FORT WORTH
Panther City BBQ has signed to take over a historic North Main Street restaurant property and will open a second location of its Michelin-recommended barbecue restaurant as soon as this winter, co-owner Chris Magallanes said Monday.
Panther City BBQ, at 201 E. Hattie St., is the top-rated barbecue restaurant in central Fort Worth. It will take over the former La Playa Maya space in a 1913-vintage building at 1540 N. Main St.
The location is three blocks south of the Fort Worth Stockyards national historic district, on a stretch of North Main Street that is blossoming with new shops and cafes.
The two-story red brick building was originally built as a city police substation not long after Fort Worth took over the former separate city of North Fort Worth.
It later served as government offices, as a Texas Department of Public Safety regional headquarters and license bureau and a public library branch before the North Side Lions Club took over in 1940.
A line is formed inside Panther City BBQ in Fort Worth. Panther City BBQ landed a spot on the Michelin recommended list making it one of the three restaurants Fort Worth to make the prestigious catalog. Chris Torres Star-Telegram archives
Panther City will keep the historic appearance and will add historic photos of north Fort Worth, Magallanes said. The scenes will include a tribute to the vaqueros, the Mexican and Tejano cowboys who made up about one-fourth of Old West ranch hands and trail drivers.
That La Playa Maya location closed July 5 after 28 years.
Three other La Playa Maya locations remain open in south and west Fort Worth and in suburban Hudson Oaks.
Panther City never intended to open a second location, Magallanes said earlier, “but when an opportunity came up we immediately looked at a way to make it work.”
The brisket elote cup at Panther City BBQ in Fort Worth. Panther City BBQ offers kids eat free deals during weeknights. Chris Torres Star-Telegram archives
Panther City is designing a smokehouse and smokers for the location, he said.
The restaurant will serve Panther City’s barbecue and neighborhood specials such as brisket elote, barbacoa, smoked fajitas and brisket guisada, plus new Tex-Mex items and coastal seafood, he said.
Panther City BBQ opened in 2018 in a trailer on a vacant lot next door to its current building on East Hattie Street. The address is listed on some maps as 201 E. Pennsylvania Ave.
It is consistently ranked the top barbecue restaurant inside Fort Worth by Texas Monthly magazine and in other ratings, although Goldee’s Barbecue near Kennedale and Dayne’s Craft Barbecue in Aledo often get higher marks.
The “South Side power bowl” at Panther City BBQ includes spicy carne guisada made with prime brisket, plus rice, beans and tortillas, seen Nov. 9, 2024. Bud Kennedy bud@star-telegram.com
The France-based Michelin Guide lists Panther City as “recommended” for Texas classics and Tex-Mex brisket burritos, elote and tacos, as well as for the sides such as smoked mac-and-cheese.
Magallanes and Ernest Morales co-founded Panther City and have expanded their empire to include catering and a midprice spinoff restaurant downtown, Fort Worth Barbecue Co., at 826 Taylor St.
Panther City BBQ is open for lunch and dinner Wednesdays through Sundays.
A platter with brisket, pork spare ribs, jalapeño cheese sausage, and a brisket eloté cup are paired with sides of collard greens, spicy smoked Mac & Cheese, banana pudding, and sliced bread at Panther City BBQ in Fort Worth. Panther City BBQ landed a spot on the Michelin recommended list making it one of the three restaurants Fort Worth to make the prestigious catalog. Chris Torres Star-Telegram archives 
Panther CIty BBQ is one of Texas’ top-ranked barbecue restaurants. Bud Kennedy bud@star-telegram.com
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Bud Kennedy is celebrating his 40th year writing about restaurants in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. He has written the “Eats Beat” dining column in print since 1985 and online since 1992 — that’s more than 3,000 columns about Texas cafes, barbecue, burgers and where to eat.
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