Downtown isn’t the only place Fort Worth residents will see film crews this week.
While “Yellowstone” spinoff “The Madison” closes a section of 7th Street between Lamar and Throckmorton streets, a smaller production team will head to Magnolia Avenue.
America’s Best Restaurants, a media organization that promotes independent eateries, will film at Shaw’s Patio Bar & Grill, 1051 W. Magnolia Ave., on Nov. 21.
“I’m excited that this is happening,” said the restaurant’s general manager Ann Shaw, who co-owns the space with her husband, David Shaw.
The family- and pet-friendly neighborhood hangout serves up a variety of burgers, including the 3-Alarm, which packs a kick with charred habanero, serrano and jalapeño peppers, and the Cowtown featuring barbecue sauce, bacon and fried shoestring onions.
But the vision for the space wasn’t always clear.
Ann Shaw said that she initially signed the lease for the space adjoining her previous restaurant, Scampi’s Mediterranean Cafe, in hopes of expanding her Greek and Italian offerings. However, she needed to pivot when her dad, who was also the chef, decided to retire.
She credited her husband with the idea to serve burgers.
“We created a menu with 21 burgers on it because we couldn’t agree on the type of burger. He wanted the casual burgers and I wanted fancy burgers … more gourmet burgers,” Ann Shaw said. “I slowly realized that the casual, comfortable burgers were really more what people wanted.”
The menu evolved to reflect that.
Regular clients have also seen the addition of karaoke, trivia night on Tuesdays and Bowser Beer for Dogs, a nonalcoholic pet-safe broth, to its “Yappy Hour” offerings.
It has been fun to see families grow over the years, Ann Shaw continued, and she hopes that more people will come in as a result of seeing the video from America’s Best Restaurants.
The media company accepts nominations from customers and submissions from restaurateurs. Some of the show’s 840-plus episodes have featured North Texas restaurants like Spice and Gravy Southern Eatery in Arlington, FnG Eats in Keller and J&J Oyster Bar in Fort Worth.
Shaw isn’t sure how the producers found out about her family-owned spot, but she’s glad they did.
“It’s kind of fun that they reached out to us and wanted to choose us as one of the restaurants that they wanted to feature,” she said.
The episode will be available in either February or March of next year, Ann Shaw said, and the restaurant will share more details about how to watch when the date gets closer.
Marcheta Fornoff covers arts and culture for the Fort Worth Report. Reach her at marcheta.fornoff@fortworthreport.org. At the Fort Worth Report, news decisions are made independently of our board members and financial supporters. Read more about our editorial independence policy here.
This article first appeared on Fort Worth Report and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
