north Fort Worth.

▪ The Bangkok, 3529 Heritage Trace Parkway, is just across Riverside Drive from H-E-B. It’s an easy stop for lunch or dinner.

The Bangkok has been around five years. It opened as a spinoff from Spice, Thai Select and Thailicious in Fort Worth, and has developed its own following for coconut-curry noodle soup, curries and vegetarian dishes such as spicy basil eggplant.

It’s open daily; 817-741-3993, thebangkokdfw.com.

Strawberry waffles at Lupe Tortilla.
Strawberry waffles at Lupe Tortilla.

▪ Lupe Tortilla, 9409 North Freeway, a Houston-based company, is one of the best Tex-Mex restaurant chains.

It’s notable for fajitas, steaks and chicken, and for enchiladas in ancho chile red or green tomatillo sauce.

Brunch starts at 9 a.m. weekends. It’s a way to hit the supermarket early (and beat the crowds at that California breakfast diner nearby); 682-350-5301.

Beef fajitas at Lupe Tortilla.
Beef fajitas at Lupe Tortilla.

▪ True Texas BBQ, inside the H-E-B, was described at length here when the San Antonio-based supermarket opened.

It’s a Hill Country-style barbecue restaurant serving peppery brisket, ribs, burnt ends and more.

Also on the menu: brisket queso, brisket mac-and-cheese and seven traditional sides including serrano-pepper cornbread.

It’s open for lunch and dinner daily; 682-708-1762, truetxbbq.com.

Inside the True Texas BBQ restaurant and drive-thru in H-E-B’s location in Frisco, Texas, on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022.
Inside the True Texas BBQ restaurant and drive-thru in H-E-B’s location in Frisco, Texas, on Tuesday, Sept. 20, 2022.

▪ Hopdoddy Burger Bar, 3101 Heritage Trace Parkway, might be the best of the neighborhood’s painfully long list of national chains.

Hopdoddy started in Austin. It’s has kept the free-wheeling spirit while adding chicken sandwiches, chicken tenders, a half-dozen salads and sides such as loaded Brussels sprouts.

Bargain order: the child’s burger meal with fries and a drink, $7.55 plain or about $11 all the way with cheese, bacon, peppers and caramelized onions. Add a mini-shake for $3.

Another bargain: Sliders are half-price at happy hour Mondays through Thursdays. Hopdoddy serves lunch and dinner daily; 682-204-0111, hopdoddy.com.

The El Diablo at Hopdoddy. Its two burger teammates weren’t up to snuff in a 3-on-3 match against Charley’s, but this might have been the best burger of the battle.
The El Diablo at Hopdoddy. Its two burger teammates weren’t up to snuff in a 3-on-3 match against Charley’s, but this might have been the best burger of the battle.

Delucca Gaucho Pizza, sliders, HG Sply coming soon

Watch for a host of new restaurants opening soon:

▪ Delucca Gaucho Pizza & Wine, 9574 Sage Meadow Trail, a Southlake-based restaurant serving gaucho-style pizza at dinner nightly and at brunch Sundays.

▪ Whiskey Cake, 3001 Amador Drive, is a Dallas-based comfort-food restaurant with quirky spirit.

It was launched in Plano by the same company that owns Velvet Taco.

▪ Son of a Butcher, alongside at 3001 Amador Drive, is a slider-burger bar from the same company. It serves “SOB sliders” and shakes.

▪ HG Sply Co., 3351 Texas Sage Trail, is a grill-and-bar with a regular menu of burgers, chicken and entrees, but all based on natural ingredients.

The name has shortened and the menu has widened from its paleo-themed origin as “Hunter & Gatherer Supply.”

▪ Big Chicken, 9755 North Freeway, is the first Texas restaurant for basketball star Shaquille O’Neal’s Las Vegas-based chicken chain.