Churchill cited the high cost of a planned smokehouse teardown and rebuild at the West Magnolia location, as well as \u201cslipping\u201d sales at that restaurant. Churchill, his sister Corrie Fletcher, and minority owners and founders Travis and Emma Heim will instead lean into operating the Heim location in the westside River District, a newly opened restaurant in Weatherford and the Pig Stand.<\/p>\n
Heim\u2019s food truck will be rebranded Heim Pig Stand, an incarnation that will be tested at a number of locations beginning March 4, with the ultimate goal of opening a number of small brick-and-mortar restaurants, Churchill said in an interview. The first test spot will be on 3.5 acres that Churchill and his group purchased last year on Camp Bowie West Boulevard in Westland, across from the JD\u2019s Hamburgers and Margie\u2019s Italian Gardens restaurants and west of The Patch Cafe. Churchill now leases the site to the \u201cLandman\u201d television series for shoots.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/HeimBBQ-PulledPorkSandwich-1024x668.jpg\")
Heim Barbecue sells its pulled pork sandwich for $13.49. (Scott Nishimura | Fort Worth Report)<\/p>\n
Pig Stand will sell a choice of pulled pork or chopped beef sandwiches, one of two sides and banana pudding for $12-$15, Churchill said. By contrast, Heim locations sell just the pulled pork sandwich for $13.49.<\/p>\n
The West Magnolia store\u2019s last day of operation will be Feb. 1, Churchill said. After that, the owners will sell the location or lease it to another operator, he said. They have signed broker Sarah LanCarte of LanCarte Commercial <\/a>to handle the property, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were going to have to put a lot of money into Magnolia, and we began to have conversations about whether we wanted to continue\u201d there, Churchill said. \u201cWe\u2019re one of the highest-price non-white tablecloth meals you can have. If you play in that space, you usually have one location in Fort Worth, not two.\u201d<\/p>\n He said availability of labor \u2014 the popular Terry Black\u2019s Barbecue raided Heim for employees when opening in Fort Worth in 2024, Churchill has said \u2014 was no longer an issue.<\/p>\n The River District location also is home to Heim\u2019s catering and food preparation operations, Churchill noted.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we can maintain 25% of the people that would come to Magnolia, I think that helps (the River District store) significantly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Churchill also cited the recent shutdowns of Brix Barbecue on the Near Southside and a barbecue-selling food truck as evidence that Fort Worth may have too much barbecue.<\/p>\n \u201cIt has been a little bit of a struggle,\u201d he said. \u201cMaybe this is a greater good for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n Churchill said the owners notified the West Magnolia restaurant\u2019s 30 employees on Monday. He said he expects to be able to hire some number of them for Heim\u2019s other operations.<\/p>\n \u201cNo idea,\u201d he said, when asked how many Heim expects to be able to take. \u201cWe\u2019ll see what the take rate is. Our catering business is growing, Weatherford is growing.\u201d<\/p>\n Churchill and Fletcher opened the West Magnolia restaurant in August 2016, purchasing the real estate and going into partnership with the Heims. They opened the River District restaurant in April 2019, the Dallas location off of Dallas Love Field in October 2020, and the Weatherford store last year. The employee who\u2019s taking over the Dallas restaurant will become a franchisee, Churchill said.<\/p>\n Heim Pig Stand will have a limited daily inventory of sandwiches and sell 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Wednesday-Friday at the test locations, Churchill said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ll be able to drive up, walk up, order your sandwich and the side you want, and it\u2019ll be one low price,\u201d he said. \u201cWe think that addresses the prices associated with barbecue.\u201d<\/p>\n Churchill said his group will test Heim Pig Stand in different locations for three weeks to a month.<\/p>\n The Westland site is near a shopping center where Dayne\u2019s Craft Barbecue operated a well-subscribed food truck before moving to a brick-and-mortar restaurant in Aledo. The road is also close to the cluster of auto dealerships that Churchill and Fletcher, the great-grandchildren of the longtime Cadillac dealer Frank Kent, have divested.<\/p>\n \u201cI really like this strip from Camp Bowie to 820, Spur 580,\u201d Churchill said. \u201cIt\u2019s an underserved market out there. There\u2019s not much. There\u2019s plenty of parking. I think there\u2019s plenty of restaurant growth that could happen out there.\u201d<\/p>\n Churchill said his group acquired the land 13 months ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOur long-term goal is to put these Heim Pig Stands in 600- to 900-square-foot (brick-and-mortar) footprints and have three, four, five of these in Tarrant County and see how it goes,\u201d Churchill said. \u201cWe want to make sure we can service it from our centralized commissary\u201d at the River District store.<\/p>\n Scott Nishimura is senior editor for local government accountability at the Fort Worth Report. Reach him at scott.nishimura@fortworthreport.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/HeimPigStand-Rendering-1024x431.png\")
Heim Barbecue will rebrand its food truck as Heim Pig Stand and begin testing locations in March for future small-format, low-priced restaurants. (Courtesy image | Heim Barbecue)<\/p>\n