Editor\u2019s note: During the holiday season, the Fort Worth Report is following up on the stories you told us you appreciated the most in 2025.<\/p>\n
Last winter, longtime Fort Worth restaurateur and dumpling purveyor Hao Tran had just agreed to a lease on a substantially larger location in White Settlement.<\/p>\n
Fast forward nearly a year, construction is due to start in January on Hao\u2019s Duong DeVille, named for a Cadillac her father bought when she and her two siblings were children.<\/p>\n
Her target opening is late spring. Construction will take about five months, according to Tran and her landlord Will Churchill, who owns the shopping center at Loop 820 and White Settlement Road with his sister, Corrie Fletcher.<\/p>\n
Tran is still noodling on whether to retain Hao\u2019s Grocery & Caf\u00e9 at 120 St. Louis Ave. on Fort Worth\u2019s Near Southside.<\/p>\n
To keep her smaller shop, Tran says she needs to make it more economically viable: cooking classes and private events, such as prix-fixe dinners, pay the bills.<\/p>\n
![\"(Maria](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1117-HaoTran-07--1024x683.jpg\")
Produce and other grocery items line shelves around Hao\u2019s Grocery & Caf\u00e9 in Fort Worth on Nov. 17, 2025. Owner Hao Tran plans to open a restaurant in the next year. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America)<\/p>\n
\u201cThe retail doesn\u2019t cover the rent,\u201d she said in early November, noting she\u2019d already booked three events for the following month. \u201cThat\u2019s the only way I can sustain business here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tran regards the opportunity to build a 3,601-square-foot restaurant at the new shopping center as a godsend. \u201cIt literally dropped in my lap,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Tran juggles the business with her full-time career as a Trimble Technical High School teacher. She taught science at the campus for 25 years including culinary courses in the last two.<\/p>\n
Tran opened the cafe seven years ago after spending years cooking for pop-ups.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She estimated she surpassed 1 million dumplings sold in early 2025. She runs her shop four days a week and fills out her schedule with the classes and events.<\/p>\n
Now at 57, and after a few unsuccessful attempts to expand, Tran thought she was done with that idea.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was going to retire (from teaching) and work through this until I didn\u2019t want to do it anymore,\u201d she said over bowls of pho one recent Sunday evening.<\/p>\n
![\"(Maria](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1117-HaoTran-03--683x1024.jpg\")
Hao Tran is the owner of Hao\u2019s Grocery & Caf\u00e9 in Fort Worth on Nov. 17, 2025. Tran has been working toward opening a restaurant in White Settlement where she will serve Vietnamese food. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America)<\/p>\n
Unknown to her, Tran and her shop were on the radar of Churchill and Fletcher \u2014 the twin great grandchildren of the Fort Worth auto dealer Frank Kent<\/a>. The siblings had purchased real estate at Loop 820 south of White Settlement Road and were renovating and repositioning the multiple commercial buildings on the site.<\/p>\n The duo\u2019s prime target: a restaurant to broaden the offerings along the west side border of Fort Worth. Nearby Parker County is enjoying explosive growth with developments including the Walsh<\/a> housing community and the UTA West<\/a> campus. West Fort Worth\u2019s high-end neighborhoods of Montserrat<\/a> and Montrachet<\/a> also bring potential customers.<\/p>\n The twins\u2019 pursuit of Tran was similar to other efforts they\u2019ve launched in commercial real estate where they first purchased sites, identified tenants they wanted, and then pursued deals. Melt Ice Creams on West Magnolia Avenue and Heim Barbecue are two such businesses they championed.<\/p>\n In Tran\u2019s case, Churchill and Fletcher offered to finish out the new restaurant space at their expense.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom our perspective, she\u2019s a great lady with an immense amount of talent,\u201d Churchill said. \u201cTo do a project that is worthy, it\u2019s going to take a significant amount of capital. We felt it was important to take the burden of that responsibility on ourselves.<\/p>\n \u201cIt allows her to execute without having debt hanging over her head every day,\u201d he said. \u201cIf she was a normal office tenant, we don\u2019t do anything close to that.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt is a gift,\u201d Tran says. \u201cI have to work the business. Use it well.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"(Maria](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1117-HaoTran-10--1024x683.jpg\")
Hao Tran walks around the future location of her restaurant in White Settlement on Nov. 17, 2025. Tran has been running Hao\u2019s Grocery & Caf\u00e9 in Fort Worth and working as a teacher while strategizing the restaurant. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America)<\/p>\n
![\"(Maria](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1117-HaoTran-09--1024x683.jpg\")
Hao Tran looks at floor plan renderings of her future restaurant in White Settlement on Nov. 17, 2025. Tran has been running Hao\u2019s Grocery & Caf\u00e9 in Fort Worth and working as a teacher while strategizing the restaurant. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America)<\/p>\n