The decades-old Roy Pope Grocery is closing May 31 as a hospitality group plans to open a new eatery in the Arlington Heights space.
Westland Hospitality Group restaurateur Gigi Howell clarified the business deal relating to the site at 2300 Merrick St.
In Facebook posts, Howell said Roy Pope owner Mark Harris and other partners decided to close the gourmet grocery store prior to a business deal with Fort Worth-based Westland Hospitality. The store will remain open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. through the end of May.
“Mark Harris and the current owners of Roy Pope recently made the decision to close Roy Pope Grocery May 31st,” Howell wrote in a May 24 post. “That decision was made well before Westland Hospitality was chosen to bring in a restaurant concept.”
Westland Hospitality will take over the building’s lease June 1 as it develops a new restaurant to honor the legacy of the grocery and meat market opened in 1943 by the late Roy and Rose Pope.
The market served the neighborhoods surrounding Camp Bowie Boulevard, Westover Hills and the Cultural District. The westside institution was known for quality ingredients, prepared foods and personalized service.
“As soon as we decided to get out of the grocery business, I could think of no better steward than Westland Hospitality for the Roy Pope name,” Harris said in a Facebook video.
Roy Pope closed in 2020 but was renovated and reopened with a refreshed concept two years later under a partnership with Lou Lambert, Chris Reale and current owner Harris.
In 2024, Lambert and Reale left the Roy Pope Grocery partnership, although they remain partners with Harris in running Fort Worth’s equally iconic Paris Coffee Shop.
Howell is developing a new Roy Pope menu with chef Juan Rodriguez and Levi Gardner, executive chef at Margie’s Italian Gardens and a Westland Hospitality culinary leader. Gardner has helped curate special menus across Westland’s family of restaurants and will serve as executive chef for Roy Pope.
“We are proud to be in this building and in this wonderful neighborhood,” Howell said. “Our promise is to bring great food, mindful hospitality and a deep respect for history into the space as we begin shaping what comes next. As plans come together, we are looking closely at the dishes, desserts, details and memories that made Roy Pope special to many.”
Westland Hospitality owns several Fort Worth restaurants, including JD’s Hamburgers, Pulido’s Kitchen & Cantina, Margie’s Italian Gardens, Curly’s Frozen Custard, Magdalena’s Catering & Events, West Side Cafe, Westland Gardens and Westland Bar Co.
Westland is “super excited” to carry on the Roy Pope name, Howell said.
“Although the grocery is closing, our restaurant will humbly bear the name Roy Pope as an homage to what once was,” Howell said.
Westland’s new Southern restaurant will preserve the familiarity and sense of place that have made it meaningful to the surrounding community, company officials said in a news release.
Howell said the restaurant could be open in about seven to eight months.
“Don’t worry, we still want to be your neighborhood go-to place,” she said in the video post. “We can’t wait to serve you.”
Eric E. Garcia is senior business reporter at the Fort Worth Report. Contact him at eric.garcia@fortworthreport.org.
At the Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
This <a target=”_blank” href=”https://fortworthreport.org/2026/05/26/roy-pope-grocery-to-close-may-31-as-site-readies-for-new-restaurant-concept/”>article</a> first appeared on <a target=”_blank” href=”https://fortworthreport.org”>Fort Worth Report</a> and is republished here under a <a target=”_blank” href=”https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/”>Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License</a>.<img src=”https://i0.wp.com/fortworthreport.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/cropped-favicon.png?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1″ style=”width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;”>
<img id=”republication-tracker-tool-source” src=”https://fortworthreport.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=573298&ga4=2820184429″ style=”width:1px;height:1px;”><script> PARSELY = { autotrack: false, onload: function() { PARSELY.beacon.trackPageView({ url: “https://fortworthreport.org/2026/05/26/roy-pope-grocery-to-close-may-31-as-site-readies-for-new-restaurant-concept/”, urlref: window.location.href }); } } </script> <script id=”parsely-cfg” src=”//cdn.parsely.com/keys/fortworthreport.org/p.js”></script>