Fort Worth Food News ― August 2025

August foodie news is steaming hot. But, if you wait until the very end, I’ll have a cold treat in store as well. We’ll travel from Magnolia Avenue all the way to Taipei, Taiwan ― keeping you informed about the Fort Worth food scene. Here’s what’s new and notable this August.

A Texas Top Ten Barbecue Joint Opens Its Second Location ― 7800 Miles Away

Dayne’s Craft Barbecue in Aledo landed at No. 7 on Texas Monthly’s most recent (published in May) quadrennial barbecue bible. Now it has landed a second location, in Taipei, Taiwan of all places.

The long saga that led to Dayne and Ashley Weaver’s first ever brick and mortar opening in downtown Aledo, wound from 2000 Berry Street to Lola’s Trailer Park, plus the same shopping center that now houses the mythological Patch Café of Taylor Sheridan’s Landman series that films in and around Fort Worth.

Why Taipei? Why now? Danye Weaver explained in a social media post this week:

“So, I got a message about three months ago from some barbecue fans over in Taiwan. And, you know, I didn’t really take it serious at first. They were talking about how they wanted to come train with us, and maybe open a barbecue spot in Taiwan.”

“I told them, I’m not even going to take this serious, unless you show up here and I can meet you and see you in person. A week later, these guys fly in from Taiwan. They spent three weeks with us at our restaurant training.” That’s how Dayne’s Taipei came to be.

This isn’t Dayne Weaver’s first time exporting his craft ‘cue either. He was sought out by another Asian pitmaster too, Takeshi Suzuki of T’s Barbecue in Chiba, Japan came to train at Dayne’s. He calls Dayne Weaver his “master” a sign of respect in Japan.

The Taipei menu of Dayne’s Barbecue adds brisket filled egg rolls, and fried rice topped with sliced brisket.

Vermont Maple + North Texas Barbecue Collab

The local barbecue scene in on fire lately. Tarrant County is home to some of the best barbecue in the entire state. The Hill Country is no longer the center of the BBQ-verse. So, it’s no wonder that Vermont Maple Syrup came a-calling too.

This is where sweet Northern charm meets bold Southern fire. The Maple Meets Texas BBQ campaign is a collaboration between some acclaimed Texas pitmasters and the producers of 100 percent pure Vermont maple syrup. Sounds delicious, right?

Local pitmasters were tasked with developing a BBQ menu item using Vermont maple syrup in the recipe. The result? Next-level dishes  like maple-glazed burnt ends courtesy of Smokey Joe’s BBQ in Dallas.  Hurtado BBQ with locations in Fort Worth, Dallas, Arlington, and Mansfield) turned out some sweet and spicy chipotle-maple sausage. And, Brix Barbecue in Fort Worth (which sadly just announced its closure this week) added a citrus maple glaze to its smoked pork jowls with citrus maple glaze.

Taste these dishes while you can, they are available on the menus of Smokey Joes, Hurtado and Brix for a limited time.

Vermont Maple hopes that this celebration of craft, culture, and culinary creativity, will help home cooks get creative too, maybe even adding a bottle of America’s sweetest natural resource to the pantry.

The Former Shinjuku Station Spot Will Be Home To New Omakase Concept

A new omakase style Japanese sushi restaurant is putting the final touches on its space. The shotgun-style layout running from Magnolia Avenue straight through to its tiny garden out back, was long home to Shinjuku Station. It was one of Fort Worth’s most noteworthy sushi restaurants for over a decade, but sadly closed in 2023.

It is located at 711 West Magnolia Avenue. We’ve all had our eye on that space. Now we know the name. It will soon be home to Yoichi, featuring an omakase format.

An omakase dining experience is chef-led, featuring creations that often change daily depending on the freshest available fish. The multi-course meal is a set price, and the experience is fresh every time you dine.

According to CultureMap, “Bringing the concept to Fort Worth are a trio of chefs: Ilwon Suhr, Ian Kim, and Mark Kim. Each most recently worked at Crown Block, the restaurant atop Reunion Tower in downtown Dallas, in different capacities. Suhr also owned Fujiyama, a sushi restaurant in Carrollton, for three years.”

They say that Ian Kim also worked at Sushi by Scratch in Dallas. That’s one of the most famous omakase restaurants in the country led by Michelin-star chef, Phillip Frankland Lee. The acclaimed Sushi by Scratch omakase restaurants have 12 current locations, including one in both Austin and Dallas. And Lee’s collab with professional skateboarder Neen Williams brought their cult-favorite NADC Burger to Fort Worth in March as well.

Look for Yoichi (which has no online presence yet beyond a YELP place holder) to be revealed any day now.

A Shark Tank Favorite Refreshes Fort Worth Food News

Crispy Cones is marching across America after it showed up on Shark Tank. In Texas, the first location just opened in North Richland Hills at 8633 Davis Boulevard, Suite 200. But, more are soon to come, in Plano and next to Original Chop shop in Southlake, at 210 E. Southlake Boulevard, Suite 120 soon.

The cones are similar to a puff pastry cream horn that are filled with premium soft serve. They cones can add sauces like Nutella, cookie butter, raspberry or caramel, plus toppings. Signature cone varieties include the Coco Chalet with Nutella drizzle, peanut butter cups, chocolate ice cream with peanut butter spread ― if you are so inclined.

I told you we’d finish with something cool. Tune in for more Food News by Fort Worth Digital Diary.