This was a big year for food halls. Only a few years ago, they were practically non-existent around these parts. We were all so hopelessly in love with food truck parks that we forgot that we also enjoy eating in climate-controlled, indoor settings throughout most of the year. So came the rise of the food halls.
What may be seen as nothing more than a glorified mall food court, the food hall concept is giving diners the opportunity to visit a single location and enjoy multiple restaurants during a single meal. It also allows parties with picky guests the opportunity to find a cuisine that best suits them.
But in my experiences with food halls, they’ve never been able to tackle one problem: the logistical difficulty a single diner faces when trying to acquire items from multiple food stalls to make up a single meal. This more than likely requires waiting in multiple lines, carrying food from location to location, all the while, the items are getting cold. Not to mention, your friends are wondering where you went off to and when they can finally sit and just enjoy their poké bowl.
A new food hall in Fort Worth has solved this problem, and the results are encouraging. Americado Food Hall, which is located at 2000 W. Berry Street, is similar to other food halls, though on a smaller scale compared to most. It’s a single room structure with five food stations scattered across the room, each carefully labeled and individually owned and operated. Tables and chairs are scattered throughout the hall filling in the open spaces.
At Americado, however, the diners are greeted at the door and given a table, much like any other traditional restaurant experience. They are given a single menu featuring all the food options available from each of the stands within the hall. Diners may choose from any food stall and the orders are run to the various locations, then the food is served to you at your table. It runs surprisingly smooth and is genuinely a welcome approach to this dining style.
Americado features the work of five businesses, Brix Barbecue, Shin’Ya Ramen, St. Sofia Coffee & Churros, Chilangos Mexican, and El Bar. Much like a culinary Captain Planet, these folks have combined powers to produce one excellent and intriguing dining experience.
On our visit, we took our table, and were quickly offered chips and salsa from Chilangos. We agreed to this and were quickly given a sizable plate of thick, warm and crispy chips with two house-made salsas, one red and one green. We were off to a good start.
Brix Barbecue, a venture that had previously only been seen around town doing pop-up events, was my primary reason for visiting. We ordered brisket, ribs, and sausage (the standard “Texas Trinity”) along with their beef tallow beans and cole slaw. The brisket was perfect and can easily hang with some of the most reputable barbecue establishments in the area. Strong smoke, perfectly rendered fat, sufficiently moist and tender. Ribs and sausage were also respectable and worth putting on your plate. The tallow beans may have been the sleeper favorite at the table, though. These charro beans, cooked in the beef fat trimmings from the briskets, are rich, silky smooth.
Naturally, we felt ramen needed to happen. So we ordered the al pastor ramen from Shin’Ya. It features al pastor from its neighboring stall, Chilangos. Truth be told, as much as I loved the barbecue, the ramen was the star. The broth was smooth, rich, and full or flavor. This would be the first time I’ve eaten a Mexican-style al pastor in ramen, but it certainly won’t be the last. The noodles were perfectly cooked, the additional ingredients floating around in the broth were each excellent and helped round out a near-perfect ramen.
We finished with a dish from St. Sofia, the Mexican churros with chocolate dipping sauce. These are made to order and come to you piping hot. The chocolate sauce was a bit too thin, but the churros were well-prepared. A good way to end an eclectic meal.
Americado has a good thing going, and I’d be fine with this model making its way around to other parts of North Texas. Less legwork, excellent and personal service, no cold food, but still retaining the variety diners have come to love from the food hall concept. Americado gets my seal of approval.
